I’m sure by now we all have heard this story play out on the news and internet, but the question is: Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does a US Judge even have the authority to tell parents how to names their child?
As always, we are interested in your opinion on this subject and invite you to comment both on the article and on our position regarding this strange decision. First here is an excerpt from the Telegraph’s version of the article:
US judge changes infant’s name from Messiah to Martin insisting only Jesus Christ has earned the title
A judge in Tennessee changed a 7-month-old boy’s name to Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ.”
But when the appalled local judge heard the boy’s first name she ordered it changed too.
“The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” said Lu Ann Ballew, a child support magistrate.
Judge Ballew added that the name could cause embarrassment for a young child.
“It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is,” she said.
Her is a link to the full version:
Good or Bad?
At first glance this seems very bad! How in the world does a US Judge get off telling free American citizens how to name a child? This is another blatant abuse of civil rights, parent rights and even a gross attempt to blur the separation of church and state. This is plainly overstepping the bounds of law and the Judge should be removed from the bench and the parents’ right restored.
However, there is another way to look at this from a more legal standpoint rather from an initial explosion of emotion and the sudden ranting of a wronged citizen.
What Judge Lu Ann Ballew of Tennessee actually did was ruling Jesus (Yeshua) into a legal position that can now be quoted in case-law. Thin about this… Judge Ballew just put it on the books that Jesus (Yeshua) is Messiah and since that is a highly revered title it cannot be used as a name.
Look at the direct ruling that is now case-law: “The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” Remember that the word “Christ” is the Greek version of the word Messiah and means Anointed One. We also know that Jesus is the English translation of the Greek Iesus, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua.
So maybe we should thank Judge Ballew for legalizing the one true Messiah into the American law system and thus allowing attorneys to site this case and the rulings that Judge Ballew made. It will be interesting as this case settles into the sysem, how it will be used in the future.
I believe you did the right thing Judge Ballew and you also spared the child from a lot of harrasment and yes that is a title !