Motto sacrilegious?

 
Wilfred Leblanc
 
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Wilfred Leblanc
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24 June 2008 03:48
 

Would the motto, "Mutans Evae Nomen (Changing the name of Eve)" be sacrilegious? Grandiose is perhaps another question, but mottoes do after all express high ideals or great claims, typically.

 
David Pritchard
 
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David Pritchard
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24 June 2008 04:24
 

I believe that one would need to understand the context of the use of this motto before one could judge if its use were sacrilegious. If this is a motto used with a personal coat-of-arms then it use simply mystifies me. If this were the motto of an organisation named the Society for the Rehabilitation of the Biblical Eve and the Elimination of the Negative Legacy Upon Her Daughters then I could understand the use of this odd motto.

 
Stephen R. Hickman
 
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Stephen R. Hickman
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24 June 2008 07:44
 

I agree with David.  It would depend on the context.  However, I’m just curious about the one who would use that motto.  Exactly what name would he/she give to Eve?  I doubt that "Ethel" would be better suited.  :rolleyes:

 
Michael Swanson
 
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Michael Swanson
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24 June 2008 08:23
 

It is both a medieval play on words (AVE=Hail, inverse of EVA=Eve) and a philosophical point that Mary is another starting point for mankind.

Sumens illud "Ave"  :::    through (it) hail

Gabrielis ore,      :::  [of] Gabriel~[the] mouth

Funda nos in pace,  :::  establish us in peace

Mutans Evae nomen   :::  changing [of] Eve~[the] name

 

Ave!  Now we do hail!

From the mouth of Gabriel,

True peace to us do leave,

Changing the name of Eve!

 

I think we need to remember that every sect and denomination has its own philosophy, and thus different things offend.  For example, there are traditional Jews who believe writing or saying the name(s) of God is sacrilege, which would put a crimp in lots of mottoes.  A deist motto, for example, expressing that God did not have the power to intercede in human affairs would be offensive to most denominations.  A motto praising Thor or Zeus might insult Christians.  President Theodore Roosevelt argued against placing "In God we Trust" on coins because he thought money (greed) cheapens its meaning.  Etc.

 
David E. Cohen
 
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David E. Cohen
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24 June 2008 10:47
 

Very true.  One man’s sacrilege is often another’s sanctity.

 
David Pritchard
 
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David Pritchard
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24 June 2008 12:58
 

Michael Swanson;59740 wrote:

President Theodore Roosevelt argued against placing "In God we Trust" on coins because he thought money (greed) cheapens its meaning.


I have to agree with the first President Roosevelt on this point. In 1992, one of the first Russians in Moscow with whom I became acquainted, used the "In Good We Trust" motto on the reverse of our banknotes to support his contention (and that of many other Russians) that the only god in which Americans put their trust was Mammon.

 

As for Fred’s motto, I can only think that its use would simply confuse all but a very small handful of persons aware of its origin.

 
Michael Y. Medvedev
 
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Michael Y. Medvedev
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24 June 2008 13:13
 

IMHO this motto is certainly not a sacrilege, but rather a nice Mariological hint; an enigmatic motto I admit, but the enigmatic mottoes are not uncommon. If asked, I would vote "pro".

 
Wilfred Leblanc
 
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Wilfred Leblanc
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24 June 2008 14:10
 

As M. Swanson correctly discerned, the source of the motto is a medieval plainchant, and (as M. Medvedev observed) most certainly a mariological hint, though at the same time I think it takes on a contemporary character as well. The prospective armiger would be my wife, actually—a real tiger of a career woman who definitely leads me on to fine things. Pace David, I don’t see the motto’s being enigmatic as a particular problem, but if it is understood that the armiger is a woman, perhaps the enigma is resolved.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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24 June 2008 15:23
 

I myself am somewhat partial to enigmatic mottoes.  My own (Caelum non animum mutant) can only be understood if you know the rest of the original phrase (qui trans mare currunt)—"They who travel across the sea change their skies but not their souls."

Similarly, the secondary (below the shield) motto of the MacMillan chiefs is Fhad’s a bhuaileas tonn ri crag—"As long as the sea beats on the rock"—which likewise makes more sense if you know the unstated first half, Coir MhicMhaolain air a Chnap—"MacMillan’s right to Knap."  The allusion is to the words said to have been carved on a rock at the Point of Knap on the Kintyre Peninsula, stating the terms of Malcolm Mor MacMillan’s 1360 charter of the lands of Knapdale from the Lord of the Isles:  MacMillan’s right to Knap [will last] as long as the sea beats on the rock."

 
ninest123
 
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ninest123
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09 October 2018 23:31
 

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