Get The Name Right

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name," said Shakespeare, "would smell as sweet." In other words, you can call a rose anything you like, but the smell will always betray its true identity. Conversely, you can call a stinkweed a rose, but you can't argue with its smell. And if you buy roses for your Sweetie Pie, you would naturally expect them to both look and smell like roses, not stinkweeds. If they don't, you've been cheated ... and Sweetie Pie ain't gonna be happy.

We recently went to a facility with the word "Christian" in its name. Shortly after our arrival, the amplifiers were turned up to bombard us with raucous noise that wasn't even pertinent to the event we were attending. Finding this "music" unbearably offensive, I immediately appealed on behalf of several in our group to have it turned down a bit. There was some reluctance, but we, as guests, were accomodated ... until "The Boss" arrived. He immediately restored it to obnoxious levels.

Boss proved to be a stone wall, and my appeals to him had only one effect: he began to call me names. If I thought the "music" was offensive, he informed me, then I would really be offended by the next part of the program. He further postulated that a fuddy-duddy like me would do better to go down the hall. I went.

Some would say that Boss was well within his rights and that I could have left at any time. That's certainly true, but that's not what bothers me the most. Here's what does.

Waving the Christian banner -- or any other banner, for that matter -- raises certain expectations. Much like calling a flower a rose. Perhaps I'm out of line, but I expect those who overtly claim to be Christians to act "Christian." And no matter how you define the term, running roughshod over others with an ironclad "my way or the highway" attitude just doesn't have the right "smell" about it.

I wonder about something else. What did the young people who were there learn that evening? For starters, they learned that having their own way is more important than the offense and hurt caused to others. They learned that name-calling quickly shuts down communication, negotiation, and deference. They learned that living up to the name "Christian" needn't be a priority. Mighty important stuff ... the wrong stuff.

Names are important, and Boss would do better to pick another one -- or else live up to the one he has chosen. A Chinese proverb says, "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." Call a rose a rose, a spade a spade, a stinkweed a stinkweed ... but get the name right.

Copyright 1999 James McAlister

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