Judgement Day: May 21st, 2011

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sarah Palin attended a church where people talked in tongues, and the media didn't give a ****.

FWIW, Pentecostalism is a very large religious denomination in this country. Perhaps the media doesn't care because they are roughly 4.4% of the adult US population and 8.5% of Protestantism in the US, and growing. And Obama's Director of Religious Affairs (Joshua Dubois) is a Pentecostal. That doesn't include Charismatic Christians in other denominations either.

But I agree with your wider point. Homosexuals are widely discriminated in this country. Just because the trajectory is on the path of equality doesn't mean there is anything even close to it existing... Look at how few states allow even civil unions. And yes, you do have to wear your religion on your sleeve to be elected.

[SlowwHand]

Methodists, on the whole, are pretty liberal.

[Al B. Sure!]

Hey Imran, since you're a Christian and all and you're marrying a Christian, what's up with your name? I mean is she going to become Mrs. Siddiqui? Are your kids going to be Siddiqui's?

I ask because Siddiqui is a name with a great deal of Islamic relevance. The "truthful", those with purported ancestry to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, Sahabah and father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.

[Boris Godunov]

My last name means roof thatcher, but you won't catch me thatching a roof any time soon.

[Cort Haus]

I think Thatcher as a surname now has a new meaning.

[Al B. Sure!]

My last name means roof thatcher, but you won't catch me thatching a roof any time soon.

Yeah but this is different. This isn't the occupation of some long-dead ancestor. Siddiqui is an Islamic name. It has strong religious and historical connotations, particularly among Pakistanis like Imran.

Siddiqui, (also rendered as Siddiqi, Siddique, Siddiquee, Siddighi, Sadighi, Seddighi, Sidiki or Siddiquie) (Arabic: صدیقی) is a Muslim family name, found in the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. Shaikh is an additional title used occasionally by Siddiqui/Siddique to signify their Arab heritage. People having surname "Siddiqui" claim their relationship as offspring of Abu Bakr Siddique (Arabic: ابو بكر الصديق), the first Khalifa (Caliph) and an early companion and friend of the Prophet Muhammad.

[Al B. Sure!]

I can't think of a Western or Christian analogue. I guess it would be like if "Peters" signified descent from St. Peter in a culture more family/tribal-oriented than what we're used to in the West and you came across a family of Hindu Peters.

[giblets]

Yeah but this is different. This isn't the occupation of some long-dead ancestor. Siddiqui is an Islamic name. It has strong religious and historical connotations, particularly among Pakistanis like Imran.

Who cares?

[Al B. Sure!]

Who cares?

It's just odd. It's like a Muslim named "Paul Christian" (or better yet, "Jesus San Pedro") or a Christian named "Muhammad Abdulrahman" (Abdulrahman means "Servant of the Benevolent" and Muhammad's Islamic connotations are obvious).

I guess in the future with more population movement and religious self-identification, this will be more common. It's just onomastically odd.

[Dinner]

Some people send their life savings to slick hucksters. I spent my life savings on guns and ammo. Let the apocalypse come.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/01/i-lost-my-inheritance-to-the-doomsday-prophet/

[Boris Godunov]

Yeah but this is different.

No, it's the same in that it's a surname from a different language created long ago that doesn't necessarily have the same connotation for current people who have it.

What do you expect Imran to do, change his surname? That's just asinine. Should someone with the last name "Christian" be expected to change his last name should he become an atheist?

[Nikolai]

Being known as the truthful would be a positive thing for a Christian...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Hey Imran, since you're a Christian and all and you're marrying a Christian, what's up with your name? I mean is she going to become Mrs. Siddiqui? Are your kids going to be Siddiqui's?

I ask because Siddiqui is a name with a great deal of Islamic relevance. The "truthful", those with purported ancestry to the first Caliph, Abu Bakr, Sahabah and father-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.

Yes, we will be Siddiquis. Interestingly, my middle name is Mohammed as well . Basically, who cares if my last name has a "great deal of Islamic relevance"?

[Nikolai]

So true.