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Help[Opinions] Re: Israel... (M)
in reply to a message by mirfak
Do you think Zion is as readily associated with Zionism as Israel is associated with the country? I’m ask genuinely, as a non-American. I feel the context/history could pass people by here.
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That's the thing about it that I meant to emphasize - I truly wouldn't be able to tell easily what association was intended. By some people it would be readily associated with Zionism (which itself could have a variety of different positive connotations, for different people). But I think a lot of other people have other associations too. So it's probably loaded with some meaning, but you just can't be sure what meaning ... and ultimately I think it doesn't matter except to the parents. That's how I feel about Israel as a name, too.
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There's a lot of churches in the US called Mount Zion ______ Church, and it's mentioned in the Old Testament as a sacred place, while in the New Testament, it's used as a metaphor for heaven; I'd guess that use of it as a name is mostly inspired by those associations and that people who use it don't know much about Zionism.
This message was edited 1/5/2020, 6:56 PM
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There was a professor at my old university, born into a Jewish emigre family in a little South African country town, whose given name was Ben-Zion. This was long before the Second World War, let alone the founding of the state of Israel. And, given that Ben means 'son' or 'son of', I think the message was pretty clear and that his parents knew rather more about Zionism than anyone needs to in today's world, where it has become synonymous with right-wing Israeli nationalism. For the record, he was a lawyer and specialised in ethics, opposing the apartheid government with such skill that they could never lay a finger on him.
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