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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: DMaA who wrote (212878)7/21/2007 10:14:38 AM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (2) of 794162
 
walks into a crowded restaurant and sets it off obviously doesn't fit that description.

No, it doesn't. But your definition is of a Christian martyr, not a generic martyr.

Calling a Muslim murderer a martyr is as inflammatory to a Christian as calling our war in Iraq a crusade is to a Muslim.

Muslims think of them as martyrs and refer to them as martyrs. What other English word would you use that retains the connotation that they are doing what they do in the interests of their religion and for salvation, even if their death is more overtly "voluntary" than the death of the Christian martyr?

It seems to me that the distinction between Christian martyrs and Islamist martyrs is that the former is nonviolent and passive in achieving death and the latter is violent and active in achieving death. So we have active vs. passive martyrs and violent vs. non-violent martyrs. Still, they all seem textbook martyrs to me. They obtain salvation by dying for their religion.

If you can find a substitute word for one or the other, that would be helpful. I don't know of one. If there isn't an alternative word that conveys a necessary distinction, we either create a new word or modify the old word. Seems to me that Christian martyr vs. Islamist martyr would suffice.
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