"They can only kill us."

I'm taking a course on the book of Revelation.  The following is a section from the Believer's Church Bible Commentary: Revelation, discussing persecution:

The principle of not clinging to life in the face of tribulation is demonstrated in the activity of certain young blacks in the days of apartheid South Africa.  Allen Boesak reports that in response to black youths' nonviolent resistance, government troops killed children and forced young people to be aware that they needed to be willing to give their lives for the cause of the birth of the new South Africa.  The youths responded with the words: "They can only kill us."  Boesak elaborates: "Their only power is the power to destroy.  They can never last.  If the church as a whole in South Africa does not learn that now, soon it will have nothing to teach." (1987:83-84).  


This does not mean that the faithful renounce life or seek martyrdom.  Boesak continues:  "We get even angrier at those who, while hiding behind the guns of the oppressor, accuse us of seeking to become martyrs.  There  is no way to explain this to those who will never undersand what it means to know that life may be all one has, but it is not all there is.  We love life because it is a gift of God, we protect it from the destroyers of the earth because it is sacred, and yet we are willing to give it up for the sake of others because giving it thus is a gift of God too."  (1987:89-90).  


Such powerful words.

If you are interested, the book quoted is Comfort and Protest: The Apocalypse from a South African Perspective by Allan A. Boesak.