EVERSE

Apparently the McCain campaign is highlighting the fact that Barak Obama’s middle name is Hussein and interpreting this fact as something to fear because it’s a Muslim name.  This raises some serious questions about how we interpret life and understand cultural differences.  I would also beg the question as to whether or not our nation is capable of sustaining the diversity of religion and ethnicity that we espouse to if religious fear is exploited during campaigning; in other words, are we a nation of bigots, but that should be for another blog.

Names are powerful because they connect us with a person or thing.  We don’t identify ourselves with our social security numbers when greeting people.  We introduce ourselves with our name because that’s who we are.  Sometimes names can identify our ethnicity and sometimes our faith.  In my Mennonite church tradition there are certain last names that identify you as a cultural, cradle Mennonite because it’s a name that has been part of the Mennonite church for generations and can be traced back to some sort of German or Dutch roots.  What’s ironic is that in today’s plurality and change in demographics there are many people with these last names who are no longer part of the Mennonite church but they still have the name.  What does this mean?  So a person has a Muslim name does that make them Muslim?

I have a friend who has a Muslim name but he’s a Christian.  His family was Muslim and naturally gave him a Muslim name but he decided to be a follower of Christ.  It’s important for us to distinguish between the name embodying who we are in the sense that it connects with a person who has a story and history.  But, to say that a name means your a particular ethnic or religious group is absurd in a world of freedom and choice.  How ironic that at election time when candidates are touting “American ideals” they destroy those ideals by suggesting that a person’s name means they belong to something that they don’t belong to.  Shame on the Republicans (I know the Democrats are not innocent.)

Words are powerful and we must ask what fills the word.  In the gospel of John chapter 1 we read that the Word became flesh and blood meaning that God took on flesh and blood through the Virgin Mary.  If God would never have become human in Christ then God’s words would always have a disconnect from the reality we live in.  It’s only through God’s fusion with the world that the world can be fused with God to transform it and save it.  This is why the name of Jesus is so powerful in identifying a reality; a loving reality that has conquered death.  

But, there are many people with the name of Jesus; a very popular name among various Hispanic groups.  Does that mean that anyone given the name Jesus takes on the same reality as Jesus Christ in the Bible?  Of course not, it doesn’t even guarantee that their Christians.  We do have free choice after all.  So why the big fuss that Obama has the middle name Hussein?

The Republican campaign is playing on fear; an anti-American fear for after all this is suppose to be a nation of religious freedom which means it shouldn’t matter what religion the president is but I guess we haven’t come that far in our belief in religious freedom.  There is an attempt to put meaning into Obama’s name that doesn’t exist.  Barak’s name embodies the story of a particular man who has a particular story and that story reveals who he is and what he believes.  That is what should count, the story that the name connects with.  If we need to resort to fear tactics then perhaps the campaign isn’t worth the air time it receives.  So I pray that the ignorant and dangerous ploys on the part of some people in both parties is put aside so that the story and ideas of all the candidates is reflected on in an open and honest atmosphere enabling the American people to make a decision based on what’s best for the nation.