MAYBE THE GERMANS are right.
The German government regulates the naming of babies. Once the parents choose a name for a child, that name must be registered with a government department, which then decides whether the name is acceptable.
The German’s don’t see the law as an intrusion on parental freedom, but a way of defending children from abuse. The law says that a child’s name must reflect the sex of the child — no boys named Sue — and not endanger the child’s well-being.
If the United States had a law like that, little Adolph Hitler Campbell’s mother wouldn’t have had a hard time last week buying a decorated cake for his third birthday.
The Campbells live in New Jersey and tried to order a cake from a supermarket in Pennsylvania. They wanted Adolph’s name spelled out, and the store refused to do it. The family finally got a cake from a Walmart.
Adolph’s father, Heath Campbell, told The Associated Press he named the boy Adolph Hitler “because he liked the name and because ‘no one else in the world would have that name.’”
The news item continued:
Campbell said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically. But he said he would try to raise his children differently.
“Say he grows up and hangs out with black people. That’s fine, I don’t really care,” he said. “That’s his choice.”
It’s a good bet that Campbell is not telling the truth. Adolph has two little sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, almost 2, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, who will be 1 soon. Honszlyn, her father has said, was named for Heinrich Himmler.
In the simple act of naming their children, the Campbells have committed child abuse. Unless the parents relent, that abuse will continue until the children are old enough to go to court and change their names.
Children face enough challenges in life without being saddled with names that scream their parents’ hatreds at the world.
About 20 years ago, Nanci Griffiths wrote a song that had this refrain:
It’s a hard life, it’s a hard life, it’s a very hard life
It’s a hard life wherever you go
And if we poison our children with hatred
Then the hard life is all that they’ll know
And there ain’t no place in this world for these kids to go.
She’s right, and so are the Germans.
Comments
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Bjnemp (anonymous) says...
Well said, Patrick. I agree with you on this one. I am normally dead set against any form of government control over personal lives, but this incident over-shadows that thinking. When it involves innocent children the rules change.
Naming a child Adolph Hitler IS child abuse and the parents need to be held accountable. All of the Campbell children will endure a lifetime of verbal abuse and societal rejection due to something they had no control over.
I feel sorry for the children. I feel contempt for the parents.
December 18, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LifeGoesOn (anonymous) says...
crackinsack, I usally think many of your posts are silly to say the least, But this one I agree with you, it does sound a bit hypocritical. But thats JMO
December 18, 2008 at 4:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
A line from one of the Harry Potter books comes to mind here
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself"
Not verbatim but something to that effect. The guy is a moron in my eyes but there are some really crazy names out there that are every bit as controversial. What if he named his kid Satan, or Jesus Christ or something to that effect? Poor taste? Most likely, but he is within his rights. Very interesting point Crack, very good tie in with what is going on here with the smoking ban.
December 18, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
I disagree with both the German law and the smoking ban. It is unfortunate that some people make the choices they make, but overall, having free citizens adds up to a more successful country. Why must we keep looking at systems that are unproven or proven wrong and say, "We should do it that way?" Why do we care what other countries think of us, when it's jealousy that drives their dislike? Do we recommend to our teens who are doing well in school that when another kid is jealous of them or doesn't like them that they conform to the jealous kid's image? Why, then do we feel compelled to conform to the peer pressure of historically less successful countries? The way history is studied in schools these days, those kids won't have any mocking classmates--I doubt my 13 year old niece knows who Adolph Hitler is, much less any of the others, and she makes excellent grades. Hopefully, the kids in this story will be able to get away with nicknames (I'm sure their teachers will support that) until they are 18 and can legally change them--if they choose to. They may also, with the help of teachers, be able to convince the parents to have them changed before then. It may be, though, that they end up thinking much like their parents and choose to keep the names, believing that the names are wonderful gifts. You never know, but I know know it's their prerogative (legal right) and hopefully it will remain that way.
December 18, 2008 at 4:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
"Kinda like how the kid has no control over whether or not his folks smoke in the house or if they take him to a smoking restaurant?"
crack
Here is an example of the slippery slope you talked about. You added "in the house" to restaurant. That is what's happening. Little things add up to bigger things. You don't think the current laws are enough so you add a ban to them and aparently you think the next add on after that should be peoples homes.
Why is it that Bjnemp can't agree with the German law and be against the ban? People against the ban are not anarchists out to destroy all laws. We like and benifit from many of them. But you apparently think since we are against the ban that means we have to be against all laws. Your logic is flawed.
December 18, 2008 at 5:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
I wrote this in another forum, I think the forum was about smoking or something, anyway I thought it might be relevent here since the story mentions a German law.
I've been to Germany a couple of times, once for two and a half years while I was in the................oh yeah I can't mention that. Sorry. Anyway while I was in Germany I noticed that the buildings and the houses were all very similar in color. It kinda looked nice but something about it just didn't set right with me. I asked a German national why all the buildings and houses are painted the same, he said it was the law. In contrast when I drive around Emporia I see all kinds of different colors on houses and buildings. Would I live in a purple house with blaze orange trim? NO! Do I throw up in my mouth a little at the sight of it? Yeah, a little. But as I hold back the vomit I am reminded how fortunate I am to live in a country where you can live in a purple and orange house if you want to. It is indeed our right to live in such a house until a law says otherwise. Then and only then does it cease to be a right.
December 18, 2008 at 6:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
Here's a bit more information (and the site is hysterical, especially if you like to bake):
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/1...
The boys appears to have had his hair dyed. Not to mention, he's got dark eyes. Not exactly Hitler's idea of aryan, LMAO.
I thought this poster hit the nail on the head with our current times--he said "Hey it could be worse, the kid's name could be Al Qaeda, for crying out loud."
December 18, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Pingeon (anonymous) says...
While I think the father picked a really bad name to give his kid, we are in the USA and he does have the freedom to do that. It does surprise me that BJ is for the government control on this, however he has the freedom to think this way.
I must say, it also surprised me that Crack wasn't the first one to comment on this one. As I was reading it, all I could think was this has crack's name written all over it....... :)
December 18, 2008 at 6:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
josiesbar (anonymous) says...
http://blogs.parentcenter.babycenter....
Seems like New Zealand has the same sort of laws on names. I say the less government intervention the better. The worst part about this is, most people are thinking that poor kid is going to get hell at school, but I REALLY doubt he goes to a public school. My guess is he will be home-schooled and taught anti-semitism, racism, and intolerance at every turn. This is truly sad, however, I don't feel the government needs to tell you what you can and cannot name your child. Hopefully all of this media attention will bring attention to the situation.
December 18, 2008 at 9:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
josiesbar:
I need to stop you right there and ask you for a clarification about your opinion of home-schooled people. Are you speaking specifically about that family using home-schooling for that purpose, or are you of the opinion that all home-schoolers are like that?
December 18, 2008 at 10:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alfalfa (anonymous) says...
I am betting that will be one screwed up kid, and not just because his parents named him Adolph Hitler.
I have to smile at Patrick Kelley thinking government intervention in the naming of children is OK. Isn't that sort of censorship, and aren't all good liberals 100% against censorship of any kind?
Having said that, I think it was child abuse to name the child Adolph Hitler, but surely few people call people by their first and middle name, there are still a few Adolphs around I think.
December 18, 2008 at 10:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gazette_reader (anonymous) says...
I agree that these children were done a tremendous disservice in naming these children. But who would be the right agency to determine what is and isn't right? Based on the German naming system, there would be no children in the U.S. getting popular names like Jordan (male or female), Jamie (male or female), Harper (a last name), or Cooper (a last name). Since statistics show that employers will likely look down upon resumes with ethnic names, I would assume any name reflecting heritage will be a problem. But then, whose heritage will be the right one? We'd eventually end up with children named for their chromosomes. XX and XY, and then the occasional XXX (which would probably trigger the naming police) and other variants.
It seems to me that parents willing to name their kids after Nazi leaders are very likely exercising other forms of abuse that could more easily be tackled by SRS.
December 19, 2008 at 12:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
seems to me the names given those kids is a form of child abuse and the parents should be held accountable, it might even be considered a hate crime. Perhaps the opportunity to change the names and a foster home and adoptive family would be in order as well. There are bigger issues than just the names here for those poor kids.
December 19, 2008 at 1:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
I have to laugh. I see names in the Gazette's birth announcements that make me cringe all the time. Names you have no idea how to pronounce much less spell. Look at the poor 3rd kid's name! That is almost as bad. I doubt if any little kids know who Adolph Hitler was or care. I agree the family sounds like a bunch of cracked racists but there's no law against that unless they act on it. Just like there's no law against naming your kid something totally inappropriate. The kid can go by just Adolph or even Al or something. It's up to the people around him, especially his teachers (if he's in school) to model good behavior and hope for the best. That's all any of us can do. Kids don't always turn out like their parents and can overcome early prejudice later in life.
December 19, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
josiesbar (anonymous) says...
oh4theluvof,
No no no, I don't think that about home-schooled kids at all! I think that in this particular case that will probably be what happens, but no, LOL, I am pretty sure home-schooled children are not taught to be Nazis.
December 19, 2008 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
josies,
Thank you very much for replying. I had begun to type out a respectful rebuttal, but then it occurred to me that what I read may not have been quite what you were saying. Sorry for my confusion.
December 19, 2008 at 4:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mikkokantonen (anonymous) says...
I would have to agree with Patrick on this one. I say they have committed child abuse.
December 20, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )