Letters: Names shouldn’t be a court case

Re “Baby Messiah case brings ACLU, conservatives closer,” Aug. 19

Frankly, is the name Messiah any different than naming a child Moses, Mohammed or Jesus? All of those are fairly common in today’s religious melting pot. It is our duty as members of a sane society to have the conversation about the correctness of such names. Those decisions can never be made by judicial fiat determined in a court of law.

As I come from a family some of whose members were Holocaust survivors, no doubt I would have serious issues if I went, for example, to a school function and were introduced to the Campbell family mentioned in the article by their given names. But that’s me, and I would simply have to deal with it. However, bumping into Jesus at Home Depot, Moses at the Israeli market I go to or Mohammed at the local Lebanese restaurant bothers me not at all.

Rational, thinking people decide for themselves what they can and cannot tolerate and then adjust their universe accordingly. God help us all if instead those choices fall into the hands of our courts of law to decide.

Julie L. Kessler
Manhattan Beach
The writer is an attorney.

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