Suicide Vs. Martyrdom

Last week we were watching one of those TV dramas, and they had captured a terrorist, and one of the Federal Agents asks the terrorist what the difference is between a suicide bomber and a martyr, and when the terrorist hesitates he tells him that it was a trick question, that there really is no difference because, basically, both are dead in the end.

This got me to thinking, is that really true? Of course the answer is no. I do understand that both are dead in the end, but far from making them the same thing, that is their only point of contact.

What is drastically different between a suicide bomber and a true martyr is the fact that the bomber has chosen to kill him/herself for the purpose of killing other people, while the true martyr is killed by others, through no direct action of their own, for the purpose of faithfulness. That is to say that a suicide bomber chooses death and destruction over life, while the true martyr chooses faithfulness over life. For the suicide bomber there is no choice but death, mayhem and murder, for the true martyr there is no choice but faithfulness, even if it ends up leading to death.

You see, the suicide bomber has chosen to kill themselves, and is trying to kill as many other people at the same time as they can. The true martyr, on the other hand, does not seek death, rather they have chosen faithfulness, and whenever there is a way to both be faithful and live, they will choose that every single time, however, when saving their own life would require that they forsake their faithfulness, they are willing to die, but they do not seek for that death.

Regardless of the propaganda from the radical Muslim circles, or the left wing media types, suicide bombers are not martyrs. Rather, they are killers. Degenerate murderers, and nothing more. There is a nobility in true martyrdom, there is nothing noble in blowing oneself up to murder innocent people.