Would you die for a cause?
History is suffused with men and women who believed so deeply in their ideals and causes that they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice by giving up their own life for the sake of their cause. But the level of devotion towards the Revolution that prompted Patrick Henry to pronounce “give me liberty or give me death” is one that many of us might have a hard time imagining today.
Maybe because we don’t have a draft in America today, most of us are unable to value our lives against the importance of a movement. Would you die for freedom? Would you die for democracy? Would you die for peace? (Can you die for peace?) You can never understand how much you care for an issue until you realize you’d die for its preservation and advancement. There are ways of dying that are not necessarily physical, too. What would you risk your career for? What would you quit your job for? If you aren’t willing to quit when it means sacrificing your integrity, what can you say about yourself?
And when you do all these things, what about your family? What about your kids? How will you balance your obligations to others with your obligations to causes? When is a cause so important that you’re willing to sacrifice your family for it? Can any cause be that important?
There are causes that seem so intricate, so unchangeable and put us in a helpless position. The thought that my death could solve world hunger, global warming or even one of the other monumental problems of our time, is almost welcoming. I would sacrifice my life any day to know that I fixed the world in a way or saved the lives of others.
