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[H]ow often do people knowingly die for a lie?
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I wonder if this is a question that can even be answered definitively. The fact that historians invest so much time trying to understand the motivation of soldiers who fought during a number conflicts suggests that the question defies uncomplicated answers.
IMO, answering the question basically requires one to know a person's state of mind during those moments when one faces certain death. How would one know that a person is balancing thoughts of "This is a cause for which I'd die" with thoughts of "Maybe I'll come out of this alive."
And then there are the complicated questions about truth, faith, knowledge, free will, and choice.