I remember the first time that I encountered "self-immolation." I was in high school, studying in an empty science lab for a test, when I came across a picture that was forever imprinted on my mind. The picture was of a man sitting cross-legged and meditating silently, but he was completely engulfed in flames. Initially, I didn't understand that at which I was looking. I couldn't process the picture in front of me. I was filled with shock. What led to this horror? Why was he burning? Did he do this himself? What would bring him to do such a thing? These questions rattled my mind; I was unable to understand this harrowing photograph, this paradoxical burning. What forces could ignite such action?
On June 11, 1963, Thích Quảng Đức self-immolated in Saigon, South Vietnam.[1] An elderly Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Quảng Đức lit himself on fire to protest the persecution of Buddhists in South Vietnam by the Diệm regime.[2] Under the then-current regime of Ngô Đình Diệm, Buddhism was repressed by the Catholic government. Buddhism was the majority religion in Vietnam during this time, and consequently, this uplifting of Catholicism, and Catholics, was unfavorable to the majority of Vietnamese people. This religious discrimination was heavily entrenched in the South Vietnamese government, and the repression of Buddhists was a major issue amongst the South Vietnamese people. In response, Quảng Đức and a group of Vietnamese Buddhist monks organized a protest - Quảng Đức's self-immolation. Quảng Đức offered himself as a sacrificial protest against the discriminatory actions of the South Vietnamese government. He desired to "awaken" the Diệm regime, call out its discriminatory practices, and legitimize the struggle of South Vietnamese Buddhists in the eyes of the larger world.[3] Therefore, Thích Quảng Đức entered the streets of Saigon with two other monks, sat on a pillow, was doused in gasoline, and assumed a lotus flower posture. Then, in fulfillment of his life and protest, lit a match and dropped it upon his gasoline-drenched robes.
In dropping that match, Thích Quảng Đức called for the liberation of his people in the most powerful of ways. Quảng Đức gave his life so that his fellow Buddhists would be seen as equal under the auspices of Diệm's regime. He gave his life as a martyr, as one who identified with each and every South Vietnamese Buddhist's desire to escape religious oppression. He gave himself a spark so that a decolonial fire would be lit under the seat of the South Vietnamese government. He gave himself for his people, so that they may achieve liberation on the heels of his sacrifice.
In the time since Quảng Đức's self-immolation, there have been many who have martyred themselves in the same vein. From other South Vietnamese monks shortly after to others protesting Soviet rule across Europe in the 1980s, self-immolation continued to be used as a form of protest against injustice, inequality, and colonial regimes. Further, this method of liberative protest has continued into the present, with one key protest living strong in the recent memory of the United States of America: the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell.
In the time since Quảng Đức's self-immolation, there have been many who have martyred themselves in the same vein. From other South Vietnamese monks shortly after to others protesting Soviet rule across Europe in the 1980s, self-immolation continued to be used as a form of protest against injustice, inequality, and colonial regimes. Further, this method of liberative protest has continued into the present, with one key protest living strong in the recent memory of the United States of America: the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell.
On February 25, 2024, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated at the foot of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.[4] A 25-year-old serviceman in the United States Air Force, Bushnell set himself on fire in opposition to Israel's ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza. Following the attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7th, 2023, Israel took swift action to retaliate against Hamas. However, this stated retaliation against Hamas has since evolved into a full and ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza, killing upwards of 37,000 Palestinians as of June 26, 2024.[6] As an ally of Israel, the United States of America has fully committed itself to the State of Israel. Because of this alliance, Bushnell saw himself and all service-people as complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Bushnell therefore decided it necessary to give his life in protest against this ongoing genocide. So, Bushnell traveled to the Israeli embassy with the plan to self-immolate, streaming himself online and saying the following:
“I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme
act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine
at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all[.]”[7]
at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all[.]”[7]
Bushnell then doused himself and his military uniform in a flammable liquid, shouted "Free Palestine," and lit himself on fire.[8]
In setting himself ablaze, Aaron Bushnell called for the liberation of the Palestinian people in the most powerful of ways. Bushnell gave his life so that freedom and liberation from colonialism and genocide may be one-day realized in Palestine. He gave his life as a martyr, as one who identified with the struggle of the Palestinian people, though it was not his own. He separated himself from his status as a US serviceman, choosing to identify with the pain of the Palestinians amidst their oppression and murder. He gave himself as a spark that would be lit within all service-people, and all Americans, beckoning them to decry the genocide in which they are complicit.
However, these acts of self-immolation do not exist without precursors, without a history of others who have given their lives for causes greater than themselves. Throughout history, there have been many who have given their lives in service to a cause - but how many have given their lives to spark a movement, to begin the fires of justice in this unjust world? Who has given their life in such a way that attempts to light a similar blaze? Throughout history, there is none more prominent nor influential than the originator of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
In the first century, Jesus Christ of Nazareth allowed himself to be executed at the hands of the Roman Empire. A Jewish prophet who claimed he was one with God, Jesus Christ allowed himself to be executed as a catalyst for a salvific liberation amongst the oppressed Judean people. In 63 BCE, the Roman Empire conquered Palestine, occupying its land and people to increase their wealth and prowess. In this occupation, the Judean people lost their autonomy, and they came to experience wealth extortion and ethnic discrimination by their Roman occupiers. Amidst this occupation, Jesus Christ of Nazereth rose as a prophetic voice, as a messiah that would liberate the Jewish people. However, Jesus did not attempt to lead an armed rebellion against Rome. Rather, he acted to reform the religion of his people in a way that would realize a more just and free society across Judea. Amidst the religious and political environment of his day, Jesus provided a vision of the "homeplace of God" that would come to exist in the midst of the occupation of his people.[9] At Jesus's annunciation of this homeplace, the Roman Government saw it fit to execute him, and Jesus allowed them to lead him to his death on a Roman crucifix.[10]
In allowing himself to be executed by the Roman Empire, Jesus allowed himself to die in the most powerful of ways. Jesus stripped himself of any sort of privilege he had (specifically concerning the power he possessed through being one with God) and, therefore, allowed himself to be killed as an occupied person. In this, Jesus identified with the countless Judeans who were experiencing oppression and discrimination by the occupying government.[11] Jesus Christ gave himself as a martyr, dying alongside his people experiencing oppression. In this death (and subsequent resurrection), Jesus lit the spark of a reformative fire within early Judaism that would ultimately come to be a force of justice and reform across Judea and the entire ancient Mediterranean world.[12]
In the deaths of these three self-made martyrs, there is unity. At the core of each of these self-induced deaths, there is a collective purpose and desire for pervasive justice and liberation. Thích Quảng Đức desired that his people be free from the religious and societal discrimination of the South Vietnamese government. Aaron Bushnell desired that the Palestinian people be liberated from the ongoing genocide and free to rule their native land. Jesus Christ of Nazareth desired for his people to create God's homeplace amidst the occupying government of Rome. Each of these martyrs took the most extreme of actions to spark the movements they hoped would engulf their worlds. Each of these martyrs exhibited so immense an expression of love that those opposed were unable to extinguish the flames they began. Each of these martyrs envisioned a world unabashed by oppression, discrimination, or death. So, seeing no other option, they decided to realize change in their worlds, themselves being the sparks.
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Notes
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[1] Hoang Ngo, “From Death to Birth: Biography, Religious Context, and Remembering of Thích Quảng Đức and His Self-Immolation,” Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, February 28, 2023, https://kyotoreview.org/issue-35/remembering-of-thich-quang-duc-and-his-self-immolation/.
[2] Venerable Thich Nguyen Tang, “Tiểu Sử Bồ Tát Thích Quảng Đức,” Trang Nhà Quảng Đức, October 11, 2020, https://quangduc.com/p4608a6669/7/tieu-su-bo-tat-thich-quang-duc.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Seraj Assi, “Aaron Bushnell Refused to Be Silent on the Horrors in Gaza,” Jacobin, February 26, 2024, https://jacobin.com/2024/02/aaron-bushnell-self-immolation-israel-embassy-gaza.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “Israel-Hamas War in Maps and Charts: Live Tracker,” Al Jazeera, October 9, 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker; It is also important to note that the numbers are (1) post-October 7th and (2) do not account for the ongoing starvation and denial of resources by Israel. The numbers could be argued to be much higher, but I have chosen to utilize this source due to its (1) established media presence and (2) its outlaw by the Israeli government.
[7] Palestine Chronicle Staff, “‘Scatter My Ashes in Free Palestine’ - Aaron Bushnell,” Palestine Chronicle, March 2, 2024, https://www.palestinechronicle.com/scatter-my-ashes-in-free-palestine-aaron-bushnell/.
[8] Assi, 2024.
[9] This is very much a partial view of the life and impact of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I am very much aware of that, and I have only shortened it for the purposes of this paper. Also, I would like to note that the idea of "homeplace" used here was inspired by Rev. Dr. Jeremy Williams's use of the term "divine homeplace" in a lecture he gave at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas.
[10] Jesus's willingness to be executed is accounted for in the Gospels of the Christian New Testament.
[11] The idea of Jesus's identification with the oppressed in his death, as presented here, is rooted in a lecture given by Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas.
[12] The idea of resurrection is not central to this text, so I have decided to only mention it briefly. However, this idea is central to the early spread of Christianity, and it cannot go without mention.
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[Photo #1] Photograph of the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức. Photographed by Malcolm Browne, copyright held by Associated Press. Photo pulled from the following webpage: Patrick Witty, “Malcolm Browne: The Story behind the Burning Monk,” Time, August 28, 2012, https://time.com/3791176/malcolm-browne-the-story-behind-the-burning-monk/.
[Photo #2] Photograph of the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell. Photo pulled from the following webpage: Kenaz Filan, “And Who by Fire?,” Notes from the End of Time, February 29, 2024, https://www.notesfromtheendofti.me/p/and-who-by-fire.
[Photo #3] Photograph of a painting of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Photo pulled from the following webpage: “Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” My Catholic Life!, accessed June 28, 2024, https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/litany-of-the-most-precious-blood-of-our-lord-jesus-christ/.
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