There is small and inane debate popping up over whether Mt. Diablo should be re-named Mt. Reagan after the former President Ronald Reagan. The concern over re-naming the mountain originates from a local resident who believes we should not have a mountain named after the devil, Satan.
I would have never believed that such a thought would even surface had I not seen the tornado crawl on KTVU this morning while readying myself for work. Later, I saw a Facebook page pop up on this very subject. Still, there it was, looming up in front of me more pronounced than the mountain’s twin peaks. Before I go further, there are three things about me that are relevant to this piece. First, I am catholic; a man of faith and lover of our Lord. Second, I consider myself to be a man of reason; a man who loves the human intellect as one of God’s gifts along with His gift of the beauty and power of the natural world. Third, I loved Ronald Wilson Reagan; he was the first president I voted for and I consider him to be one of the greatest presidents in our nation’s history. He cherished liberty and through it, loved the human soul, which not coincidentally is how God intended us to live, free. With all this said I have no problem leaving Mt. Diablo incidentally named after the devil.
Perhaps it is because I am a traditionalist, but the name of this mountain has significant historical roots. I will not go into the story behind how the mountain got its name as you can check out the links on this post and read them yourself; it’s a great story though. Those roots speak to the history of the region from both the perspective of the Spaniards who settled the area and the Native Americans who originally lived here. The story of how the mountain got its name has a humorous and historical aspect to it. To rename it would destroy something of our roots, our history.
The man who is proposing the name change is quoted as saying, “"When I look at that mountain, I see beauty, an entity that was not created by the devil." He goes on, "The devil does nothing but rob, cheat, steal and kill. That is his nature. I've known about this for years, but I've now decided it is time to act."
Let’s take a look at what he says here.
Now, I too see beauty in Mt. Diablo. In fact, I have written about my experiences in and around the mountain and placed some of my pieces on this blog. I love this mountain so much; I have a home at the foot of this glorious spectacle. No, I do not worship the mountain at its feet. However, we should not forget that God created Lucifer too. That’s right, and he did not stop him. He did this long before Mt. Diablo was formed when a very large piece of ancient sea bed slipped under the North American plate and then punched through in its present location, straight up. God created Mt. Diablo through his processes, in his own time. It now stands, a geological anomaly, a gift from God.
Lucifer, the devil (Diablo,) Satan, Beelzebub, take your pick. He does rob, cheat, steal and kill, but not on his own. No, he can only do this through us. He has no real power over us. And knowing him by name gives us power over him. I draw from a Native American proverb that goes something like this, “When you face something unknown, name it, because once you name it, you own it, and then it can never put you asunder.”
So, to re-name Mt. Diablo would actually play into old Satan’s hand here. We, in fact, become the real evil doers with the real Diablo laughing away. First, we rob and steal from ourselves by giving up our treasured past, rich with history, myth, timelessness and, honestly, humor as well. Many of the world’s ancient landmarks were named from mythical events where man played a significant role. The story behind the name is the stuff that legends are made of. Second, we kill reason with this act. To simply see the name of the mountain as being named in honor of Satan is incomplete, an example of how fear of the unknown, coupled with ignorance, can lead to superstition. And superstition leaves us wide open to the old trickster himself. No, the name of “Diablo” enters only by accident; it is incidental to the name itself.
To put things in a catholic theological perspective, the reasons behind re-naming the mountain would be sin against the virtues of prudence and justice by way of incorrectly considering the facts and by allowing incomplete reason to be the basis for action.
To put things in a more secular fashion, re-naming the mountain has no basis in reason in that the name was attributed to an actual historical event (or perceived event) and no statutory reason can be cited to call the name into question.
Finally and on a lighter note, I seriously doubt that President Reagan would want his name attached to a mountain. He was too humble; I doubt he would respond to this. And, as much as I love my mountain, I think Mt. Diablo is too humble a mountain for Ronald the Great.
Below are two links to this story:
Mecury News
SF Gate
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