story goes that during the persecution of Christians in alexandria in 249 AD, apollonia was abducted, her jaw and teeth were broken, and she was ordered to blaspheme against God or else be thrown into the fiery pit that had been built outside the city gates. apollonia is said to have asked her captors for a little time to think things over. she freed herself from her bonds, ran directly to the fire, and voluntarily jumped in.
some folks say this amounts to suicide - which is tremendously sinful - and other folks say this is the height of Christian love - spare your enemy from sinning. (and, no doubt, others say this is just a bunch of made-up crap.)
i say, it doesn't matter. any way you slice it, we should all be like apollonia.
if she committed suicide and went to hell for it, then wow, what a lady. willing to go to hell so maybe somebody else won't have to.
if it's made-up crap, then wow, what a grasp storytellers through the ages have had on what it means to really love God first and neighbor an incredibly close second.
the point is, it's the story that matters. not the truth or not of it. it's the ideal that matters.
but, nobody cares about ideals anymore. if they did, "leave it to beaver" would still be on.
