Newsgroup: it.cultura.religioni.cristiani
Titolo: [Africa] ti converti? cambia il nome!

Change Is The Name Of The Game
June 15, 2004 
Posted to the web June 15, 2004 
Femi Anjorin - Nigeria
What is in a name? So much, say Christians who are quickly dropping
names derived from divinities for those that reflect their faith
Until a few years ago, Sony Neme an entertainment journalist with
ThisDay newspapers, was known to family, friends and colleagues as
Sunday Onwuneme. That was before he ' found God' or became a
christian.
Immediately he did, his name changed. Neme's decision to change his
name, he told TheNEWS, was informed by the meaning of Onwunene, which
loosely translated, means "Death Is Able." According to Neme, "the
idea about a change of name came when I was still searching for God
and how to serve him without losing my identity. Then I came across
the issue of generational curses and I took it up with my father, a
very culture conscious person who was at the that time, the
traditional Prime Minister of my town." The encounter, Neme explained,
convinced him that he was a victim of ancestral curses given that his
forebears did many evil things like trading in slaves. Christians
believe that ancestral or generational curses inhibit the progress of
their victims. "Then I suddenly realized where my problems came from,"
he told TheNEWS. To halt the effect of the curses, the journalist
dropped the prefix- Onwu meaning death and now bears Neme, meaning
able.
Neme is just one of many Nigerian Christians who are daily succumbing
to the strong currents of Pentecostal Christianity, dropping names
derived from divinities or ancestral worship.
Before becoming a pastor, Mrs Obiageli Godwins-Nwachukwu, bore
Ogomegbunam, meaning 'may I not suffer for my kindness.' Though the
name has a supplicatory ring to it, Obiageli said it was a yoke.
According to her, each time she rendered help it backfired.
After one of such experiences, she said, her husband asked her what
her other names were. She mentioned Ogomegbunam as one of them. The
husband prayed and discovered that the name was responsible for those
experiences.
"Immediately after the prayer, he said he was casting out the spirit
of Ogomemebunam. I dropped the name and things have changed," she
claims. "The name of a man speaks for him. A name is like a door that
a man passes through. When God called Abraham, he was Abram but God
knew that Abram would stand as a limitation for him, so he changed it
to Abraham," Obiageli said in defence of her conviction.
This kind of conviction has become highly infectious. A fortnight ago,
a deacon of the Redeemed Christian Church of God placed a public
notice in some newspapers where he effected a change of name. Before
then, he was known as Bolarinwa Peter Oguntokun but now bears
Bolarinwa Peter Ayoade. He told TheNEWS that Oguntokun, his former
surname, is incongrous with Christianity. " Oguntokun is a name
derived from the worship of Ogun,the Yoruba god of iron. But I am now
a Christian. Why should I still bear the name that is associated with
iron"? he queried.
Ayoade attributed this to the freedom they all enjoy as a family.
"There is democracy of a sort in my family where you are not compelled
to do things. So far, no negative reaction has come from any
quarters," he said.
Like Oguntokun, many Christians with names associated with divinities
or traditional beliefs are dropping such. Names such as Nwosu
(offspring of an outcast), Adimoranma ( Am I good to the community?)
Ekwukazian (stop maligning me) Ifabunmi (I got it from the oracle of
divination) and Awodele (derived from a cult) are some of the names
that are becoming less attractive by the day. Ekiti State Governor,
Ayodele Fayose, at a point, changed his name to Oluwayose(God is able)
in line with his father's decision to change the family name. Fayose(
Ifa is able) was ditched to reflect the switch to Christianity. But
the Governor has since reverted to the original family name.
About six years ago, Wing Commander Sam Ewang(retd), then military
administrator of Ogun State, suggested a change of name for the state.
Ewang, a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, argued that
the name was responsible for the slow rate of progress in the state.
The State is named after the Ogun River which used to be appeased with
sacrifices. But Ewang, a non-Yoruba, did not cite this as his reason
for a change of name. Rather, he argued that Ogun-in Yoruba- means
juju which was incongrous with Christian beliefs.
Aside from the change of names, christening ceremonies are a little
different from what they used to be.Instead of Biblical names like
John, Emmanuel and Jeremiah, Pentecostal Christians now prefer God's
actions as names for their children. Names like Miracle, Deliverance,
Annointing, Testimony, Favour and Wonder are now borne by children of
the Pentecostal era.These are given in the belief that the lives of
this children will mirror whatever name is given to them.
Though largely muted, a few criticisms have been hurled at this trend.
Somi Uranta, a writer, condemns the trend. For him, names have nothing
to do with a man's success or failure in life. Hardwork, he says, is
what determines what a person becomes. "You can change your name a
thousand times and your fortunes won't change if you depend on name
change to direct your course in life." For him, attitude to life is
the reliable pointer to success or failure, not names.Those fond of
traditional names also see the name change as an erosion of an aspect
of our culture.
But Christians are quick to reach for the Bible as their defence. The
story of Paul after the conversion on the way to Damascus is the
preferred line of defence. Paul, then known as Saul, was an
accomplished persecutor of the early Christians. Through a divine
experience which resulted in momentary blindness, he became a
Christian and changed his name as a reflection of his new faith.
They also point to the experience of Jabesh in first Chronicles.
Jabesh, meaning son of sorrow, was so named because of the
circumstances of his birth. For many years, he struggled in sorrow and
pain. He cried unto God to change his name. God did and Jabesh's
condition changed.
Pastor Adewunmi Okupe of Lagos-based Equip Ministries, told TheNEWS
that names matter "It is necessary for a Christian to change his name
if he discovers that his name has a bearing to any bad thing in his
life. He could change it to a name that would speak of the kind of
future he expects, and I think it is scriptural," he argues.
In many African cultures, there is a belief that names follow their
bearers by radiating one aura or the other peculiar to each name.
Given the intensity Christianity generates, the trend promises to
continue.

 names derived from divinities for those that reflect their faith
Anche in Italia. I (pochi) musulmani che diventano cattolici vengono
invitati a prendere un "nome cristiano". Lo stesso, al contrario, capita
ai (pochi) cattolici che diventano musulmani.
ROTFL.
Mi spiegate cosa ha di cristiano il mio rispettabile nome?
Ciao,
Marco
-- 
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Lo fanno anche gli Ebrei. Essi hanno un nome rituale che viene loro
imposto poco dopo la nascita (nel caso dei maschietti, al momento della
circoncisione) od adottano al momento della conversione.
Ciao.

 Ciao.


 cristiano, mentre Abdallah (adoratore di Dio) non lo è.
Infatti il secondo Vangelo è stato scritto dall'evangelista Abdallah... ;-)
panurgo13
"Fay ce que vouldras"
http://www.bloggers.it/panurgo13/
--------------------------------
Inviato via 
http://arianna.libero.it/usenet/

 panurgo13


 Molti confondono i nomi arabi con i nomi musulmani.
Ed è comprensibile, così come confondere nomi europei con nomi cristiani,
perché in effetti nel corso della storia il grosso degli Abdallah sono stati
di religione musulmana come il grosso dei Marco o degli Angelo sono stati
cristiani. Esistono ovviamente le classiche eccezioni per cui magari in
ambiente islamico di lingua araba i cristiani scelgono nomi tradizionalmente
ascrivibili all'islam, visto che alla fin fine è quello il materiale
onomastico che si trovano per le mani.
Vi sono anche, per motivi legati alle più diverse vicende storiche,
variegate sensibilità nell'attingere al patrimonio dei nomi: il mondo
protestante, ad esempio, è molto più incline di quello cattolico ai nomi
veterotestamentari (mi viene in mente un passo degli Essais di Montaigne nel
quale l'autore deplorava la moda ugonotta dei nomi biblici che soppiantava
la bella tradizione dei Pierre, dei Michel, degli Henri, degli Antoine, dei
Guillaume.... passo che mi vede totalmente d'accordo con l'autore). Di
converso, nell'onomastica greca la tradizione neotestamentaria e patristica
è - mi pare - più forte che da noi: conosco un ragazzo che si chiama
Apòstolos, per non parlare dei numerosi Ioannis, Athanasios, Costantinos,
Christòs (più cristiano di così!).
Se poi badiamo all'etimologia, allora l'onomastica cristiana dovrebbe quasi
ridursi ai nomi biblici (vetero- o neotestamentari che siano), avendo gli
altri nomi usati comunemente in ambito cristiano delle etimologie che di
religioso hanno ben poco (Giorgio = contadino, Francesco = francese, per non
parlare dell'etimo gotico di tutti i bei nomi germanici come Enrico,
Alberto, Edoardo, Riccardo, Guglielmo, Carlo, Leonardo, Federico portati da
generazioni e generazioni di cristiani).
Altro caso di attaccamento tradizionale all'onomastica è quello degli Ebrei
che, diffusi in un mondo interamente cristiano, riuscirono a conservare la
propria tradizione anche grazie ad una strenua fedeltà al proprio tesoro di
nomi. Non mi stupisce, anzi piace alla mia mentalità conservatrice, quello
che ti diceva S'Essere, cioè che anche il convertito all'ebraismo debba
scegliersi un nome ebraico. Ogni tradizione ha a mio parere le proprie
rispettabilissime (stavo per usare la parola "sacre") esigenze.
E per questo, in forza del mio personale rispetto per ciò che su di sè ha il
peso del tempo, trovo che il contadino Giorgio ed il francese Francesco (ed
il marziale Marco) siano più cristiani del "servo di dio" Abdallah.
Ciao
Angelo
(che con la fidanzata ha già preparato la lista dei nomi: Lorenzo, Giulia,
Edoardo, Marianna e poi si vedrà...).


 La vedo in prospettiva storica: 
Capisco, però trovo ridicoli i bimbi torinesi di origine marocchina che
si chiamano Mohammed, ma non parlano una parola di arabo e trovo
ridicoli anche i "sedicenti Gianluca" nati in Marocco.
