What is a martyr and how are they valuable to a cause?

Answer 1

A martyr is someone who dies for a cause. When one is willing to give what appears to be the ultimate sacrifice(his or her life) it motivates others in the cause to work harder at achieving it. In the days of Rome the Christian Martyrs were very effective in bringing down the terrorist state that was Rome.
If you do not fear death no one could have power over you. The Christians were particularly effective at this because the more they suffered in death the greater they believed their reward in heaven to be. So it was impossible to scare them.

Answer 2

A martyr is someone who is killed in the name of an ideology or cause. For example, Nathan Hale was executed during the American Revolution by the British for spying for the fledgling United States, or many of the early Christians were slaughtered in the Colisseum by the Romans for being Christian. Hale was a martyr for the cause of American Independence, and the early saints were martyrs for the cause of Christianity. That said, martyrs can exist for pretty much any cause, secular or religious.

These people are valuable because they inspire and spur on the cause for which they died. People will be inspired to think that the cause was more noble or more worthy of fighting for, because some people, the martyrs, were willing to give up their very lives to preserve their cause. People will be riled up when they hear of someone dying for their cause, and this causes them to want to do more and become pro-active in the cause. In some cases, martyrs have been used to invite sympathy and revenge on other causes. The basis of the response is this: if someone was willing to actually die for a cause, then perhaps it is a cause that is more worthy than life. Thus, the Nathan Hale story was used as propaganda to spur on Revolutionaries fighting for independence, and the stories of the saints who were martyred were used to inspire Catholics for centuries after the martyrs actually died.

On a smaller scale and in recent times, the word "martyr" has been used to mean anyone who suffers for something, regardless of how small. People use it when they work harder at work than they feel like they should have, or if they make a small sacrifice to preserve their relationships, or even when they give up smoking. So the strength of the word is being downplayed somewhat in today's society, but the origins of the martyr are quite dramatic and awe-inspiring.

Answer 3

NOUN:

One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.
One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.

One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.
One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.

As for their value to a cause...It entirely depends on the cause and the actions taken.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Some believe that a suicide bomb that kills innocent bystanders will further the awareness of their cause and grant them entry to "heaven" (I am using a generic term here), while others may view that act as terrorism and murder, and believe they have sinned.
Being a maryr may mean that you sacrifice something of great value to you to help others
...but the term has being exploited and used to further political agendas not spiritual.

Answer 4

www.m-w.com
www.dictionary.com
www.wikipedia.org
enter the word martyr into any of these sites.