Martyrs of Conscience, slaves of comfort
From Smithfield's Flames to Modern Complacency: A Call to Rekindle the Spirit of Resistance
Smithfield, London — Then and Now
Let us journey back to the year 1533, to Smithfield, London. On a summer’s day — July 4th — a man named John Frith, alongside a fellow martyr Andrew Hewett, was burned at the stake for his beliefs. The Bishop of London at the time, John Stokesley, who would later boast of having burned fifty heretics during his life, pronounced their sentence and delivered them to the flames. Many more would follow — tortured and executed in the name of orthodoxy, their only crime being a sincere challenge to corruption cloaked in religious authority.
The struggle for reform in England began long before this moment. Around 1350, during the reign of Edward III, the theologian John Wycliffe emerged as a bold voice of dissent. A scholar of immense learning at Oxford, Wycliffe openly criticised the corruption of the Church. He condemned the moral decay of certain priests, the veneration of saints and images, and the doctrine of transubstantiation. Most controversially, he translated the Bible into English and insisted that ordinary people had the right to read Scripture for themselves — a radical idea that directly threatened the Church’s control.
Wycliffe’s teachings alarmed the clergy, who moved swiftly to silence him and his followers. Though the House of Commons initially resisted the persecution, mounting pressure from the monarchy and the Church eventually led to laws authorising the burning of heretics — a gruesome practice that persisted until 1677. Many who followed in Wycliffe’s path, known as Lollards, paid with their lives for speaking truth to power. These were people of rare conviction — men and women of integrity, strength, and unwavering faith.
But where are such people now?
London, 2025 — A Different Fire
Fast forward to present-day London, the year 2025. Where are the voices of courage? Where are the individuals of principle and unshakable faith, willing to challenge today’s corruptions? Has the truth become so obscured, so cleverly disguised, that it’s now unrecognisable?
Our rulers no longer need gallows or flames. Instead, they wield more subtle tools: identity politics, ideological conformity, and a digital landscape that keeps dissent fractured and distracted. The resistance is divided, confused, and often unaware of its own captivity. Distractions — in the form of drugs, pornography, and mindless entertainment — prove more effective than any physical force. The strategy has evolved: not to martyr the faithful, but to seduce and pacify them.
The faith that once sustained this nation — a light that gave clarity, dignity, and hope — has been reduced to a mere spark. It took centuries of infiltration, corruption, and misrepresentation to bring it to this point. Now, the Church is weakened, the family fragmented, and the individual isolated — making the community easier to control.
Our rulers have learned a crucial lesson: martyrdom can ignite a movement. But if people are lulled into a spiritual slumber, ruled by their desires, and distracted by illusions, they can be subdued without resistance. As the fable of The Wind and the Sun reminds us — persuasion is more effective than force. And so, with soft power and cultural manipulation, they have stripped away the very soul of resistance.
A Call to Awaken
We are not burned at the stake today because there is little need. We are subdued not through terror, but through complacency. We are caught in the nafs — the lower self — of the aggressor, subjugated by our own appetites, and yet foolishly unaware.
But all is not yet lost.
Even a spark can ignite a flame. We must awaken — not only to resist, but to rediscover the power, purpose, and clarity that once emboldened the martyrs of Smithfield. The truth still exists, buried under layers of distraction and deception. It calls out to those willing to see, to rise, and to rekindle the faith that once moved mountains.