Would You Die for Your God?

This question was recently posed on a BBC television programme which was discussing the world's attitude to religion and god.
I don't have the exact figures, but there were many more Muslims who stated that they would die for their religion than Christians. I was suprised at the poll results as, if I remember rightly, roughly 40% of Christians said they would die for their faith against 60% of Muslims.
It brings me to an interesting point though. Didn't Jesus die for his god? Was he really that different to those who answered the affirmative in the recent poll?
I suppose that some Christians would state that Jesus did not die for God but rather for mankind's sins but even if this were the case there would have to be the belief or knowledge of a God in the first place.

Personally I would die for my God. It's pretty easy for me to say so, purely because I'm not religious, have made my mind up about God, know I'm in safe hands and will never be called upon by Him to do so - so for me it's really not a question at all. But what of the Muslims,Christians and other faiths? How do they justify dying for a God when their religions clearly tell them that killing yourself and possibly killing others goes against the rules?

It seems to me that most people would be dying for their religion and not for their God.

wouold die for their religion but not for their god

this is so true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and no, i wouldnt.
i dont live for my god, i dont die for my god. we do not worship one another. we are equals. we do not live for anything. we simply live.

now, if i were in a situation defending my god (which is art...so i dunno if this will ever happen) and i were killed, that wouldnt be dying for my god. that would be dying in an act.

plus, dying for my god would be a complete hypocrisy of everything i stand for.
1. live
2. never die

"i will not die with the revolution. and i will not let the revolution die, because it will live beyond the grave."

"i will live until the end of time, because time cannot end without me.
-libby sanders

thats my philosohpy. god didnt die for me.

and yeah, i think jesus died for his beliefs. but i dont think he was god.

No, but then again I do not believe in the god thing in such a way that this question would have any meaning.

My question: Under what circumstances would god require my death? I mean, if someone told me that Christians were gonna start killing 1 guy every day, and my number was up, so I'd have to die for my god, then I'd run like all hell. If an Archangel came to me and told me that I had to die for humanity to advance and god to exist, I think I'd do it.

Originally posted by Leveller
It seems to me that most people would be dying for their religion and not for their God.

I don't think that it would be reasonable to die for your God, or for your religion, but, rather, for what God and your religion stands for. In most cases, religion espouses the fair equality among living beings with God being the all-powerful force. It would not be necessary to die for your God, when God put you here in the first place. I think it is more better to say to represent God here on Earth, and uphold the principles that you believe God is represented by, i.e. dying for one of God's creations.

i dont believe in a god of any religion, so my post before might have been kinda confusing.

The reason I posed the question is because this story emerged today:

news.bbc.co.uk...

"Palestinian militant group Hamas has released a video showing two Britons it says it used for a suicide bombing a year ago. In the video, Sharif delivers a tirade in English against Israel.
He says: "Muslims are being killed everyday. It is an honour to kill one of those people [Jews]."
Hanif delivers a traditional speech of Koranic verses, and the men pray in a Gaza flat."

Did these people murder and die for their God or was it for their political beliefs? It couldn't have been for their way of life as they were British citizens, living in the West. It couldn't have been for what their God stands for as Islam is meant to be peaceful.

My thoughts are that they died for thier own twisted interpretation of a religion.

How do they justify dying for a God when their religions clearly tell them that killing yourself and possibly killing others goes against the rules?

Religious people kill others for what they believe, not true christians or muslims.

I am coming at this with a Christian perspective.

There is a difference between being religious and living for God. religion is cerimonys. its tradition. Its mans attempt of reaching God.

Jesus Christ is God reaching out to us. Nothing we could do could make us right with God but God has layed our wrong on Jesus.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God (Christ) died for us.

Do we deserve that, seriously? Jesus was perfect, without sin (and dont even argue that he was with sin. To sin is to go against God, if Christ is God how can God go against himself).


Youve heard hundreds of times jesus loves you, he died for you. what if that was really true?

The creator of the universe planned you, loves you. you rebeled against him (all hunanity has since eden).

Imagine it. A war going on between man and God.

man says: I will choose right from wrong I dont need God.

It hurts itself, God, the world.

If someone hurled abuse at you youd hit them. or at least think someting nastly e.t.c

God came down from heaven, suffered extreamly

The writer Cicero described crucifixion as �the most cruel and hideous of tortures�.
Jesus was stripped and tied to a whipping post. He was flogged with four or five thongs of leather interwoven with sharp jagged bone and lead. Eusebius, the third century church historian, described Roman flogging in these terms: the sufferer�s �veins were laid bare, and � the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victims were open to exposure�. He was then taken to the Praetorium where a crown of thorns was thrust upon his head. He was mocked by a battalion of 600 men and hit about the face and head. He was then forced to carry a heavy cross bar on his bleeding shoulders until he collapsed, and Simon of Cyrene was press-ganged into carrying it for him.
When they reached the site of crucifixion, he was again stripped naked. He was laid on the cross, and six-inch nails were driven into his forearms, just above the wrist. His knees were twisted sideways so that the ankles could be nailed between the tibia and the Achilles tendon. He was then lifted up on the cross which was then dropped into a socket in the ground. There he was left to hang in intense heat and unbearable thirst, exposed to the ridicule of the crowd. He hung there in unthinkable pain for six hours while his life slowly drained away.
Yet the worst part of his suffering was not the physical trauma of torture and crucifixion, or even the emotional pain of being rejected by the world and deserted by his friends, but the spiritual agony of being cut off from his father for us � as he carried OUR sins.

Some people will say if God was all loving he would look down on this world and his heart would brake. It did, on a roman cross when he took our shame and wrong.

If God really does love us that much, if he weeps for us and has sufferend and died for us: what a tiny thing it is to surrender our lives to him.

A life will last 70 years say. to surrender the rest of my days to him is nothig conpared to what I get in return from him and is nothing compared to what he has done for me.

There is no death we are immortal
There is only a transferrence of energy from one plane to another.
from the physical to the astral
from the astral to the causal
from the causal to infinite stream of divine consciousness

Originally posted by Leveller
My thoughts are that they died for thier own twisted interpretation of a religion.

Yeah, that's what I think it is. Most religions, excluding Satanism, talk about doing no harm to another living being. Today, religions are bringing nothing but bloodshed among people. The upper spheres of the ruling elites, I believe, enjoy watching this type of strife, as they probably understand that religions further their agendas.

Adrianay - I won't quote your thread because there are so many obviously true things in it that I would have to quote the whole lot.

Thanks for your interpretation of things. Your reaction is how I would expect a true Christian to act. Recently I have come into contact with so many people who profess Christianity while screwing over someone or deliberately causing pain for others. I am wholeheartedly sick of those hypocrites who say one thing and do another. We need more true Christians who put Christ's teaching first rather than greed and lust for power and money.

One sunday, the church was overflowing, and had about 2,000 people coming to worship. Right in the middle of the sermon, two men in black masks, armed with machine guns flew through the doors. "If you arent willing to die for your God, leave NOW!!", one of the men yelled. The guests ran, the choir fled, and out of that whopping 2000, only about 9 remained.

The man nodded to the preacher, "Ok, now that all the true followers are here, you may continue preacher."

I though this email was kinda cool. Its hard for me to say whether I would have stayed in that church or not, but I think I would have. (I prolly just would have hid under one of the seats.)

[Edited on 8-3-2004 by JustAnIllusion]

You would think 100% of the faithful are willing to die for your faith. I think part of having faith in something is willing to make any sacrifice neccesary to serve one's faith. If you are not willing to die for your God that you should not be worshipping him or her.

Originally posted by JustAnIllusion
I though this email was kinda cool. Its hard for me to say whether I would have stayed in that church or not, but I think I would have. (I prolly just would have hid under one of the seats.)

I would have either tackled one of the men, or ran my ass off out that door...in that situation it is not God "needing" anyone to die, it is simply someone exercising their free will to kill you...if God actually came down from the heavens and told me I needed to die, then I wouldn't mind, as that would affirm the belief of heaven, meaning I would go to a better place anyway...

Didn't Jesus die for his god?

Jesus was the son of God and died for our sins, and yes I would die for God.

Yes.

As foolish as I know it sounds to those who wouldn't, I certainly die for my God.

I have only come to this sentiment in the last say, 2 years or so.

Natalie

Hi all,

1. I would End my life for the One True God.
2. I would end my life for my family.
3. I would die for humanity, in order to save it.

the 3rd one is very important for all of us.

Salaams

Guerilla

I would die for my family but not for a religion or it's version of God. Nor will I take a life for a religion or a God, but I will take a life to protect my family.

I would die for my god and religion as long as some good would come out of my death. I dont want to die for no reason at all.

[Edited on 9-3-2004 by outsider]