Would you be willing to die for your religious beliefs?

[NNN0LHI]

Christian lied about faith to survive Saudi siege

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L31513414.htm

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, May 31 (Reuters) - A Christian Arab who was held captive by al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia said on Monday he lied to them about his faith and praised their battle against the West, to save his life.

Nizar Hajazeen, a Jordanian software businessmen who was at the Tower hotel in the Oasis compound during the 25-hour drama in Khobar, said the militants lectured him about Islam and their aim to liberate Saudi Arabia from "infidels and crusaders".

The complex where the militants held about 50 foreigners -- including some Westerners -- was their last target in the violence in the eastern Saudi oil city in which they killed at least 22 people.

Hajazeen, 32, had tried to call a cab to go to work on Saturday but the phone lines were jumbled.

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[Speck Tater]

1. What practical purpose would it serve?

Willingness to die for one's religion is one of the reasons religious wars are so cruel and vicious. My attitude is live and let live.

On a more practical side, if denying my religion gets me out of a tight spot alive what harm has been done by that denial? If I felt guilty about it I suppose I could redress the balance by preaching afterwords, but in point of fact, an admission obtained under duress has no meaning, and I could live with having made a meaningless statement to save my life.

[bemildred]

2. What religious beliefs? nt

[NashVegas]

24. Or Lack of Them, I'd Suppose

..

[the Kelly Gang]

3. better to live to fight another day

[BlueJazz]

4. I don't have any religous beliefs other than..

Keep them out of my Tax Dollars.

[Dropkick]

5. Ugh misvote

I, due to lack of coffee and reading comprehension skills, voted yes when meant to vote no (which would make MUCH more sense, considering I don't HAVE any religious beliefs!!)
:spank::spank::spank:

**edited to say:
them darn butterfly ballots just got me corn-fused!!

[kaitykaity]

6. I'm agnostic.

I don't know how far I'd go not to be forcibly
converted. Pretty far, I'd imagine, but I don't
know if I'd go all the way.

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. Jesus Christ said

"He who denies Me before men, the same shall I deny before My Father". He also told His apostles to "take up thy cross and follow Me". So I would say that JC made it pretty clear where He stands on it. I'll leave it up to Him to judge Mr. Hajazeen though. If he said it out of fear that they would harm his family (assuming he has one) that would be different.

[donco6]

15. So is denying Christ the only unforgiveable sin?

That's what some fundie preacher told me once.

on edit: spelling error

[Nikia]

16. Well Jesus forgave Peter for denying him

I believe that if a Christian denied Christ because their life was endangered that they'd be forgiven as long as they repented of that.
The unforgiveable sin is denying the Holy Spirit although I have heard it debated on what that really means and if it really means a one time event or it means a continual state of being.

[CJCRANE]

8. Paradisiacs

That's why you can't reason with fundamentalists. They think they're going to heaven no matter what. Hence why some of them like blowing things up.

Paradise maniacs = paradisiacs.

[lastknowngood]

9. To quote the Black Adder

When the flames started licking up around him for not renouncing his Catholicism he must of wondered why it never occurred to him to say
I renounce my catholicism.

[Jim__]

10. I don't have any religious beliefs - so I didn't vote in your poll.

But, if someone were holding a gun to my head and demanding that I praise god, I probably would. It wouldn't hurt me; it wouldn't cause any metaphysical imbalance in the universe. I'd be mouthing a meaningless statement in the hope of saving my life. Doesn't seem like it would be that hard to decide.

[DemBones DemBones]

11. I voted "Yes" because I would certainly try to remain true to my

beliefs in all circumstances. Whether I would succeed I'll never know unless push comes to shove.

Jesus told Peter he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed the next day. Peter protested that he would never deny Jesus but of course he went on to deny him three separate times during the night, and heard a rooster crow just after the third denial. Yet Peter was "the rock" on which Jesus founded His Church, and Jesus didn't take that honor away from Peter after his three denials. That indicates to me that God understands that human beings are not always strong enough to stand up for their beliefs and doesn't hold it against us. Of course, Peter was eventually martyred for his faith, so it might just be that Jesus knew he'd grow a spine later on!

Being willing to die for one's beliefs does not necessarily mean one is willing to kill for one's beliefs, much less willing to be a suicide bomber, as other posts have suggested.

[shimmergal]

12. Sure. No one can know or change what you truly believe.

Not by force or duress, anyhow. That's between you and God, or inside you and your own mind, however you choose to conceptualize it.

(Sophisticated psyops are another matter, but I don't think anybody has them worked out to the point where they take hold instantly and 100% of the time)

It can't make much difference to an infinitely loving god what words come out of your mouth under extreme stress. Too many people's ideas of the Deity are modeled on what a Middle Eastern despot of ancient times would have demanded.

[union_maid]

13. Nope

My religious beliefs aren't very specific, but if someone was going to kill me unless I said a few words...well...if I have any religious beliefs they would include not giving up the gift of life for something like that.

[Maestro]

14. No

but I'd die for my family.

[2cents]

17. Not sure

I've never been faced with that ultimatum.

The maniacs in the story might have also killed his friend (guilt by association).

So, one could argue that Nizar's denial was an act of self-sacrificing nobility to save a friend (no greater love....).

[haele]

18. My "deities" would not demand I kill myself

rather than deny my beliefs in the face of death. Even if I mouthed an oath I didn't believe in to save my life, if in my heart, I was true to my beliefs and myself as I was made, my deities would understand.
Now, if it was a matter of allowing myself to be killed or sacrificing an innocent to prove or disprove a belief, that would be another story altogether. If given the choice of Abraham, sacrificing my first born as proof of loyalty to a jealous desert god - I'm afraid I'd have to decline and ask that someone else be picked by that Gyod as a chosen one.
As it is, most Americans live with a subtle blasphemy of denying their faith on a regular basis - we don't get rid of door to door proselytizers and born-agains of any stamp who deny the faith of their parents and attempt to convince others to also change to their faith, do we?

Who's to say if the road to salvation is narrow or wide? Especially in the above case, where the Gyod of Abraham is the very same god with the same base of prophets, rules, and parables, be it's name written in a Torah, a "Bible" or a Koran... Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, Orthodox or Reformed - They're all "People of the Book" - so why should Gyod care what particular version of the Book one chooses to follow if all the versions are authorized?

For a Christian to say he or she is Muslim, or a Jew to say he or she is Christian - feh, what's the whoop? It's the same god, even if it's a anathema to that person's parents and culture to make that statement. One is not denying their Gyod - only denying their particular culture.
Multi- or Pan-theistic cultures have it a bit more easy - dedicating oneself to one particular god of many does not mean one can't honor others - and tends to allow for a lot more flexibility when looking at the meaning behind deity.

Now - someone who is of a monotheistic, multi-theistic, or atheist bent claiming to be any of the other categories - that's quite a bit more of a stretch into blasphemy and/or heresy as defined in general by most religions.

Haele

[robbedvoter]

19. My beliefs prescribe life over death - it's why I embraced them

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Any religion that requires death should shop around for a new God.

Preferably one that doesn't demand subservience and applause.

[Deja Q]

21. Well, the dude thinks that life on earth is the only life despite belief.

Lying as such about his religion would condemn him to Hell for all eternity, if I'm not mistaken...

Oops. I wouldn't trade a few extra minutes on earth for an eternity in Hell... would you?

[Racenut20]

22. If I had some, I would probably be willing to die for them.

[Dying Eagle]

23. if i had some, i still wouldn't