Baby Messiah Name Change

This week, we have been talking a lot about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Reading and hearing about the amendments and the original Constitution made me remember a news story from Tennessee about a judge forcibly changing a baby boy's name from Messiah to Martin, because, according to the judge, there is only one individual deserving of that title. I have several problems with this decision.This judge asserted her own religious beliefs into a very personal and private matter, the naming of one's child, which I think a judge should have had no say in to begin with. She went against the ideas and rights of Freedom of Speech and the Separation of church and state, both key parts of the Constitution, and at the same time, she violated the very basic rights of that child's parents. A parent should be able to name their children whatever they want, and the government should have no say whatsoever in it. This judge violated those parents' first amendment rights to freedom of speech by restricting what they could name their children, and the right to the government not pushing religious beliefs onto its citizens by basing her decision solely on her personal religious beliefs. While I may not agree with the parents' choice of a name, I believe that they should at least have that opportunity to name their child what they want, without any level of government interfering.