Ritual Notes: What is your name?

I used to joke with confirmands about the first question in the catechism.  "What is your name?"  Pretty straight forward and easy right?  Well maybe not so much in our modern context.  

Somewhat recently there was a Bruhaha in our former diocese over the diocese's decision to use the preferred Pronouns and name of a trans person in a death notification.  Initially they elected to use the individuals baptismal name, but then they got some pressure from the LGBTQ community and changed everything.  This reveals a fundamental issue in terms of the significance of our names from a theological perspective and I blame our lackadasical sacramental theology for this very troubling error.  

The reason that baptismal names are used in the Burial rite and other liturgical rites is rooted in the fact that our names are a central part of our Christian identity.  Remember that Cephas became Peter and Saul became Paul.  Their names were changed when they confessed Christ because when they confessed Christ their identities were changed as well.  

When we recieve the sacrament of baptism we are named and those names become a part of who we are.  I am Ricky and Ricky belongs to Christ.  His mark is upon me and my name is a reminder of that.  "Name this child" is an important part of the baptismal rite because in naming the child we are forever connecting that name with Jesus.  

So when a trans person, who had formerly been marked out with the sign of baptism changes their name, they aren't just changing something on a driver's license, credit card or a birth certificate, but they are changing who they are.  It's a subtle but powerful rejection of their Baptisms and in rejecting their baptism they are also rejecting Christ.  

This is why using a name litirgically isn't incidental.  It's not just a matter of being pastoral or hospitable.  It's a matter of denying the truth of who that person is in Christ. 

But these things are connected.  A baptist friend recently told me that if we refuse to use the preferred name then we might turn these people off to the gospel.  The sad truth, however, is that liturgically speaking, those people, by the very rejection of their baptismal name, have already rejected the gospel.  Of course my friend, not being a sacramental Christian, wouldn't have understood how these things are connected.  

So while the outside world may not like it, what we call ourselves isn't something that can be dismissed from a purely pragmatic point of view.  Furthermore any refusal to use a baptismal name in place of someone's preferred trans name and pronouns does grievous damage to one's central identity.  Namely that of being "in christ" to borrow a phrase from St. Paul.  

So Christian, "what is your name?" 

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