Earth-Shattering Kaboom

[jamesq]

So I had a weird little thought just now. Definitely politically incorrect.

Suppose you're an Islamic terrorist/scientist. You've built an atomic bomb to blow up some infidels. Being time-pressed and not particularly caring about your own personal well-being, you didn't do anything to protect yourself from exposure to toxic and/or radioactive materials. Now you're dying.

Assuming your view of God and the afterlife are correct, do you get to go to martyr's paradise (which resembles a weekend at Hugh Hefner's mansion, only with virgins instead of Playboy bunnies - and personally I'd rather have the non-virgins) even if you didn't push the button yourself?

At what point does this reward kick in? Do you have to die in the act? Does it matter if you die immediately due to something obviously connected like radiation sickness? How about if get leukemia ten years down the road?

Or maybe I'm focusing on the wrong part. Maybe Allah is like MacArthur - the point is not to die for your country but to make the other guys die for there's.

Comments

[sagaciouslu.livejournal.com]

I suspect you're thinking a little too hard here, snookums. You're an atheist. Allah doesn't exist. Habibi Umdaba is going to have bad radiation poisoning that will kill him slowly and horrifically whatever happens to his atomic device. And, the only poontang he's gonna get is whatever he pays for or is provided by his keepers.

I think that the long and the short of it is, if you want Hugh Hefner's paradise, ya gotta become Hugh Hefner.

[jamesq]

I'm all for becoming the next Hugh Hefner.

My point wasn't, the nutbars are right, it's what do the nutbars believe in this scenario.

Just to Clarify...

[jamesq]

I'm all for becoming the next Hugh Hefner, assuming Hugh stays alive and keeps doing what he's doing. If he drops dead of a stroke tomorrow, I don't want to follow in his footsteps.

Re: Just to Clarify...

[sagaciouslu.livejournal.com]

Dunno. I guess it depends on who was doing the stroking, and how long it lasted....

[tyroticon.livejournal.com]

There's no one answer. Such a person could believe that the decision will be Allah's, and therefore just -- even if it's damnation.

If our scientist is convinced that the action is pre-approved and wasn't interested in taking proper precautions, it seems doubtful that you're dealing with the sort of person patient enough to wait for death by leukemia, unless it's for the purpose of giving every remaining moment to making more bombs. One that would do so seems likely to believe it's worthy of a martyr's paradise. Those who felt it was undeserving of such a great reward seem likely to either better protect themselves from the long-term consequences or make sure they're killed in the blast.

Anyone that came to regret such actions on the basis of how heavy the toll has been doesn't likely to fit into the category you're asking about any more.

Likely or not, exceptions to each of the above cases should not come as a surprise. It's not like "official word" on the subject would have much bearing on what someone doing this would personally believe.