It Matters How You Use Someone's Name: The Commentary

Click on the cartoon for a better view. You can also see it in the Still Image/Pocket Joke Section, Page #18.


Zoe Badloose made her 2nd appearance in this cartoon. She was a mean & very ignorant teacher that the principal character Derek Cyannus Jr. had in elementary & middle school. She wanted to be a teacher to help kids learn, but after several disappointing experiences she had with the male sex, she become a misandrist; she stopped giving her male students fair treatment. To girls, she isn't as mean, but still mean to her female students nonetheless. Derek noticed that sometimes Zoe says things that are incorrect in her classes when she teaches. And when he tried to correct her, Zoe never believed Derek. In this mini-comic strip, he told her that it's wrong to misuse God's name, but she didn't believe him as usual. Derek was correct; in fact, God Himself told us not to misuse His name. It's Commandment #3 of the 10 Commandments.

 

This 3rd commandment is about respect, especially to the omnipotent creator of the universe. The villainess had the nerve to disrespect even an(or should I say "the") omnipotent being! The word omnipotent means: "all-powerful", plus with omnipotence, you get invincibility, so you can't be defeated; God cannot be defeated. If you try to defeat the invincible, then you'll always lose; you can't out-super the insuperable! But you can tie for 1st place. God wants no competition. (I hate competition, too!) Competition can upset people, especially when they lose in it. The last being you want to upset, specifically in competition, is the creator of the universe. He's way, way too powerful, in fact, infinitely powerful, so don't mess with Him!

 

I used grawlixes to censor Zoe Badloose's foul mouth when she misused God's name, because even as the cartoonist, I wanted to make sure that I don't print(and therefore use) God's name in vain. Grawlixes are the name of those random symbols that are used to censor vulgar language & cursing in comic strips. Derek points his finger at God's name in the 2nd panel, plus it's in bold letters. Misusing God's name coincides with cursing, by the way. I felt more comfortable printing God's name in Derek C. Jr.'s word balloon because he didn't misuse God's name; he just said it to tell Zoe Badloose what it is. But Zoe continuously & disrespectfully shouted it out, so magically, an electric bolt sparked out of the wall sockets in the background & zapped her! But at least it didn't kill her; it was only 500 volts, which is 25% of the voltage needed to kill a person. (Mathematically, it takes 2,000 volts or 2 kilovolts to kill a person.) I guess such a misfortune like that can happen in a cartoon!

 

However, physics in the real world is more restricted than cartoon physics. But God, being omnipotent, can find the best way to do something in the real world. (Or any world, imaginary or not) The Titanic sank because its builders said that God couldn't sink it, so He proved them wrong! They dared Him, the almighty creator of the universe, to sink their ship, so guess what happened. It's questionable that the ship hitting the iceberg caused the tragedy, but still, the builders shouldn't have mocked God; that cursed the ship! So even in real life, God's name shouldn't be misused. God's name is for blessing people, not cursing them! (The opposite of curse is bless.)

 

God has other names in other cultures & religions. In Arabian culture, God is called Allah. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. But still, don't misuse any of those names since they refer to God. It doesn't matter which culture or religion you're in. Depending on how you break this commandment can lead to committing the unforgivable sin: religious evil; in other words, committing crimes, like murder, in the name of God. When criminals do crimes in God's name, they do horrible damage to God's name. People could ask the criminals: "Why would God want you to do [your evil action]?" The terrorists of the September 11th Tragedy actually committed that sin, the worst possible sin of all. They said that they were killing those innocent people in those jets in the name of God. Why would God Himself want them to do that evil action? God is completely good, and would not want an innocent person to die so horribly.

 

In conclusion, just remember to especially use God's name (& other people's names) properly, carefully & respectfully. Because that is what God's 3rd commandment is about: respect. Remember that if you say the names of others, do it with respect; use others' names to greet them or call them if you need their attention; don't excessively yell out their names for them to hear because it's extremely disruptive & annoying! Even children get mad at their own parents when the parents yell out their names like that!

P.S.: The humanized version of God's 3rd commandment is: "Be positive & respectful, not negative or disrespectful." You must give respect to get respect.

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© Derek Cumberbatch