Here is an interesting case of a "martyr" who suffered for upholding his convictions:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/03/15/383251-ap.html
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)