A retiring Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands has proposed that Christians begin calling God ''Allah'' in order to foster communication and understanding with Muslims. While there are probably numerous theological problems and implications with this suggestion, the thing that struck me was when Bishop Muskens said, ''What does God care what we call him? It is our problem.'' God doesn't care what we call him? Of all the ways to defend his suggestion, this has to be among the worst. As I have read the Bible, one of the things I have become absolutely sure about is that God does indeed care about his Name. The Names of God in general, and the tetragrammaton YHWH in particular are to be held in the utmost esteem. From God telling Moses and the people of Israel, ''You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain'' to Jesus teaching us to pray, ''Hallowed is Your name'' it is made very clear in Scripture that God's Name is not something you fool around with.

Another statement that can only be based on ignorance was made by Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesperson for the Council for American-Islamic Relations: ''It reinforces the fact that Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same God. I don't think the name is as important as the belief in God and following God's moral principles. I think that's true for all faiths. There's not a theological leap to make on the part of Christians.'' Based on that reasoning, why doesn't Mr. Hooper suggest that Muslims begin to worship the God of the Christians and Jews? If we all worship the same God, then shouldn't Muslims in Christian nations simply adapt to Christianity? If belief in a god is what is important, then why even call oneself a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew? This suggestion and the defense of it by Mr. Hooper not only requires a theological leap on behalf of Christians, it requires a logical one as well.

Bishop Muskens and his supporters have brought up the point that Christians in Arabic countries already call God ''Allah'', but this is because Allah is the Arabic word for God. Outside the Arab world, Allah is not simply the Arabic word for God. It carries a connotation with it that is indicative of the vast difference between the god of Islam and the God of the Bible. Unfortunately, this suggestion is something that Mohammed would have wanted. He purposely borrowed from Christianity, Judaism, and other religions of his day so that people would have an easier time converting to Islam.

Thankfully, the Roman Catholic Church has not bought into this idea by Bishop Muskens. A priest based in Rome made the statement, ''Words and names mean things. Referring to God as Allah means something.'' How you refer to God does mean something. Allah and YHWH are not the same, and for Christians and Jews throughout the world, YHWH's name is not something to be casually changed in order to cater to people of a different faith. Contrary to what Bishop Muskens believes, God does care what he is called, but he is correct in saying that it is our problem for if we take the Lord's Name lightly we will have problems.