I.
Introduction

Are there ideas worth dying for? Do you have ideals, an ideology, a religion, or convictions worth it to you to make the ultimate sacrifice? Martin Luther King once said, "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." Was he right?  In our cynical age many would say no, but the insistent and dangerous reality of terrorism and the reality of death itself will not let cynicism have its way. Many in our world today believe there are ideas worth dying for. Many in our parents' and grandparents' generations thought ideas were worth dying for when they fought in WWII. Christianity and Islam, the two largest world religions, teach explicitly that they are worth dying for, and they both have martyrdom as core values which shape their practice and sense of identity.

 Tonight, we are going to consider the idea of martyrdom as it figures in Islam and Christianity. The reason why only these two religions are going to be considered is that, more than for any of the other world religions, martyrdom has a central place in both Islam and Christianity. It featured significantly in the founding of both religions, and both of these faiths have developed strong views concerning martyrdom that have shaped them through the ages and still do today.

 Islamic martyrdom operations, as suicide bombings are often called, are a common feature in our news and a constant threat our security services try to prevent. From another angle, there have been more Christian martyrs in the last century than in the prior nineteen centuries combined. And for those who are not Christians and Muslims, the phenomenon of martyrdom raises important questions concerning death and what really is worth living and dying for.

 Tonight, I would like to give a brief overview of how martyrdom has come to feature prominently in Christianity and Islam. Second, I would like to compare some of the features of Christian and Islamic views of martyrdom. Third, I would like to mention some challenges that these issues bring to all of us.