The alternative — the thing being selected against — contains the fervor of the age, and it signs its name in the blood of martyrs. Howell was shot three times in the process, with the final shot fired at such close range that the barrel of the gun burned his skin. But they’re more than that, too: They’re martyrs for self-giving love against a pervasive climate of nihilism. But against despair and against nihilism, Howell and Castillo laid down their lives — so that others might live. But Howell and Castillo did, and theirs is a martyrdom that condemns our age.

Source: Washington Post May 09, 2019 20:37 UTC