(By Joseph Gibbs)
Middleton asserts that the main points of controversy in deciding who is a martyr are the question of 1) whether or not suicide still qualifies an individual for martyrdom and 2) whether or not one can be martyred while killing (or attempting to kill) others. As both Middleton and the Rick Steves video point out, it’s not even simply a matter of yes or no, but rather based entirely on the context of the death and the interpreting audience. Rick Stevens mentions a number of American heroes who are idolised for laying down their lives for their country and points out the parallel with Iranian-sponsored suicide attacks in which the bombers do very much give their lives for their cause. In fact, Middleton argues that what makes a martyr is more dependent on those who retell their stories as oppose to the actual subjects themselves, as is the case with Matthew Shepherd, whose actual life is little-known, yet many present him and his story as a markedly religious-styled martyrdom echoing the crucifixion. The image depicting the Martyr Video of Reem Riyashi strikes me in particular, for it depicts not a soul save for the martyr herself. The context of her martyrdom—the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—is familiar to me: her enemy is Israel, her faith is Islam (with her book presumably being the Qur’an), and her cause Palestinian freedom (likely mixed with a fair amount of Islamism). However, if I were an uninformed, utterly ignorant viewer of the image the cameraman would tell me a very striking story that nigh every culture could identify with and idealise. Riyashi stands as a soldier; a warrior-woman geared up with firearm and grenade to fight an enemy—who is this enemy? Well, the utterly ignorant viewer cannot tell, and that is the beauty of the image. Taken just as itself she could be fighting any number of adversaries—Americans, Israelis, Soviets, bandits, renegade robots, aliens or whatever suitable vile thing the viewer’s mind conjures as something so oppressive and horrible that this mysterious, uniformed woman feels the need to wage war against. In one hand she holds a book. Which book? The unknowing viewer (naturally) does not know: but clearly it’s important to her; somehow it’s related to her fight. Somehow it’s worth dying for. Just as her enemies are absent so are her allies: Riyashi seems to stand alone. There is a solemn, fatalistic feel to the image that evokes a very popular story trope in the West: the last stand. It is only the minor details of the image that provide the specific context and that will drive most opinions: replace the Arabic slogans with ‘Liberty and Justice For All,’ the Qur’an (again, this is presumed on my part) with an American flag or bible, and remove her headscarf and suddenly the picture applies to an entirely different audience—one that would have probably been horrified of it as-is. Mary Zilar
Something that really struck me in the reading was the story of Samson, and how it complicates the Christian understanding of martyrdom. Most people, including Christians, would call suicide bombers murderers or terrorists rather than martyrs. Murdering someone is believed to be a great sin, but there are characters like Samson in the Old Testament, who kill many people, too. The Book of Hebrews (New Testament) refers to Samson in a positive light. When Samson is captured by his enemies, they give credit to their god. The story becomes about divine power, as well as vengeance. Samson commits suicide in order to kill more people than he ever had in his lifetime, thus showing the might of God. Is this story any different from what suicide bombers do today? Most people define a "martyr" based on their own understanding of morality. Middleton's definition has more to do with the way people interpret/use someone's death. This works well in an academic setting, like ours. But I'm really curious about how a martyr is defined by different religious or social groups. For many Christians, both suicide and murder are very sinful, but Samson did both of those things. How would a Christian reconcile calling a suicide bomber a murderer, and Samson a martyr? What about someone who's Jewish? Also, I really like one of the pictures from the slideshow up at the top. The one with the red graffiti, which says, "If dying for your faith makes you a martyr, what does it make those whom you killed for your faith?" It's thought provoking. Middleton says that the controversy over whether a person’s death can be called martyrdom revolves around two main points: suicide and murder. He says that a martyr must die for a cause, but questions whether a person can still be defined as a martyr even if they take their own life or take the lives of others for their cause. What Middleton concludes is that it is not martyrs and their motivations and actions that define martyrdom; it is the narratives that emerge after their death that decide whether or not they will be viewed as martyrs.
The image of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian has a lot of imagery that sets the scene. In the picture on the left, St. Sebastian is shown as being completely helpless and vulnerable because he is surrounded by enemies, and in both pictures he is stripped of his clothes, and chained to a tree. Though he has been shot many times with arrows he is still alive and standing showing his resilience and refusal to give up. His enemies are portrayed as horrible men because they continue to attack him, even though he is obviously helpless and they overwhelmingly outnumber him. In the picture on the right there is an image of an angel above him and he is looking up to it and to heaven. This shows his commitment to God. The angel is holding a crown and looks as though it is about to place the crown on St. Sebastian’s head. This makes it seem like St. Sebastian’s martyrdom is destined to happen With no knowledge of the story of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian and with only the help of the two pictures to reconstruct its events, I would say that St. Sebastian was involved in some sort of battle in which his faith in God was being challenged. He fought against his enemies until all those who stood with him had perished and he was the sole survivor. He refused to give up and renounce his faith, so he was killed by his enemies. -Tim Eastland Lyndsey Goforth
1/9/13 Lyndsey Goforth 1/9/13 One of the things I noticed right away in Middleton's book is that there doesn't seem to be a clear idea over what martyrdom is, including how to define it, what to think about it or how to respond to it. Another interesting thing about this is that it's both academically and religiously. I have always thought of martyrdom along religious lines and it’s interesting to me to think of it through Middleton’s point of view, being that all acts considered martyred by anyone should be analyzed under that pretext. For example, Middleton examines whether Matthew Shepard could be and is considered a martyr. While I don’t attempt to agree or disagree with that, I think it’s worth noting that other people made him a martyr. It was upon his death that people gave him that label and began to spoke about his life and death in martyred terms. This to me, seems like an excellent example of Middleton’s overall guise in the book, that martyrdom is created by the narratives of people(s) lives. In the painting of The Martyr of the Maccabees, the victims are obviously being held captive and condemned to what is assumed to be death. It’s depicted in a way to automatically assume victim and perpetrator, oppressed and oppressor. Yet, Middleton and the clip on self-immolation show that it’s not that easy and again, it comes back to narrative. The narrative in the painting is one of pity and punishment, and the viewer will make that distinction even if they know nothing of the story. I don’t think it’s a very large leap to see how that is done in current society, particularly in media. It’s might be worth considering, as outlandish as it seems, to consider whether the very recognition of a martyr, gives cause for there being any. Which is a little bit like Rick Steves statement, “My hunch is that if we were less easy to demonize, they’d have a tougher time recruiting these terrorists...” Alexandria
According to Middleton, the controversy in deciding who is or is not a martyr stems from the fact that the idea of a martyr is not "clear cut". An example of this controversy revolves around the Islamic suicide bombers. For many people in countries where Islam is the practiced religion, they are known as martyrs. But to most Americans, they are regarded as terrorists. One person's idea of a martyr may vary greatly from another person's idea of a martyr. There is also a difference of opinion regarding the instance in which someone kills themselves and also murders other people in the act is not a martyr, they are a terrorist. To some people a martyr only sacrifices himself and does not bring others along with him unwillingly. Another problem with defining martyrdom is the fact that the dictionaries are little to no help. Their definitions do not properly coincide with Christianity, Judaism and Islamic ideals of what a martyr is. The image in the slideshow that I have selected to discuss is the first image with Socrates drinking the hemlock poison. In this picture, Socrates appears to be less upset with his inevitable demise than his followers around him who are all covering their faces and appear to be in despair. From what I have learned about Socrates, it is no wonder that he is depicted as facing death fearlessly for it is an area in which he has yet to discover. Education and wisdom were very important to Socrates, so it does not surprise me that he would welcome learning about the afterlife first hand. If I were to write a martyr story about this image, I would definitely highlight Socrates' accomplishments in life and in death. Socrates was ordered to be put to death for corrupting the youth while he was alive, and he continued to be influential even in death. The death of Socrates did not achieve the expected outcome by the Athenian court, in fact Socrates continued to have followers long after his death. Cassie Brandes
According to Middleton, the main points of controversy in determining martyrdom, aside from the lack of a clear, specific definition are deaths involving suicide and murder. It is not clear whether the taking of one’s own life or loss of life after attempt (or success) to kill another still qualifies one as a ‘martyr’, considering both of these acts are generally viewed as wrong. In the image of the death of Matthew Shepard, the artist portrays the characters very obviously in lights of good/evil (and helpless). The persecutors are illustrated as animals, even less than humans. They have sharp teeth and frightening, bulging eyes. They are obviously meant to be inhumane and evil. The victim, Shepard, is shown as mutilated. It is even difficult to discern if (or where) he has a face, and there is blood on his ripped clothing. This is to show the extreme suffering which he underwent. This displays his obvious helplessness, invoking feelings of pity and sorrow. He also is draped on the wooden fence, arms stretched to the sides. As Middleton points out in his account of Matthew Shepard’s martyrdom, the position is reminiscent of Jesus on the cross. If I were to write an account of Matthew Shepard’s story, I would highlight the helplessness of this victim and the horror of his death. Middleton explains that whether Matthew Shepard was a saint in his previous life or not, the circumstances of his death are all that really matter to people. This assertion is true, as his death is the rallying point that a cause needs, not his death. I would highlight the fact that he was killed for the sole reason of his sexual orientation. He was not provoking hostility, his only crime that night was to trust the wrong people to give him a ride home. Also illustrating the brutal truth of a crime such as this gets people’s attention. Is this a cheap strategy? Maybe. However, it would also be a crime to downplay the truth of the matter. Welcome to Martyrdom, everyone! This will be the forum for us to share our ideas on the concepts, issues, and themes we encounter while investigating martyrs and martyrdom.
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