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In English-speaking countries, people might name their dogs Roman names, although that is not very common in other countries out there; many cultures have their own “Fluffy” and “Fido,” but it’s also worldwide common to name pets human names, although often their diminutive forms. I just don’t see why that should be a sin. Murdering people — yes; stealing — yes; abusing your pet — also yes; but why would naming a pet compromise your chances for a happy post-mortem existence?

Furthermore, in Orthodox Christianity, children with names that are not on the official church lists are forcefully baptized under a similar sounding “proper” name (if their parents choose to baptize them). So, say, you think you are a good Christian, and decide to have your daughter baptized; you name her Angela after some dear relative; well, guess what? She will be known as Anna (yes, my name is “allowed,” although it being church-friendly that was not my parents’ motivation) to the church.

Names change over time, and most names on that church’s list are very outdated now; plus as the cultural exchange is ongoing, new names emerge in Slavic language (and other ones, too), and I don’t know why what linguists view as a fascinating natural process should be outlawed by church. Your mother’s priests sounds like a very reasonable one — and most Russian Orhtodox priests are probably that way, too. But that’s another thing that angers me about Orthodox religion — on the official books, it’s still a sin. And yet, many priests, from what I hear, take a more relaxed stance. What’s the point of being so hypocritical? It doesn’t do much to improve religion’s image.

These linguistic issues are really ridiculous. In Ukraine, there is a sort of rebel Orthodox church that conducts its services in Ukrainian; the “main” church is basically a brunch of the Moscow-based one, and it conducts services in Russian (old Slavonic actually, I presume). So for a child with my name, the Ukrainian form is Hanna (which Russians don’t recognize as ‘Anna’, but rather as a separate name), which is what they would baptize a child as in the Ukrainian Orthodox tradition. The Russian Orthodox tradition would view that name as sinful then, since that name is not on the ‘official’ list. I knew someone who ran into that problem while baptizing their child. Supposedly, the church needs to be concerned with the child’s spiritual growth and all that, not with giving parents trouble about their naming choice.

So here’s a reply that comes almost a year later — I spent a lot time thinking about religion last year. I even took a class on Religion in International Relations, and I learned a lot. I did some research on the subject, and it turns out a Yale professor came up with a theory that we are all hard-wired to believe in some sort of deity; I am guessing my brain just functions differently, you know. Which I why I never made a point of denying peoples’ believes. I just feel that the way religion is organized makes for so many problems.

It’s great that you have a spiritual core — whether it comes from belief in power of yoga, shopping, running, or god, that is bound to make your life a happier one. I think we all need to find ours — although my encounters with organized religion made me believe I can find mine in anything but religion.

I’ve recently written a book called “The Christian Behind Closed Doors.” Its about legalism in the Christian church today. You can see it here: http://www.christianbehindcloseddoors.com. Thank you.

It is disappointing, but do not fret. Men such as these will suffer MUCH worse for turning you away from Christ than you will. But is it really so hard to simply acknowledge that Jesus exists and accept that He Loves you? I’ve never understood why someone wouldn’t simply accept the fact that a higher power out there Loves them?

If I told you I Loved you right before the police took me away and executed me. If Literally, my LAST words on Earth were, “I Love you.” And then they took me and executed me, wouldn’t you believe me?

If the same happened to you, I promise I would believe you.

I am thankful for your post, and the ensuing dialogue. I think that God is pleased that we’re all talking about him, and the good and bad in his pathetically humananized institutions. As I approach my 48th birthday next month, I’m thinking a lot about the journey and where I have been. I was just thinking about an old McDonald’s commercial that I always recall fondly, and how it’s similar to the start of my relationship with God. In the commercial a young boy who is new to a community and school is pictured standing alone next to his school locker. Nearby, a group of students is excitedly talking about their plans to walk over to the nearby McDonald’s for food and fellowship. As they walk down the hall towards the exit and their destination, the camera pans to the young boy. All the emotions of loneliness and despair that we have all experienced at one time or another are painfully evident in his expression. It’s a crushing scene. But, thank the Lord, one of the kids in the exiting group turns and walks back to the young boy at his locker. With a thousand watt, welcoming smile, he says, “HI, want you come and go with us?” The commercial ends with the two side by side, talking, smiling, and heading out to join the rest of the group. Yeah, God came and got me, and we’re walking, talking, smiling, laughing, and he’s working me through all the technical stuff. I yell and scream a lot, but God made everything out of nothing, so he can handle it. Besides, he knows I’m a rascal but he loves me anyway.

Pets and human names. Here I first need to clarify what we’re really getting at– which is not “human” names, but saint’s names. These happen to be the most common names because of Christianity’s historical defeat of paganism in most of the places to which it spread in the ancient world. This is why we name our dogs Roman names like “Caesar” and “Brutus” and why we name our children Jewish names like “Peter” and “John.”

So yes, it’s not technically “correct” to give a name which has been sanctified by people in the Church to an animal. This is not a “sin” though unless we mean to do it out of disrespect. My dear mother who also converted to Orthodoxy has a cat named Moses, and her priest did not tell her to rename him.

Sorry for the lengthy responses, Anna… I like your blog and hope to visit it more often.