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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Your definition argues that martyrdom is an attempt to use religion to break through ideological and sociological boundaries. Does this kind of religious weapon tend to work? Is it viewed as more powerful now than it was it the past?
The ability to break through boundaries has always been there and it continues to be. The essential martyr stories are things that really touched hearts and moved people. What's different today is how fast a story can become known and how widespread it can be. Another thing that's changed, say from early Christianity, is that we have more tools to interrogate that story and find out whether or not it's true. The work that Dave Cullen did in Salon in September 1999 [debunking the Cassie and Rachel myth] is an excellent example of that. The viability of these stories can be endangered by the same means that help them become so widely distributed.
And yet, in the case of Cassie and Rachel, these martyr stories tend to transcend the facts. Despite the debunking done by Cullen and your book, the martyrdom of these girls is still used in sermons, books and other media, as you point out. If facts can't weaken these legends, is there anything that can put these stories out of circulation?
The fact that this story can make meaning of what is potentially a meaningless event has tremendous power and appeal. Speaking for myself, I would rather that the martyr stories at Columbine be true rather than false. I would prefer that someone looked down the barrel of the gun and told the gunman what he didn't want to hear. To me, to tell the truth is a very admirable act. So the stories have a certain inherent power to help us imagine human possibilities.
However, to wade into the details to figure out where all the facts are, that's a tedious and difficult business. Most people don't want to do that about a story that means something in their heart, so they don't.
Is the urge to create and believe in martyrs human nature?
Certainly, the act of human beings laying down their lives for something, for a cause, a community, is one of the most remarkable things about us as a species. The religious system that it may be a part of, the political cause that it may done for, the communities are different; the means of committing it may be different. But the fact that someone loves a truth more than a life is something of tremendous power.
I would tend to think that it waxes and wanes according to our needs at a particular moment. In the immediate aftermath of Columbine, there was a personal need for something inspiring by many people. Anyone who, say, had a child in school found a particular need answered by the martyrs. Over time, a lot of folks were able to disengage from that and take a more critical look at those stories.
The same is true in the aftermath of 9/11. Trying to make sense of something so devastating, people need someone like Todd Beamer [who reportedly led the charge against the Flight 93 hijackers] to make sense of that time. And again, now we're seeing the process of people pulling back and taking a more critical look at those kinds of stories. The Flight 93 story really embodies the search for heroes -- people who band together and fight back. And if you look at the Beamer book ["Let's Roll"], his personal faith is very much a part of that.
At what point does the use of a martyr become exploitative -- just politics rather than harmless passion?
To those whose loss is immediate and direct -- Lisa Beamer, Darrell Scott [Rachel's father], Misty Bernall [Cassie's mother] -- I would never say to those individuals, "Don't exploit this," because this is their way of making meaning from that loss, making sure that it's not in vain.
However, it's different for others who stand farther from that pain, who go, "This is an excellent example of what we've been talking about all along," the ones who pick that up and use it for a political purpose. That's exploitative. Again, the politics of tragedy is still politics. By pointing that out, I'm not saying to be cynical of politicians or other people who tell these kinds of stories. All I'm saying is, understand how the game is played, understand what the meaning-making business is all about.
