the Islamification of Major C. Jack Ellis

You read this, and you think: there's gotta be a bigger story there, right?

Macon Mayor Jack Ellis has converted to Islam and is working to legally change his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis.

The mayor, raised as a Christian, said Thursday that he has been studying the Quran for years. He became a Sunni Muslim during a December ceremony in the country of Senegal, on the western coast of Africa. He said the religion originally was practiced by his West African ancestors before they were brought to America by slave traders.
Ellis said his decision was a personal one, though he understands his elected position breeds public interest in his choice. It was not something he decided overnight to do, he said. He will keep his last name the same at the request of two of his daughters.

"Why does one become a Christian?" the mayor said. "You do it because it feels right. It's the right thing for you to do. ... To me it's no big deal. But people like to know what you believe in. And this is what I believe in."

So many questions arise from this. Why had he "been studing the Quran for years?" Was he merely curious? Was his Christianity unsatisfying in some way? Why is he Sunni and not Shia? If he didn't change "overnight," how long did it take? Why does he think being a Christian has something to do with it "feel[ing] right?" If it was truly "no big deal," why did he become a Muslim?

FYI: Hakim means "wise" in Arabic. Mansur means "victorious" in Arabic. (From Behind the Name)

This article from First Coast News (Jacksonville, Florida) has more information. The mayor, the first black man elected to the office in Macon, will change his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis; he will keep his last name in deference to his family (how nice!).

"It's a personal decision, a private decision as to how one worships. But I do understand that I'm not a private person," Ellis said. "But being the mayor of the city, I think people have a right to know what I believe in, that I am a man of faith, and the faith I'm now a part of is the faith of Islam."

He now calls himself a Sunni Muslim. He made the switch, Ellis said, during his December trip to Africa. Rather than call it a switch, Ellis said it was like returning home.

"I went back to my roots I guess you could say," Ellis said. "I did convert to Islam in December of this past year in the country of Senegal. When I say, "back to my roots", Islam was in Senegal prior to the Africans being brought here as slaves."

Ellis places much more emphasis on having an ancestral religion than anything else. Senegal was supposedly full of Muslims in the days before slavery, and Ellis' family came from Senegal, so he saw the need to affirm Islam. Why does he place so much importance on what his ancestors believed? If they had believed in Santeria or voodoo, would he have joined them then?

Even though he switched religions, the mayor said he isn't ranking them.

"I'm not saying that one is better than the other," Ellis said. "We do believe that the prophet Mohammed was the last prophet as well as we believe Moses was a prophet."

So.... why make the change? If one religion is just as good as another, why didn't he remain a Christian? Perhaps it would shock the mayor that fellow Muslims would disagree with him about the one-isn't-better-than-another thing. There are sites out there that clearly proclaim the belief that Islam is the only true religion.

Prior to the conversion, Ellis said he attended Unionville Baptist Church on Houston Avenue and before that Harvest Cathedral on Rocky Creek Road.

I wonder what his former pastors think of Hakim Mansour Ellis now. Are they disheartened? Pleased? Did he talk to them about his conversion to Islam, or did they learn about it through this article? It is rather perplexing, but not surprising, that this journalist didn't probe deeper into the mayor's newfound faith.

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