Pro-martyr

Such a man was John Brown. He was strong in his moral and mental nature, as well as in his physical nature. He was born to lead; and he led, and made himself the pro-martyr of a cause rapidly perfecting.

John was a son, probably the younger son, of Zebedee and Salome and a brother of the elder James who became the pro-martyr of the apostles.

We have a tragic instance of baneful clericalism in the death of Patrick Hamilton, the pro-martyr of the Scottish Reformation

Among the scholars at Douai, men were being prepared to serve as priests and some showed themselves eager to cross over to England immediately rather than wait upon events. Cuthbert Mayne was captured and executed in 1577 and is regarded as the pro-martyr of the seminary priests.

Though not hearing the tellers' full stories in these passages, we are nonetheless reminded that neutrality was not a quality of storytelling. The pro-martyr stance of the statements above will only have been more dramatized in their story form.

If we now turn to another lustily pro-martyr work we can open up some more key themes and problems.

Why should they cease suicide bombings if Israel withdraws from the West Bank and Gaza, when pro-martyr Hezbollah terrorists continue to attack Israel two years after it withdrew from Southern Lebanon?