by Ernest Normand
Aren’t names simply random groups of letters or words? But their arrangement, context, who uses them, and when, makes them critical in conveying specific, intended meanings.
Your name is something given you at birth. Your last name or surname with few exceptions, is your family name. It is inherited and you have no say in its selection. It usually comes from your Father.
Your first name or given name is chosen for you by your loving parents. It may signify their hopes and dreams for you, it may be strongly feminine for you young ladies or masculine for you future football players, or you may be named after your Dad’s favorite Uncle Frank who used to take him fishing, or your Mom’s favorite Aunt Matilda who taught her to crochet.
The fact that you might like or dislike your name is totally irrelevant. It’s your name and you are stuck with it. The good news is It will be a few years before your name affects your psyche one way or the other.
Studies show that names can affect how we feel not only about ourselves but also about others. If your name gives you a good feeling, it can be a positive thing for you. If you feel your name gives off a less than positive vibe it may provide you with some excess baggage to carry through life.
Names and their descriptive connotations carry weight. If you do the entrepreneurial thing and start a business for example, the name you give your business can be critical.
Do you have a favorite athletic team? Do your sons or daughters? I hope your/their team has a name that portrays a fighting spirit, strength, fierceness, invincibility, etc.
The British Navy does a great job with the names of some of their ships: HMS VICTORIOUS, HMS VIGILANT, HMS VENGEANCE, HMS TURBULENT HMS AMBUSH, HMS CUTLASS, HMS DAGGER, just to name a few.
HMS VICTORY, was Admiral Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Victory is still a British Navy ship of the line with 245 years of service. She is my favorite because I’ve been aboard. Both her name and her history carry an important message.
In his book SSN14, Commander Ryan Ramsey (RN) who taught the Perisher qualifying course for British Navy submarine officers speaks of holding the opening session of the course in Admiral Lord Nelson’s cabin aboard HMS VICTORY. Names matter.
In the Book of Esther, Haman is a favored member of King Ahasuerus’s court. He, for personal reasons is determined to eliminate the Jews. The King is busy with other matters of state, leaving Haman free to devise a plan to deal with the Jews.
Haman knew he could not convince King Ahasuerus and his subjects to rid themselves of a people who were productive, kept to themselves and caused no trouble without having a good reason.
Matthew Henry the 17th century English Bible commentator illustrates Haman’s dilemma.
“The enemies of God’s people could not give them such bad treatment as they do if they did not first give them a bad name. He would have the king believe, “1. That the Jews were a despicable people, and that it was not for his credit to harbour them: 2. That they were a dangerous people, and that it was not safe to harbour them.”
Haman set out to make the King and the nation believe these and other fabricated allegations about this people. Haman understands that if he is to exterminate them, he must first give them a bad name. You can’t eliminate a people who haven’t done anything wrong without first giving them a bad name.
History shows us that evil has no boundaries of time or place.
The Nazis had the same problem with the same people, and used similar tactics.
In HITLER’S Bandit Hunters Philip Blood quotes Heinrich Himmler one of Hitler’s mentally unstable henchmen in a speech to the Waffen-SS in 1943. Himmler called these people lice. Who wouldn’t want to get rid of lice?
“Anti-Semitism is exactly the same as delousing. Getting rid of lice is not a question of ideology. It is a matter of cleanliness. We shall soon be deloused. We have only 20,000 lice left, and then the matter is finished within the whole of Germany. We have only one task, to stand firm and carry on racial struggle without mercy.”
This illustrates the danger of mentally unstable men and women in power. If it can happen in Germany or ancient Persia it can happen here and in our time.
President Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign coined the name MAGA which is an acronym for Make America Great Again. Who wouldn’t want to bring us back to our our former strength and prosperity?
It was positive and effective message. Everyone knew what it meant. It was on the famous red ball caps, flags. T-shirts, banners, etc. It conveyed a great and positive message.
But in recent days President Biden’s speech writers have turned it around. In speeches President Biden now refers with bitterness in his voce to “those MAGA Republicans” as if they were the worst kind of vermin, requiring elimination if our country is to enjoy real progress.
Oh, the irony!
President Biden seeks to convey the idea that certain Republicans are somehow OK, and I’m sure for his purposes they are. It’s the MAGA ones that must be eliminated.
The left-wing media gleefully trumpets this and suddenly MAGA folks, ordinary, often military veterans, conservative, flag waving, small business owning, church-going folks are bad and deserving of destruction.
Since it is the accepted narrative the tide, in the media at least, turns against the MAGA people.
Pay careful attention to the names that are used by your leadership.
I proudly consider myself a “deplorable MAGA Republican,” although sometimes I’m not certain about the Republican part.