Dying for What? Secular Transformations of Martyrdom

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3302819
AutoresLucien Van Liere (0000-0002-0450-8288, Utrecht University, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume15
Fascículo11
Páginas1334
Data de publicação2024-10-30
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15111334
OpenAlexW4403947466
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas25

This article studies different forms of martyrdom in secular contexts, tracing their roots back to Western European Christian traditions. The article argues that distinct trajectories of martyrdom have emerged: (a) the more passive martyr, who refuses to acknowledge sovereign power and dies for a transcendent truth, and (b) the more assertive martyr, who sacrifices their life fighting for God and the sovereign. In secular contexts, this assertive martyr fights for secular ideals such as 'freedom' or 'nation' and represents the symbolic body of the sovereign. The historical distinction between divine truth and state falsehood has been turned into differentiations between democratic rule and threats like terrorism. To further study this transition, this article studies discourses following the deaths of Pim Fortuyn and Jaques Hamel, as both were strongly labeled as martyrs. This results in the final part of the article that examines the cult of commemoration surrounding soldiers in the US and the Netherlands. It argues that the assertive martyr has reached its fully secularized form in these contexts. The transcendent imagery of state sovereignty is evident in the sacrificial discourses around fallen soldiers. At this point of death, the state's power is reinforced as a transcendent norm and reveals itself in those who 'sacrifice' their lives for the freedom of many

Islam · Secular variation · Secularism · Sociology · Theology · Demography · History · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy