The Book of Acts reports the death of Stephen. Outraged over Stephen preaching the gospel, authorities ordered him executed by stoning. With his last breath, Stephen prayed that God would not hold their actions against his killers. Christianity sees Stephen as the first “martyr,” the first of the many believers who would confirm their witness by death.
The long list of martyrs stretches from the first to the twenty-first century. A review of church history would include among the most famous Polycarp, Perpetua and Felicity, Narcissa Whitman, Oscar Romero, Jim Eliot, and Maximillian Kolbe. Lesser-known martyrs would include sixteenth-century Margaret Cliterow and the forty-five Anglican and Catholic youngsters (most mere boys) who were martyred in Uganda during a bloody persecution from 1885 to 1887. Already in the twenty-first century, there have been martyrs for the faith, including Matthew Ayariga, Gayle Williams, and Son Jong-nam.
A common thread in all these stories is the martyrs’ refusal to give up their faith; and in most accounts, the martyrs’ refusal to respond to their persecutors with violence or even ill-will.
The former president’s characterization (see AP 18 July 2021) of those facing trial for participating in the January 6th assault on the nation’s capital as “martyrs” cheapens the word, tarnishes it by linking the notion of martyrdom to vandalism and disregard for human life.
They are no more martyrs than John Brown, though some describe the man who attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 with the term. In the name of God, Brown committed cold-blooded murder. His actions jeopardized the welfare of thousands of slaves. Even those who shared his abhorrence of slavery, believed he was “mad” at best, bedeviled at worse.
No, those who attacked the capital and now face the due consequences of their actions are not martyrs.
