What’s In A Name?
Today’s a busy day, and I haven’t had time for much lunchtime reading, but I absolutely must comment on one article: “Getting the devil off the mountain: A devout Christian wants to change the name of Mt. Diablo. Who's in favor of Mt. Reagan?”
No, I’m not joking. A devout Christian, Arthur Mijares, has filed the federal paperwork to change the name of Contra Costa County's most famous landmark from Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan because he feels that naming a peak of such beauty and importance after the devil -- even in Spanish -- is "derogatory, pejorative, offensive, obscene, blasphemous and profane." What’s next, renaming our “Santa Ana Winds”, a/k/a “Santana Winds”, for the same reason?
The Contra Costa Board of Supes is voting on this Tuesday, and luckily, opinion is runing 9-to-1 against the idea. A Facebook group, "People AGAINST Re-naming Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan!!", has been created-in a month, 80,000 people have joined it.
I’m not going to go into the comments that the LA Times article discusses. Rather, I’ll comment on the notion that we need to cleanse our society of non-Christian ideas, or ideas that Christianity views as evil. What’s next: Attempting to ban mentions of non-Christian religion. Perhaps Mr. Mijares needs to understand the devil better: as the S.C.J FAQ notes when discussing the Jewish concept of ha-satan, the evil inclination or temptation is important, for without it, you cannot consciously make the choice to do the right thing.
No, I’m not joking. A devout Christian, Arthur Mijares, has filed the federal paperwork to change the name of Contra Costa County's most famous landmark from Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan because he feels that naming a peak of such beauty and importance after the devil -- even in Spanish -- is "derogatory, pejorative, offensive, obscene, blasphemous and profane." What’s next, renaming our “Santa Ana Winds”, a/k/a “Santana Winds”, for the same reason?
The Contra Costa Board of Supes is voting on this Tuesday, and luckily, opinion is runing 9-to-1 against the idea. A Facebook group, "People AGAINST Re-naming Mt. Diablo to Mt. Reagan!!", has been created-in a month, 80,000 people have joined it.
I’m not going to go into the comments that the LA Times article discusses. Rather, I’ll comment on the notion that we need to cleanse our society of non-Christian ideas, or ideas that Christianity views as evil. What’s next: Attempting to ban mentions of non-Christian religion. Perhaps Mr. Mijares needs to understand the devil better: as the S.C.J FAQ notes when discussing the Jewish concept of ha-satan, the evil inclination or temptation is important, for without it, you cannot consciously make the choice to do the right thing.