{"id":171,"date":"2008-10-14T15:21:21","date_gmt":"2008-10-14T19:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/?p=171"},"modified":"2008-10-14T15:21:21","modified_gmt":"2008-10-14T19:21:21","slug":"whats-in-a-name-october-pulp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/?p=171","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s in a name? &#8211; October PULP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" \/><meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\" \/><meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" \/><meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 11\" \/>\n<link href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CUsers%5CCHRIST%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\" rel=\"File-List\" \/><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>  <w:WordDocument>   <w:View>Normal<\/w:View>   <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>   <w:PunctuationKerning\/>   <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>   <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>   <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>   <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>   <w:Compatibility>    <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>    <w:SnapToGridInCell\/>    <w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>    <w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>    <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>   <\/w:Compatibility>   <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>  <\/w:WordDocument> <\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>  <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">  <\/w:LatentStyles> <\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style> <!--  \/* Style Definitions *\/  p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t{mso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmargin:0in; \tmargin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:12.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink \t{color:blue; \ttext-decoration:underline; \ttext-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed \t{color:purple; \ttext-decoration:underline; \ttext-underline:single;} @page Section1 \t{size:8.5in 11.0in; \tmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; \tmso-header-margin:.5in; \tmso-footer-margin:.5in; \tmso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 \t{page:Section1;} --> <\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]> \n\n<style>  \/* Style Definitions *\/  table.MsoNormalTable \t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\"; \tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; \tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0; \tmso-style-noshow:yes; \tmso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; \tmso-para-margin:0in; \tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:10.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\"; \tmso-ansi-language:#0400; \tmso-fareast-language:#0400; \tmso-bidi-language:#0400;} <\/style>\n\n <![endif]--><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>What\u0092s in a name?<o:p><\/o:p><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I\u0092ve taken a lot of crap for my name in my life. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u0093Hey, your name\u0092s Christian. Are you a Christian, Christian?\u0094<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u0093Hey, can we call you Buddha instead?\u0094<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Save it. I\u0092ve heard them all before. They\u0092re not funny, either.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I get even more grief when people find out my middle name is \u0091Damien.\u0092<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u0093Dude, are your parents, like, devil worshippers?\u0094<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u0093Wow, isn\u0092t that a contradiction or something?\u0094<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Yes, you nailed me; I\u0092m a walking, talking, devil-worshipping contradiction in nomenclature. Now, go get a life.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Never mind that the movie <em>The Omen<\/em>, which gave the name \u0091Damien\u0092 such a bad rap, came out in 1976, and I was born in 1971. While I appreciate the suggestion that maybe I\u0092m less than thirty-two years old, a cursory glance at my graying whiskers and ever-retreating hairline suggests otherwise. So no, I was not named after the demon-child of the seventies cult movie who made his nanny dangle herself from the family estate\u0092s second-story by a rope.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The actual origin of my middle name, I think, is much more interesting.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">My first name is easy enough to figure out. My mom, who was raised Southern Baptist, liked the idea of setting me on the path of her faith of origin from the beginning. That part is clear-cut. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">As for my middle name, my mom was actually reading the book <em>The Exorcist <\/em>by William Peter Blatty while pregnant with me, and liked the name of the priest, father Damien Karras. He\u0092s the guy who ultimately saves the little girl from possession by taking the evil spirit on himself, then hurling himself down a flight of stairs to his death.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Much better, right?<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Why she decided that reading a book about a demon-possessed child while gestating her first \u0096 and ultimately, only \u0096 child was a good idea is beyond me. You\u0092ll have to ask her about that one. But suffice it to say that my name has preceded me my whole life, and has led to many theological discussions, both wanted and unwanted.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I joke that, because my mom is Baptist and my dad is atheist, it makes perfect sense that I\u0092m a raging commie-liberal member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). By my own estimation, I\u0092m not really a raging commie-liberal, despite the howls from far-right letter writers I\u0092ve received over the years. But I do think that Christianity \u0096 and arguably, organized religion in general \u0096 could benefit from some spokespeople who don\u0092t necessarily resonate with the Pat Robertsons, James Dobsons or even the Joel Osteens of the world.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">We Christians aren\u0092t all that weird.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Beyond this, there are lots of voices outside the Christian mainstream who either get stereotyped into a freakish, monolithic cartoon of themselves by modern culture, or who simply get drowned out of the theological conversation entirely.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I\u0092m a Christian, primarily as a result of family culture and personal choice. I\u0092ve also studied Buddhism, Confucianism, Aristotelian metaphysics, a dash of Judaism and even some Pagan practices here and there. On the whole, I\u0092ve found something to enlighten me and broaden my understanding of the divine in all of them. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I admit a bias up-front about theology, given that my own understanding even about other faiths gets filtered through my own personal experience, whether I want it to or not. But it\u0092s my hope that in this new experiment with a Spirituality Section in PULP, we\u0092ll create a space for a respectful and enlightening exchange of ideas. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Though I\u0092ll continue my own regular column here, we\u0092ll also have guest columnists as we are able, hopefully from an array of faith backgrounds. I\u0092d even welcome thoughtful contributions from those who aren\u0092t quite sure what they believe.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">In addition, we\u0092ll try to continue a Question-and-Answer section, where we welcome you to submit any questions you might have about religion, faith, spirituality and the like. We may not have the answer, but we\u0092ll try to find one for you.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">There\u0092s always a combination of excitement and anxiety around a new project like this. There will be those who will oppose the very idea of having a section like this in an independent free paper \u0096 and that\u0092s okay. I\u0092m used to angry letters. There are others who are open to the ideas of others on matters metaphysical, even if \u0096 or hopefully especially if \u0096 they don\u0092t share the same views.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">It\u0092s not so much my hope that we\u0092ll all end up agreeing about anything, but rather that we all find something in this experience that we\u0092ve not encountered before. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">It seems I was destined since birth to wrestle with matters of faith. Come on in and join the fray. We\u0092ll struggle through this mystery we call \u0091life\u0092 together.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p>\u00a0<\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Christian Piatt is the author of <em>MySpace to Sacred Space and Lost: A Search for Meaning. <\/em>He is the music minister for Milagro Christian Chruch and is the Lifestyle Editor for PULP. Contact Christian at <a href=\"mailto:cpiatt@milagrocc.org\">cpiatt@milagrocc.org<\/a>. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u0092s in a name? \u00a0 I\u0092ve taken a lot of crap for my name in my life. \u00a0 \u0093Hey, your name\u0092s Christian. Are you a Christian, Christian?\u0094 \u00a0 \u0093Hey, can we call you Buddha instead?\u0094 \u00a0 Save it. I\u0092ve heard them all before. They\u0092re not funny, either. \u00a0 I get even more grief when people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/christianpiatt.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}