"Can I
honestly say that I believe Gandhi was acting selfishly when he 'sacrificed'
himself for the freedom of the Indian people? No, I can't say that I
believe it. It would be more proper to say that I know it for a
fact... Whatever Gandhi did, out of rational or irrational choice, he did
because he chose to do it... Martyrs are selfish people ? the same as you
and me ? but with insatiable egos."
The above quote was from a critic of the late Gandhi. Interesting quote if I might say..
This issue here is whether or
not Gandhi was acting selfish when he sacrificed himself for the freedom
of the Indian people. The author of this
quote sincerely believes, to the point of calling it a fact, Gandhi was being
selfish. The author claims it was
Gandhi’s deliberate choice, regardless of it being rational or irrational and
compares Gandhi’s behavior to martyrs who are selfish people with “insatiable
egos”.
The controversy here can be found
among pacifists who are opposed to war and violence of any kind and those who
are pro-war or feel one must sometimes accomplish things through violence and riots.
Gandhi was a pacifist..
The controversy is also between those who feel Gandhi unnecessarly ‘sacrificed’ himself by the unrealistic political stance he took that had more to do with his ego and less about the people and those who feel his non-violence stance was the epitome of ethics in practice, “turning the other cheek”, and that nothing could be farther from ego and selfishness. A final controversy here is over the fundamental concept of martyrdom as a good, compassionate “in the footsteps of Jesus” thing to do and the idea that self-preservation should be our highest instinct and that martyrdom is an ultimate escape from reality.
Gandhi was a pacifist..
The controversy is also between those who feel Gandhi unnecessarly ‘sacrificed’ himself by the unrealistic political stance he took that had more to do with his ego and less about the people and those who feel his non-violence stance was the epitome of ethics in practice, “turning the other cheek”, and that nothing could be farther from ego and selfishness. A final controversy here is over the fundamental concept of martyrdom as a good, compassionate “in the footsteps of Jesus” thing to do and the idea that self-preservation should be our highest instinct and that martyrdom is an ultimate escape from reality.
For me the big issue here is: Is
someone acting selfish when they choose to be a martyr and sacrifice themselves
for a cause or literally die for a cause right then and there? I have a bit of history with this because I
was raised as a sincere, Bible believing or as they say “Bible Literalist”
Christian and throughout my upbringing I was introduced to not only martyrs in
the New Testament, (the first being Stephen, for example, as found in the book
of Acts) but also to actual 20th century martyrs, mainly, those who
were missionaries overseas in, say, China or the Amazon rain jungle of South
America. Many people considered Paul, who wrote many of the books in the New Testament, as the first missionary, who was also a martyr himself. I was raised seeing those
Christians as my hero’s of the faith and that they showed the greatest act of
faith, love, and sacrifice for God.
Psalms 116:15 says, “How precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints”, which has been referred to as the martyr’s scripture. So I was raised and conditioned as a Christian to consider dying for my faith to be one of the greatest acts of agape love to the persecutor and my greatest act of devotion and faith in God. You could say it was considered a demonstration of a “true” Christian’s morality.
Psalms 116:15 says, “How precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints”, which has been referred to as the martyr’s scripture. So I was raised and conditioned as a Christian to consider dying for my faith to be one of the greatest acts of agape love to the persecutor and my greatest act of devotion and faith in God. You could say it was considered a demonstration of a “true” Christian’s morality.
But I moved away from the faith of
Christianity over the years and am now an Atheist, with a secular ethical
worldview of Secular Humanism. When I
look back on how ready I was willing to give up my life as a Christian, it does
amaze me. I debated a Christian pastor
at an event last year on the topic of morality.
There was one place that the pastor argued Atheists would be far less
likely to emulate Christians: martyrdom.
He was right.
Today, the last thing I would want to do is to give up my life, because I believe I only have one life to live. I don’t exactly see it as an ultimate escape from reality like suicide, but something more the result of brain washing. I also see it as a selfish and cruel thing to do, because you are hurting others who need you alive such as your loved one and children. I’m talking about the willful choice to forfeit your life because you will not (lie) and renounce your faith in God in front of, say, a communist government. It is not a mature way to face reality, in my opinion. A Christian might argue to me, “No! I am looking reality in the face and seeing this earthly life for what it is, as merely a blip in our eternal life with God in Heaven.” I would respond that life and the moments of life are even more precious to me now and the last thing I would want to do is prematurely die. I’m very disappointed in the idea of eventually not existing because life is so damn good!
Today, the last thing I would want to do is to give up my life, because I believe I only have one life to live. I don’t exactly see it as an ultimate escape from reality like suicide, but something more the result of brain washing. I also see it as a selfish and cruel thing to do, because you are hurting others who need you alive such as your loved one and children. I’m talking about the willful choice to forfeit your life because you will not (lie) and renounce your faith in God in front of, say, a communist government. It is not a mature way to face reality, in my opinion. A Christian might argue to me, “No! I am looking reality in the face and seeing this earthly life for what it is, as merely a blip in our eternal life with God in Heaven.” I would respond that life and the moments of life are even more precious to me now and the last thing I would want to do is prematurely die. I’m very disappointed in the idea of eventually not existing because life is so damn good!
