To Be or Not to Be a Martyrdom Seeker · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Iran some people call themselves martyrdom seekers and demonstrate in cities to show their readiness to die for Islamic Republic. A couple of weeks ago Mohammad Masih, blogger and martyrdom seeker invited several bloggers with different points of views share their ideas about martyrdom seekers. Let's look at briefly to some of these discussions in Blogestan!
Harry Potter was not my idol!
Mohammad Masih shares with us why he became a martyrdom seeker. We learn he was born at the final days of the Iran-Iraq war, his father was injured by chemical weapons in the war and he spent a good part of his childhood in mosques. Mohammad Masih says my main hobby was to go to cinema with my uncle and watch war movies (Persian). The blogger adds:
If Harry Potter is an idol for our kids  today, for me a member of the Basij forces who became martyr at the end of the film was an idol. My drawings were about war, martyrs or related subjects.
Die or live for ideals
Jadi has a different point of view. The blogger says I am not a martyrdom seeker because it is easy thing to die for our principles and ideals but it is a hard thing to live them (Persian). The blogger says he wants to make the world a better place to live and he says he took part in the Make poverty history project. Jadi adds :
In the world one billion people are hungry, in my country many are in prison, and members of the Bahai faith have no right to go to universities….. I know people need more my useful work rather my death as a martyr… I believe world can become a better place and I can be helpful rather than run away to paradise as a martyr.
An old discussion
Sina Daily says this question of martyrdom is not a new one and we can see during international wars some people sacrificed their lives to hurt the enemy. The blogger considers this kind of sacrifices is not really effective (Persian). He says:
Strategic thinking and collective work is more efficient. I want somebody to show me the verses in Koran that justifies this kind of martyrdom actions!
Life is not a one way street
Nick Ahang, a leading cartoonist & blogger, wrote several reasons to show why he is not a martyrdom seeker. He says :
Life is not a one way street to blow up ourselves in this restaurant in Israel and to send  a few Jewish people to the other World… I am not a pawn to be played with in a Chess game.
The blogger says to defend our country we need to fight and nobody denies our need for military forces. But when we put the label of martyrdom seeker on ourselves, we sacrifice our own logic and replace it by other people's logic. He tells us how during Iran-Iraq war his friends got brainwashed in mosques (Persian).