"Christening" a military ship?

[itsrobert]

What's your thoughts about the tradition?



The word have anything to do with "Christ"?

[Rex]

1. Onward Christian soldiers.

Operation Crusade. May God bless America.

[Rosco T.]

Don't you mean "Christening" ???

read all about it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_naming_and_launching

[babylonsister]

2. I think 'christening' is more a naming ceremony than a religious one. nt

[Demeter]

3. Did You Mean Christening?

Those are two entirely different things!

[CBGLuthier]

4. If you mean christening

And I am sure you do, well, it's a tradition. Kind of silly to argue much about it.

[Sherman A1]

6. Agreed

It's a longstanding tradtion.

[malaise]

5. Bombing for Jesus

It's sick.

[sutz12]

7. Operative word is "Christening"

I do wish they would stop "Christianing" our country, though. :)

[BlooInBloo]

8. Wow. I hate religion more than just about anyone I know...

... But that's just plain stupid.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. ...

:spray:

It's Christening, not Christianing. Just a naming ceremony. No big deal.

[BattyDem]

10. The word "christen" - like many words - has multiple meanings

christen 
–verb (used with object)
1. to receive into the Christian church by baptism; baptize.
2. to give a name to at baptism: They christened her Mary.
3. to name and dedicate: to christen a ship.
4. to make use of for the first time.


I'm not happy with the way the RWers tend to shove their religion down our throats every chance they get ... but this is a non-issue. :-)

[itsrobert]

12. So even if the word "Christ" is in the word

It has nothing to do with Christening, whatsoever. Thanks.

[BattyDem]

13. A word means nothing - it's the context that's important

Christianity is being inserted into so many aspects of our life and government, so why get offended over something like this? While the tradition was probably tied up in religion in the early days, it no longer is. It has evolved. When someone says "christen a ship" no ones thinks of religion - they think of champagne smashing on the hull!

Think about it ... should we ban the word "cross" because it has a Christian significance? I guess we couldn't say "cross the street" anymore, but we could say "navigate the street" or "pass over the street." Oh wait a minute, "passover" is a Jewish tradition ... can't use that either. ;-)

When you make an issue of something like this, it diminishes efforts to prevent REAL religious intrusion into our lives. Yes, "christ" is in the word "christen" but you need to look at the context - the word alone means nothing. :-)


On edit: I just re-read this post and I realized that it could be taken the wrong way. I wasn't trying to sound snippy - I was just trying to explain why I don't think it's a big deal. :hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. Exactly.

Hell, I've "christened" all the cars I've owned (and even a Saab loaner car), but there was nothing Christian about the "christening."

[nealmhughes]

11. It is called that because like baptism it involves liquid, a ceremony,

sponsors and naming... similarities are too many to not have the name taken in continuance of the religious ceremony...

[left is right]

14. I remember seeing broadcasts of old Newsreel footage of

Eleanor Roosevelt christening several warships. It did not seem like they were religious ceremonies. Although the original connotation of the word was in giving an infant his Christian name

[Geoff R. Casavant]

15. Probably better to say the words are "cousins."

Both "Christ" and "christening" come from the same Greek root "christos" which means "anointing." So there is no real religious significance to the word "christening" in and of itself, although the word is used to name certain religious observances.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

16. FULL SCALE ALERT, DEFCOM 3!!!

damn, I really needed something trivial to complain about :(