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What's in a name?

Unknown
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
Unfortunately I have name that is often mistaken for being a Muslim. This does not bother me for whilst St Peter denied Jesus three times in one night, I have to announce and confirm my faith at least once every day in my life.

Has this strengthened my faith? Certainly.

So what’s the problem? I do realise that we do not live in a perfect world. Some people in the west do not believe that there are Christians in Egypt. Certainly most of people in the west seem to think that nothing but Islam lives in Egypt. It has been taught to educate many of these simple people – I do think that some have grasp the concept of simple Geography that for Christianity to come to the west that it must have gone through Egypt! A religious and history lesson also tells us that Jesus entered Egypt and blessed its people.
My concern is for the so called junk mail that I receive from Islamic organisations that send me literature (mainly asking for money to help Muslims only!!). So how do I stop these people from assuming that I am not a Christian and sending me this junk (cr@p)?

I have a brother that has an ancient Egyptian (pharaohs) name and he does not get these. His approach was to contact the distributors of my details and ask them not to send my details out. After careful consideration I have decided not respond to these so junk mail for the following reasons:

(a) If the devil tempts you then turn away,
(b) I like to know what the so called ‘enemy’ is up to with regards to asking for help, money, etc…
(c) Let them waist their money is sending me these junk mail, better spend it on postage than on weapons,
(d) there are many organisation that send these junk mails and as a result it would be an on-going activity, plus many of these organisations are overseas such as Pakistan and India.

Certainly one solution would be to change my name to a Biblical name. This has issues over family, finances, etc…. plus the confirmation of my faith as mentioned above.

Let me have your thoughts on the matter.

Comments

  • basketballbasketball
    well my name is mary and also the problem is the same with me..... i mean it is not just u who go through these kind of situtains... even famous people go through....... like for example in the nba there are right now 10 muslims and 5 egyptian basketball players. one that is giong through the problem that u have right now is Shareef Abdur-Rahim. he has to go to court so he can continue playing in the leauge and people say he should not even be here is america go back to where u came from!!!!! he is muslim and he has to deal with it!!!! names that are muslim and people who make fun is everywhere. now my name is expressed as american and egyptian at the same time and it is also hard people at school say i know saddam and osama bin laden just because of my name and color!! also at church..i will tell u a quick story.. one time it was a field trip with all of us from church.. and one man came and made fun of us and asked what what was my names friend... and man he gave us the most dirtiest look ever!!!! we all left but we were still filled with high spirits from god!!!!!!! so it is like this everyday to our church!!!!!!! hope it was not that long!!! thanks!!!!!
    batikha-basketball ;) ;D

    [glow=red,2,300]hope i helped u out!!!![/glow]
  • spr418spr418
    that happened to me before when i first came to florida my school was almost muslim egyptian and they just start talking about christian and make fun of it and then what i remember that they got into alot of trouble and then i left the school!all i can remeber!
    i hope i didn't understand the topic wrong!
  • biboybiboy
    in my6 old school....just because my skin is dark colored they thought i knew bin laden..although my name is Bishoy..lol
  • Unknown
    my name is nansy and sometimes people say are you muslim and i try to explain as best as i can but if it doesn't bother you shouldn't let it, and if it doesn't bother you shouldn't have to bring it up as much! (not trying to be mean)
  • Christ4LifeChrist4Life
    Thats really sad... really. My thoughts? People shouldn't make assumptions if they dont have facts. I commend you on your strong faith and decision to keep your name. Like you said, it will strengthen your faith, and it will show people all the more that a name cannot determine your religion.
  • Eh Ya BotrosEh Ya Botros
    Some people r like really thick...like they c u wearing cross and u tell them ur coptic orthodox and their still like 'so r u muslim?' I wouldnt worry bout it too much i just laugh at these people. I wouldnt change ur name cos even if ur name was Jesus people would still probably ask if ur muslim. Like u sed Deano it can help ur faith to grow and any insults u receive for being a christian- God will reward u for. We must carry our cross as Jesus did (but remember Jesus is always carrying it with us)

    God bless ya's

    Pete

    Dont let it eat u up Deano!
  • Unknown
    Many thanks to all that responded and particularly "Christ4Life" and "Eh Ya Botros".

    The thing is that we are dealing with ignorent people. When one of my son's was born we decided to call him "Michael". The health visitor (nurse here in England) said "oh, why don't you give him an Egyptain name?".
    How do you explain to these people that "Michael" is a Biblical name. This name was used in Egypt before it was adopted (stolen) by westerners.

    I shall retain my name as explained previously. Its tough at times but if I change it to a more Bibilical name I feel that I may distance myself from Christ. I think the day that I do not have to justify my faith is the day that I would probably renounce my faith.

    To those that have not responded, please share you views with us. Thanks.
  • Unknown
    lol..they always ask questions like that and whenever they see an abouna, they start saying things like, "oh, he's a terrorist." although he's wearing a HUGE cross but what can I tell ya..people are ignorant and just want to keep things the way in which they think it's amusing..but you can always tell them the right thing. Don't change your name just for that reason..it's a blessing to have a biblical name but don't change yours because of people's ignorance.
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