Posted on 12/19/2001 9:05:19 AM PST by self_evident
I've noticed something odd. In recent years, a number of people have changed their names in deference to their religion. Usually they are Muslim, although if I remember correctly, Jews that emigrated to Isreal also changed theirs. In the case of American sports figures and celebrities, these name changes were instantly adhered to and respected. They've include:
Muhomad Ali --Cassius Clay
Karim Abdul-Jabbar -- Lew Alcindor
Hakim Olajuwan -- Akeem Olajuwan
And on and on. Heck even the change from dorSETT to DORsett was respected. Except, now for one.
Suleyman al-Faris
aka the American Taliban, whom the media sympathetically refers to as "John Walker" or "John Walker Lindh" -- against his stated wishes. Is it just me, or shouldn't the media refer to him as "Suleyman al-Faris, Al-Queda member, and sycophant of Osama bin Laden" as he prefers?
Muhomad Ali --Cassius Clay
I guess the Author of this article wasn't around during the start of the Viet Nam war.
Cassius Clay changed his name and religion TO EVADE THE DRAFT!
I wouldn't say he was instantly adhered to and respected by all of us who had to go in his place!
Mmm.. Maybe their first names. But then again, many people who come to US from other nations americanize their names as well.
How does changing your name help you to avoid the draft?
And if his sole objective was to avoid military service, Cassius could have picked an easier out than becoming a Muslim. Islam isn't one of the religions that normally gets you out of military service. If that was his aim, looks like he would have become a Quaker, or a Mennonite, or some other group that is historically pacifist . Cassius Clay did eventually succeed in getting his conscientious objector status, but it took a long time and a protracted court fight, including a trial and conviction, before the Supreme Court finally allowed his claim. During this time he was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title and his boxing license was suspended. I'm not particularly a fan of Cassius Clay but I think he had to be doing this from some sincere belief, however misguided. If he had gone into the army, after all, as heavyweight champion he probably wouldn't have had to do more than do boxing exhibitions anyway.
How does changing your name help you to avoid the draft?
And if his sole objective was to avoid military service, Cassius could have picked an easier out than becoming a Muslim. Islam isn't one of the religions that normally gets you out of military service. If that was his aim, looks like he would have become a Quaker, or a Mennonite, or some other group that is historically pacifist . Cassius Clay did eventually succeed in getting his conscientious objector status, but it took a long time and a protracted court fight, including a trial and conviction, before the Supreme Court finally allowed his claim. During this time he was stripped of his heavyweight boxing title and his boxing license was suspended.
I'm not particularly a fan of Cassius Clay, but I think he must have doing this from some sincere belief, however misguided and empty headed.
If he had gone into the army, after all, as heavyweight champion he probably wouldn't have had to do more than appear at public events and do boxing exhibitions anyway.
Don't we wish.
But if one is white, not so easy! Remember that David Koresh, whose name change was totally legal, done by the courts in Los Angeles County in 1990, is still belittled as "Howell" or "Vernon"-- in honor of his unwed birthfather who never married Koresh's mother nor visited nor supported the future "prophet"--...even in official government documents related to Waco.
Even the Davidians themselves are called "Vernonists" or "Howellists" in government documents, even though the Davidian sect was founded 30 years almost to the day, before Koresh/Howell was even BORN, much less joined the sect....
Lindh is his father's name. Walker is his mother's name. I think this early name change is symtomaic of a kid who is really angry at his parents' divorce -- not that that is an excuse for the rest of the despicable stuff he's done.
We had a son-in-law at one time who did the same thing -- just to get back at his father. It became evident that he was nuts in other ways too, and I'm thankful to say that the marriage was annulled.
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