History is filled with accounts of people who choose to accept torture or death rather than deny the truth. In previous generations it was generally considered heroic to give your life for what you believed in. That is not necessarily the case anymore. Part of the problem, of course, is that terrorists and suicide bombers have co-opted the idea of “martyrdom” and turned it on its head. They call themselves “martyrs,” but they are suicidal murderers who kill people for not believing. Their violent aggression is actually the polar opposite of martyrdom, and the ruthless ideologies that drive them are the exact antitheses of truth. There is nothing heroic about what they do and nothing noble about what they stand for. But they are significant symbols of a deeply troubling trend that plagues this current generation worldwide. It seems there is no shortage of people nowadays willing to kill for a lie. Yet few seem to be willing to speak up for truth–much less die for it. Consider the testimonies of the Christian martyrs throughout history. They were valiant warriors for the truth. They were not terrorists or violent people, of course. But they “fought” for the truth by proclaiming it in the face of fierce opposition, by living lives that gave testimony to the power and goodness of truth, and by refusing to renounce or forsake the truth no matter what threats were made against them.
– John MacArthur
Christ Alone Wyoming 
Well, tragically, the Koran (already a book of lies from Satan) lies again & gives Muslims a false definition of the word “martyr.” In fact, if somebody were to publish a book of Islamic “martyrs”, I would be hardly surprised if the 9/11 hijackers were listed, along with those responsible for the Madrid train bombings & the London subway & bus bombings. Webster’s #2 definition of martyr is: “One who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty for refusing to renounce their religion.” However, it’s not just in the Islamic religion that the term martyr has been skewed. In the year 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church cannonized Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra & their children as martyrs. As abominable as the massacre carried out against the Russian imperial family was, I hardly would consider them martyrs. Yes, the Bolsheviks were atheists, but it wasn’t faith that motivated them to kill the family. However, true stories of martyrs, from Stephen, to our North Korean brothers & sisters-in-Christ go to show us just how far some of us may be called for our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord & Savior.
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