Maybe I have watched too much MTV today as I wallowed in my sickness, but this talk of making Pope John Paul II a martyr is ridiculous. A martyr? Don't get me wrong, I think Pope John Paul II is a great guy. He was shoved down my throat daily at generic Catholic High and I still was like he seems pretty good (ignoring his views on premaritial sex, birth control, the Holocaust, women's roles in society, the priest sex-scandals, and being Polish). Dying of a horrible disease doesn't make you a martyr, it makes you human. According to the American Dictionary, martyrs are:
1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.
2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
3.
1. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.
2. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.
Ok so definition one is out because Lord knows we can euthanize our dogs but not our loved ones. Definition two: ok he devoted his life to the Church but as was his profession. My arteries are getting clogged in the furtherance of my belief in Cheetos, you don't see me getting cannonized. Definition 3(1) seems little used...and ok u can get respect but adulation as something more than human? And finally, Definition 3(2: i think this is more in regards to "quit being a martyr" such as the Grouper is feeling towards my current illness. Further, if Pope John Paul is a martyr for anything he endured, it would be for living in Krakow, Poland. That is perhaps the most miserable place Fat Kid has ever been to. God, Poland sucks.