# Is It Worth Dying For? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235 "2010-10-06T11:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaking\_Boot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e68b1a/32.png) [@Leaking\_Boot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaking_Boot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/1 "2010-10-06T11:34:13Z")
Ok, I’ll 'fess up - I’m pretty new here, and to message boards in general. From what I’ve read, Dopers are (on the whole) very intelligent people with rational, well formed views who may, however, become passionate and perhaps even irrational about an issue they feel strongly about. Certainly, many Dopers are committed enough to do painstaking research before posting a lengthy, thoroughly justified and often strongly polemic discourse. So my question is - what is it that you’d be willing to die for? It might be a cause, your religion, your kids, or chocolate cake. I like to think I’d die to save another person, e.g. in a hostage situation: “No, take me, that guy has his whole life ahead of him!” But deep down I have a sneaking suspicion that if the chance arose, I might just keep my head down. You get one life, and it is exclusively yours. Aren’t you obliged to live it? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/2 "2010-10-06T11:46:49Z")
Quite a few things really - no causes or -isms, but my kids, my friends, my ex-wives and now that I am old and pretty beat up, the younger hostage. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/3 "2010-10-06T13:09:43Z")
Immediate family only probably. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/4 "2010-10-06T13:14:27Z")
Given the opportunity to think logically and clearly, I would give my life to save the life of a stranger who had kids to raise. Nobody depends on me. Of course, if that type of situation came up, I don’t know what the chances are that I’d be thinking logically and clearly. Hopefully I’d be thinking clearly enough to make the right choice. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/5 "2010-10-06T13:16:18Z")
> [@elninost0rm](#): > > Immediate family only probably. Yeah. Can’t think of anything or anyone else that I’d be close to certain about. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/6 "2010-10-06T13:23:49Z")
I wouldn’t throw an innocent person under the bus to save myself, but that’s all I can think of at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/7 "2010-10-06T13:58:57Z")
There is almost nothing I would die for. I’ve said this ever since I read it somewhere - you only have one life but you can pick up fifty causes on any street corner. People? Probably only my SO. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/8 "2010-10-06T14:05:41Z")
If it’s worth dying for, it’s worth living for. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/9 "2010-10-06T15:09:34Z")
I could see myself suiciding in a war situation if I was captured and thought I might reveal information under torture that would jeapardize more lives. The list of things I am willing to fight and kill over (and thereby risk death) is basically my family and the Bill of Rights and for the later I might even be willing to risk the family depending on the seriousness of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/10 "2010-10-06T15:22:49Z")
You guys. After all, I was soldier and that is what we do. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/11 "2010-10-06T15:39:32Z")
Lots of things. More than most, I think. I’d rather die than use violence, for instance, so I guess I’d die for pacifism. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/12 "2010-10-06T15:44:28Z")
Interesting, but would it work? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/13 "2010-10-06T15:52:28Z")
The only time I ever really put my life on the line knowingly (and nearly lost it) was to try to save a drowning kid. So I proved that was worth dying for. Though I didn’t really think much before acting, I knew I was taking a big risk. Other scenarios? I just don’t know. I could theorize, but I’d have to see what I did when the rubber really meets the road. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/14 "2010-10-06T15:55:02Z")
I’d sacrifice my entire family tree without a second’s hesitation, if it was my only option to save myself. I’d wipe out every living being on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/15 "2010-10-06T16:00:44Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > You guys. After all, I was soldier and that is what we do. So? Such is your choice. I won’t join the Armed Forces exactly because of this - not any branch. _However_ one of the very few reasons I could see dying is defending my country. I don’t mean going into another country and attacking, that’s not defense. I mean when the enemy is literally at the gates and we have to fight or die. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/16 "2010-10-06T16:07:07Z")
If I can’t take one of the criminals with me, I don’t see the point. I’d rather die in some futile attempt at heroism than go sheeplike to my end. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/17 "2010-10-06T16:08:30Z")
My kids for sure. My wife, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/18 "2010-10-06T16:10:20Z")
You never really know how you react till the time comes. I was young but I always believed in the right to die with dignity and for people to “pull the plug.” Then my mum had a heart attack and was on life support. She died anyway, but I can tell you there was no way in hell I’d ever have let anyone pull that plug. And that feeling TOTALLY shocked me. If you had asked me 24 hours before I would’ve sworn up and down that I wouldn’t keep someone on life support who had no chance, but then when it happened to my mum, I did a 180 One thing I’ve learned in my 46 years is “it’s suprising what you can do when you have to.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/19 "2010-10-06T16:29:48Z")
If it was me or the Celtling I’d die for her in a heartbeat. But other than that my first, best responsibility is to live and care for/protect her. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235/20 "2010-10-06T16:36:12Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > > > You guys. After all, I was soldier and that is what we do. > > So? Such is your choice. I won’t join the Armed Forces exactly because of this - not any branch. > > _However_ one of the very few reasons I could see dying is defending my country. I don’t mean going into another country and attacking, that’s not defense. I mean when the enemy is literally at the gates and we have to fight or die. I hope I did not offend you with my reply. I frankly do not understand your ‘so?’ question. This is just the choice I made. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-worth-dying-for/556235.md?page=2)