Um, have you heard about the baby named "Messiah" in Tennessee who has now been renamed "Martin" by the judge in his child support hearing -- who doesn't believe he's deserving of the "title"?
Yes -- I said the judge renamed him. And his poor mother, Jaleesa Martin, and his father had no say in the matter. They're now being forced to change their son's name on his birth certificate all because this judge is freaking out about the whole Jesus connection and fears that the boy will face problems growing up in a county full of super-religious folks who might not appreciate hearing the name Messiah associated with anyone but our Lord and Savior.
(Jesus Christ. What year is this again?)
And I'm sure you're wondering how these parents got themselves into a mess with the baby's name in the first place. As it turns out, Jalessa and Messiah's dad went to court to try and work out what the child's last name should be -- and that's when Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew decided his first name presented a problem. Which is just plain ridiculous.
I guess I should go ahead and put this out there -- I'm a semi-practicing Catholic, so I believe in God and Jesus and all that good stuff.
But am I at all offended or put off by a beautiful little kid who just happens to be named Messiah? Not in the least. It's actually pretty cute. And it seems to suit the little guy. And his parents should be able to name him anything they damn well please and not be forced to change his moniker at any given point in time.
Before you go defending the judge and figuring she probably just had this kid's best interests at heart -- take a look at this video to hear more about her reasoning for the name change.
OMG. Did she scare the hell out of you too? I feel like I need to go and hide and say a few rosaries for protection or something.
And while Jaleesa is smart to continue calling her son Messiah and appeal the decision -- considering how twisted this whole situation is, I'd probably give some serious thought to moving out of Cocke County if I were her. Who wants to stay in a place where you don't even have control over what you call your own kid?!?
Maybe she'll get lucky and whoever hears her appeal will immediately realize just how nuts the case is and will change the baby's name back to Messiah. But if the decision is upheld? Yeah. I'm thinking Jalessa should high-tail it out of there as soon as possible and head to a place where you're allowed to name your baby whatever you want. (Like pretty much any other county in America.)
Do you think this judge's decision is justified?
Image via WBIR