Huon

From Edward Gibbon's
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

"Such disorders are the natural effects of religious tyranny; but the rage of the Donatists was inflamed by a frenzy of a very extraordinary kind; and which, if it really prevailed among them in so extravagant a degree, cannot surely be paralleled in any country or in any age. Many of these fanatics were possessed with the horror of life, and the desire of martyrdom; and they deemed it of little moment by what means, or by what hands, they perished, if their conduct was sanctified by the intention of devoting themselves to the glory of the true faith, and the hope of eternal happiness.

Sometimes they rudely disturbed the festivals, and profaned the temples of Paganism, with the design of exciting the most zealous of the idolaters to revenge the insulted honour of their gods. They sometimes forced their way into the courts of justice, and compelled the affrighted judge to give orders for their immediate execution. They frequently stopped travelers on the public highways, and obliged them to inflict the stroke of martyrdom, by the promise of a reward if they consented, and by the threat of instant death if they refused to grant so very singular a favor.

When they were disappointed of every other resource, they announced the day on which, in the presence of their friends and brethren, they should cast themselves headlong from some lofty rock; and many precipices were shown which had acquired fame by the number of religious suicides. In the actions of these desperate enthusiasts, who were admired by one party as the martyrs of God, and abhorred by the other as the victims of Satan, an impartial philosopher may discover the influence and the last abuse of that inflexible spirit which was originally derived from the character and principals of the Jewish nation." Chapter 21

[Nobody is obliged to approve the last part of the last sentence, especially those who are not "impartial philosophers".]

Amaleq13

Is there a specific argument or discussion you wish to generate from this quote?

SaintOfMe

Uh... the Donatists were just a bunch of angry clergymen who didn't want to welcome back the Christian leaders who recanted during Diocletian's persecutions. They felt that those who fled were not "true" Christians. So of course they would be perceived as particularly desirous of martyrdom. What exactly were we supposed to discuss about them?

Huon

no

Nero's Boot

SO: These idiots wanted into a heaven they could not prove nor could they sense so badly, that they eagerly threw themselves into the grave.

--here's hoping they didn't breed NB