I’m reading a book set in Tudor England and in the background there is the planned burning of a couple of Anabaptists at the stake unless they repent. I can’t think of anything I would refuse to “repent” of with that sort of threat, but then I’m an atheist. I’m not worried about offending a god, and would feel no compunction about lying to people given the circumstances. Want me to say I love Jesus? Sure! He’s my best friend!
How about you?
I love whoever you want.
I’m pretty sure, although maybe mistaken, that the vast majority of people burned for this would have been given whatever magic words needed to be said. I don’t think they got burned cause they didn’t know the specific magic words, but because they were stubborn.
Of course on their side they figured I guess burning for a little while was better than eternity.
At least that is what I tell myself when I see this in the movies to convince myself I’d have been ok.
I’d draw the line at naming names. I wouldn’t want to condemn anyone else to be burned just to save myself.
Well, a couple of things:
[ul]
[li]First, back in ole’ timey days one’s word meant a lot. It meant everything in fact. You often see this come up in period dramas.[/li][li]Second, because of the first if you were quick to just say whatever you thought people wanted to hear it would carry little to no weight. [/li][li]Third, again combined with one & two, if your interrogates didn’t believe you were being sincere, not only with your word, but with your religious beliefs (which like your word meant everything back then) this would be viewed as being as bad (or even worse) than being a heretic. It might even earn you less sympathy to the point where they wouldn’t strangle you to death before burning you.[/ul][/li]It was pretty much lose-lose for the prisoner. But hey, it worked for Galileo!
I like to think of myself like that as well, but seeing video of it still happen today, I’m not always so sure… :eek:
I think you bring up a situation that the OP had not considered, considering the comment in the OP about “repenting” vs what the thread title says.
Like the OP, I’m an atheist, so I’d “repent” about anything. I’d like think I wouldn’t name names, but I’ve never been in a position close to being burned at that stake, so I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t name names of people I cared about, but people I didn’t know or hardly know…?
I hope I would have the courage not to say anything that would endanger my wife, our babies, or my little sisters. Any innocent, really. Other than that, yeah, I’ll say anything.
And if I succeed in persuading the them to spare me and thereafter make my escape, I will murder the fuckers who put me in that situation if such is possible.
Oh, hells no. I’ve got to go sometime, and burning at the stake, while painful, isn’t going to take hours. So it depends on what you require me to say to avoid being burned. That I’m willing to be a different denomination? Sure, works for me. Peter denied Christ three times and still got to be Pope number one. But I’d cheerfully burn rather than incriminate a loved one.
G’wan! Entertain the crowd! Let’s face it, its Gotta be better than Act 2…
People let me tell you 'bout my Best Friend!
He’s a warm-hearted Diety; He’ll Love me in the End. Huh?
People let me tell you 'bout my Best Friend!
Gotta Dead Boy (a cuddly toy) with words to twist, So Go Enjoy!
People let me tell you ‘bout him he’s So Much Fun!
Whether we’re choppin’ off some heads or just-a shootin’ em with a gun,
'Cause he’s my best friend. La-aaah…!
Jehova or Allah!
Used TP full of Blah!
Whaaa! Whaaa! Whaaa! Whaaa! Whaaa! Whaaa!..
I’m stubborn; I’d like to think I wouldn’t. I’m only trying to figure out which would dominate. My desire to go out denouncing everyone responsible or wishing there was such a thing as ghosts so I could haunt the same.
If I can pretend to love Jesus to get laid then I can sure as shit pretend to love him to avoid being burned at the stake.
Yeah, I was thinking solely of the “You’re a heathen/heretic/reformer/wrong religionist of some sort! Repent or die!” Obviously, most of us would try to avoid letting others come to harm just to save ourselves, but there are obviously people in the world who would rather die than lie about their beliefs. That’s what I’m interested in.
For most men lying to get laid is pretty much par for the course.
So lying to get out of being burned at the stake is a no brainer.
I think I’d crack and admit about anything. Yeah, I’d probably sell out my loved ones. Probably hate myself afterwards, but if it’s them vs. me I’ll still take me. As a guy, I can have more kids up until I croak, provided I find a willing partner.
Yeah, even when I was a Christian child, I was pretty shocked at all the martyrdom going around. If the human court system recognizes duress as a thing, why wouldn’t God?
Also, I’m a giant wimp. I’d like to think I’d hold out to keep my family or friends safe, but I can’t promise I wouldn’t name someone who cut me off in traffic or who was mean to my mom or kicked my dog.
Also, I join Skald’s quest for vengeance - letting me live after threatening my life/my loved ones would be a serious mistake on their part. I do grudges real well.
I was standing in 3 degree water last week, almost up to my waist. It honestly felt like I was on fire - the nerve ends couldn’t seem to tell the difference between almost freezing and fire. Much more of that and I would have told them anything they wanted.
It’s hard to imagine a time when things like “Is this host the actual or symbolic body of Christ” caused people to lose their heads. But there it was. It’s amazing how such subtleties (IMO) caused such bloodshed. At one point in time, it was considered heretical for a commoner to own a translated Bible. Craziness. In retrospect, Protestantism and Catholicism are more alike than they are different, so I’m not sure what all the fuss was about.
So, sure, I’d convert if it meant taking down (or up) the Saint statues, and accepting the Pope (or not) as the final authority. It’s not like they had to convert from Catholicism to the Musulman religion!
P.S. A better question for ME would be, “Would you convert to Islam if that were declared the state religion?” That’s a harder question to answer.
Uh yes I have a four year old, of course I would say anything so I can be alive for him.
Unless you mean like give up my wife or child’s hiding place or something, other than that I’d say or give up ANYTHING.
I would hope to have the guts and stamina of someone like Giles Corey and go to my death with “more weight” on my lips. In reality I would find a way to kill myself before being tortured or taken to the stake.
I can think of at least three ways to prevent a condemned prisoner from suiciding before the execution.
Yes I’ll say and do whatever it takes. Not believing in a god means I’m not bound by some deity to die for him.