to die for a belief is martyerdom.... and not limited to those who support just or even sane causes... IMO. I will live my beliefs and risk my life to protect what I believe needs protecting... but I am no suicide bomber or self immolator to throw my life away for some cause or belief ... access to virgins or counting on a better afterlife/place on the wheel doesn't do it for me.   

I'm thankful that I have never had to kill a fellow human, though that attitude does not extend to my livestock... with a few notable exceptions. And I do not consider an embyro or fetus to be sacrosanct... only the parents have any business determining whatever fate it may have.   

There are those who worked for change/progress and knew that they risked their lives... and they still did what they felt needed to be done... and I am sure hoped they would survive to see that better day. Soldiers put themselves at risk, but very few are even asked to take on what is sure to be a suicide mission... though there have indeed been notable exceptions...

but I think the world is a better place when we engage in enlightened self interest and altruism... and you need to be alive to do that.