Today, dear ones, I want to know: What would you die for? I know, that’s getting a little deep for a Tuesday afternoon but it’s been on my mind. I’ve been re-watching The Tudors and I’m currently on season two. Right now I’m at the part where Sir Thomas More decides he’d rather die than sign the Act of Succession. Now, by no means am I saying Sir Thomas is a role model; realizing The Tudors isn’t straightforward history, I looked him up and let’s just say he wasn’t the world’s nicest guy. He’s kind of the example of strong convictions taken to their logical extreme. (They have different religious beliefs than I do? BURN THEM!)
That said. There was a time when putting your signature on a document was a big effing deal. There was a time when you would rather face a painful, gruesome death than sign your name to something you didn’t believe in. Anyway, I certainly don’t wish we could go back to those times; I think part of the reason people have softened their convictions is because we have access to so much more knowledge and information now, and it’s harder to see things as black and white. Also, at least in the US, we are very, very rarely faced with having to actually make that life-or-death decision. This is, by and large, a good thing.
Still, I think it’s an interesting thought exercise, and I thought it would make a fascinating Lunchtime Poll for today. So: what do you think you would die for?
Photo: Getty
8 replies on “Lunchtime Poll: 3/8”
In the olden days, I went to war zones as a journalist. At the time, I was willing to die to tell a story, at least in the abstract, and so were my friends and colleagues. That is, we did our best not to think about that possibility, but knew it was an option and it was a risk we were willing to take.
These days I don’t know. I like to think that I’d be willing to die for a cause of justice, that I’d risk my life to help people in need or to fight for a true cause. But we all like to think that, so I don’t know.
Certainly I would die for my family, but that’s a given.
I would die for the majority of my relatives, especially my close ones. I would donate bone marrow or a kidney to someone I cared about, but I wouldn’t put myself at risk of contracting HIV for someone else. I guess if someone told me I could either kill someone or die myself I’d opt to die that way too, I don’t think I could live with the guilt of killing someone. I have no idea why that would happen in real life though.
Oh and I really hate bell peppers. I’d die before I ate one voluntarily. I’m not even joking, if someone had a gun to my head and eating a pepper without vomiting was the only way to save my life I’m still pretty sure I’d end up dead.
Only whos: parents, brother, boyfriend. Other than that I am finding it difficult to figure something out. I would like to think that if I were in a situation like WWII where dying for one’s religion or beliefs were a real possibility that I could do it with dignity, but I don’t know. The problems with not being an idealist.
When I was younger, I used to think that space travel/colonization was worth dying for (in the there-are-no-guarantee-that-this-will-go-well sense). The older I get, the more I think it will be perfectly fine to stay on good ol’ Earth.
Other than that, I think the standard things would apply. The issue for me is more “How much pain am I willing to endure”* than actual death.
*note: Not a lot … I am very wimpy
I would die for my niece, for my husband. Probably for my brother and sister-in-law, although it wouldn’t be the instant “yes” it would be for Red-Headed Niece and Mr.
For what? Hmm. I don’t think there’s anything I would die for, at least not off the top of my head.
This is something I’ve actually thought about before, and it came down to Who, not What. I’d die to save the life of my siblings, neice, and nephew. I failed to come up with a “What”.
Me too. And I’m not sure what that says about me. Or perhaps society in general.
I’d die to save my Whos, absolutely. But I can’t think of a single What that matters enough for me to not be around. Not reproductive rights, not child abuse in the community at large, not educational access. Even though all of those Whats and more matter to me hugely. So much that I fight and get angry with my Whos about them. But I’d still die for my Who and not my What.
What about Military service, do you suppose? If you had ever been in the service, does what you would die for change, because the reality that you might actually die change? The idea that as a solider, one is willing to die for their country. Or in reality, is one still simply willing to die for their Whos, just on a broader scale?
That’s exactly what I was thinking: anyone who’s in the military is basically saying they would die for their country, or perhaps specifically for the cause of the war/battle in question. I know this is not always the case, but it’s frequently true.
Also, any life-threatening professions, such as police or firefighters, no?