What me and the Pope have in common

The power of words is arguably the largest force on the planet. It can motivate, build communities, build relationships, build entire civilizations but can also destroy. At it's most basic level, the power of words is a form of hypnotism. At it's more advanced level, it's brain washing. Hypnotism does not mean being put into a trance and told to dance like a chicken, although that is certainly one form of it. It is simply the art of speaking to the subconscious is a way that it can understand.

Consider the famous "White bear" experiment, which you have most likely heard of in some form or another. This experiment was about thought suppression, how when told not to think of something you will obsessively do so. The participant would be told to think of whatever they want for 5 minutes and say what they are thinking. After this, they are given a bell and told to, again, think of whatever they wanted but "Don't think of a white bear". If they thought of a white bear they would have to ring the bells. Of course, there were more bells ringing than in Santa's workshop. Although this demonstrates the impossibility of suppressing thoughts, it also is a good example of how the subconscious works. The current, main belief is that the subconscious mind does not recognise negative qualifiers such as "don't". So when told "Don't think of a white bear" your subconscious hears "Think of a white bear".

If you read my last blog, you will see I believe the most important words are our names. Our names are told to us over and over again our entire lives, so surely it must have some impact on our lives. And I'm not the only one who thinks this. A quick search online (after finding the right keywords) delivers many results asking this same question: Does a person's name shape their personality? Which leads me to the title of this blog post.

On Wednesday nights, I volunteer at a local radio station where I assist in recording radio dramas, but every three weeks I record IRN (the international religious news) which is sent to roughly 12 radio stations. I usually find the stories mildly interesting but I wouldn't normally, say, write a blog about them. But today, one stuck out to me. It was a story about the pope and how he believes people shouldn't name their children after celebrities but choose names from the bible.

"Every baptised child acquires the character of the son of God, beginning with their Christian name, an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit causes man to be born anew in the womb of the Church."

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Look+Bible+Hollywood+pope/4091636/story.html#ixzz1ArfAfTAt

 That's a quote from the pope which, I'll be honest, I don't really understand. Monsignor but it a bit more understandably:

"Naming children after perfumes, bicycles and countries is putting a limit on their potential. They are not merchandise or commodities."

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Look+Bible+Hollywood+pope/4091636/story.html#ixzz1ArgaVYDi

Even though I'm from Northern Ireland, I choose to not identify with either Catholicism or Protestantism. But even still, it's not that often me and the Pope agree on something. I don't know how much power is in a name, or words in general, but everyone from politicians to poets have sought to use them to their advantage, so they must have some sort of power.

In conclusion: You may not agree that names have power at all, but if you call your child "Apple" or "Peaches", don't be too surprised if they turn out a bit seedy. I'm not necessarily saying name your child a biblical name, but at least choose one that matters, something important to yourself or to your family. The actor Tim Roth's surname used to be "Smith" but when his father returned from the second world war, he changed his surname to a Jewish name, in memory of what he'd seen, wouldn't something meaningful like that be better than being named after a piece of fruit?