Offerings

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?

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Would you die for a cause?

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  1. Ryan: Yes. Well, maybe. I am lucky to live in a world that affords me the opportunity to be passionate about a cause without having to consider it in absolute terms, i.e. would I die for it. I think that makes the idea seem a bit foreign to me. I ... Read more

  2. Allison: Would you die for a cause? This is a difficult question. I think it is interesting to look at the question for the angle of not knowing what the value of life is unless you realize what the cost of death is. Although I am unsure what causes I ... Read more

  3. Ashley: I think I would die for a cause. I would die for a life such as the life of my child. So I guess if the cause was to protect a life or lives, then maybe. I’ve never been in the situation where I have had to make this decision. I only ... Read more

  4. Laura: I would die for the people I love. I would die if I knew that in doing so I would improve the world in a much greater way than I could by living. I would die if it brought justice to the world’s suffering. But I really don’t ... Read more

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