One of those Say WHAT?! Moments

[Linus]

I was reading about this on Pam's Blog and couldn't resist mentioning it here:

Source: al.com

Woman named Jesus Christ called for Jefferson County jury duty

By Erin Stock -- The Birmingham News

December 01, 2009, 4:30PM


Jesus Christ was called for jury duty this week in Jefferson County.

Court officials were skeptical at first when on Monday a potential juror submitted a name change form with "Jesus Christ" on it. But the 59-year-old Birmingham woman, who previously went by Dorothy Lola Killingworth, assured the presiding judge that was her name.

"It raised eyebrows, so I asked her if that were truly her name," Circuit Court Judge Scott Vowell said. "She assured me that it was. She had her name changed in the Probate Court, and she presented her driver's license."

Christ was sent to Judge Clyde Jones's courtroom for a criminal case. She was excused because she was disruptive, court officials said. Instead of answering questions, she was asking them, a court employee in Jones's office said.

Efforts to reach Christ today were unsuccessful.

Court administrator Sandra Turner said she and others in the jury assembly room were somewhat shocked at first when the woman insisted Christ was her name. And when her name was called, several potential jurors laughed out loud.

Unlike some Jefferson County residents, Christ did not try to get out of jury duty, Turner said.

"She was perfectly happy to serve," said Turner.

You know, here in the Bits-n-Bites world we have restrictions on signing up with certain names (e.g., Guest, Admin, Moderator, etc.). They are considered special role names. One would have thought that Jesus Christ would also be one of those.. but who knew, eh?

[Thinker]

Originally Posted by Linus

I was reading about this on Pam's Blog and couldn't resist mentioning it here:



You know, here in the Bits-n-Bites world we have restrictions on signing up with certain names (e.g., Guest, Admin, Moderator, etc.). They are considered special role names. One would have thought that Jesus Christ would also be one of those.. but who knew, eh?

Pretty ridiculous.

We've seen judges squash attempts for parents to change a kid's name to something far-fetched. I'm pretty sure they could have done the same here.

Personally, I think it's immature of her to do such a thing. *Obviously* it's an attention-seeking move.

[daisygrrl]

Wow--this is pretty odd.

Reminds me of this portion of Bill Cosby's comedic routine:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYVqMj5i6k"]YouTube- Bill Cosby Thought He Was Jesus Christ[/ame]

[Linus]

I remember that Bill Cosby piece (from the Himself DVD). Totally awesome.

Part of me can also understand the why it would be allowed. I mean, it's a name; a variation of a label. We choose to associate meaning and importance to this specific label because religion. As the Bard said:

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

It would be no different than denying a person to choose their own name and the reasons why they choose it.

[daisygrrl]

I have to agree, Linus, I find the situation (and Cosby skit) very amusing.

I could also see how some would get aggravated at her choice of name. As an agnostic who formerly lived in Alabama, I'm quite curious ('cause I'm nosey like that) at this woman's reasoning and logic--but I'm not offended in the least.

"Jesus" is not an uncommon name; and, "Christ" only gradually gained signficance. This might be of interest (brief eytmology of 'jesus christ')-->LINK

[Apocalipstic]

I find it interesting that Jesus in Spanish is a pretty usual name, but I have not heard of anyone naming themself Jesus in English. I wonder why?

Jesus Christ is definitely taking it to the next level! Ha.

Thanks for posting!

[Linus]

Oh.. I get to add another "Say what?!"

On his daily radio and television shows last week, Fox News personality Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that "social justice," the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a "code word" for communism and Nazism.

Uh... whut?? I swear, American politics is weird. I mean, he's a comedian right? No one here in the US really takes him seriously, right?