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Tertullian said “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church”.

The reason those people are martyrs is because they were/are - in prevailing contemporary opinion - “religious extremists”.

In reality, what that means is merely that they actually believe the basic tenets of the Faith, and simply choose to live (and die) in a manner logically consistent with that.

They aren’t necessarily extraordinarily pious individuals, or zealous, or even intense. Their blood is spilled as a consequence of being imminently reasonable, even rational men and women, and children even, who are basically certain that Christ awaits them on the other side of this temporary, transient horror.

They’re very often just “normal” people. I’m pretty sure they’re scared (literally) shitless in the face of certain death. But their reasonable nature wins out in the end.

“Religious extremists” are just “normal people”.

Well, unless they’re muslims.

Tertullian said “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church”. The reason those people are martyrs is because they were/are - in prevailing contemporary opinion - “religious extremists”. In reality, what that means is merely that they *actually believe* the basic tenets of the Faith, and simply choose to live (and die) in a manner logically consistent with that. They aren’t necessarily extraordinarily *pious* individuals, or *zealous*, or even *intense*. Their blood is spilled as a consequence of being imminently *reasonable*, even *rational* men and women, and children even, who are basically certain that Christ awaits them on the other side of this temporary, transient horror. They’re very often just “normal” people. I’m pretty sure they’re scared (literally) shitless in the face of certain death. But their reasonable nature wins out in the end. “Religious extremists” are just “normal people”. Well, unless they’re muslims.

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[–] • 1 pt

"Actually believing" fits more with the "fundamentalist" label.

In my understanding, a “fundamentalist” believes the “Faith” can and should be reduced to its most basic essence, its “fundamentals” - so in the American milieu, it’s typically leveled against Sola Scriptura Protestants/Evangelicals, who argue for “Back to the Bible, and only the Bible”. But it also gets leveled against Trads - either Western or Eastern - who push for a similarly reductionist approach, of trying to get at the “fundamental essence” of The Faith, the barebones minimum of what absolutely cannot be doubted.

Fundies in the United States were typically quite staunch, and vocal in their defense of their particular “Biblical” stance, so it’s understandable that it could carry the connotation of “extremism”.

[+] [deleted] • 1 pt