Are martyrs actually selfish auto-addicts?

[redchartreuse]

You will always find a "mixed bag" of motives in any group/type of people you wish to examine. Are there those type of people with the traits you describe in the altruistic group... sure. There also are those people in that group that don't have those motives in their service to others life choice. Maybe I'm not "getting it" from your post, but I'm not sure what the "point" is.

Hmm. And here I thought the OP was chock full of points!

One additional point might be what IGW, Cyan, and indirectly kristina, alluded to: that we have a tendency to put certain personages up on pedestals and engage in idolatry with them, when they are really no more human that the rest of us.

Another which I mentioned is the consideration of whether or not we actually accomplished the results we intended with our "good works," or even really care so long as it made us "feel good" on the inside.

Another which I mentioned is perhaps the detrimental effects upon those closest to the martyr, who perhaps get led astray from their own path in their efforts to clean up after their mess.

And then there is the relavence to the Ra material, in general, where we can see how the "good intentions" of those biased toward martyrdom actually end up derailing the evolutionary program for an entire planet for thousands of years.