Photo ©2010 and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday and Wednesday, March 2 and 3, 2026
Religious groups, rightly or wrongly, may find that just their name can carry a powerful influence in support or opposition to an idea or cause. This may be done intentionally or simply come about through popular association by the public. During the Middle Ages the Dominican Order established a convent in Paris. Due to its location, this convent took on the name Jacobins and from this beginning the nickname became associated with the entire Dominican Order. But the usage of this name did not stop there for it spread far beyond the parameters of the church.
The first of these that we’ll look at is the name often directly associated with the French Revolution, the Jacobin Club or simply Jacobins. This revolutionary political movement held sway during the Reign of Terror when more than 10,000 people were put on trial and executed for what was seen as political crimes. It’s important to note this movement had nothing directly to do with the Dominicans other than their first meeting was held in that convent. Nevertheless, the name stuck.
On a more positive note, the Jacobin name was used some 50 or so years before Robespierre and his friends took over to describe a rather large hummingbird of the American tropics. The White-necked Jacobin derives its name from the real or imagined similarity to the cowled habit worn by the Jacobin Dominicans in eighteenth-century France. The white collar on the nape is often hard to see, but it too made its way into the common name of the bird.
All this should make us ponder how our own church might be perceived by the public. The story is told of an incident when Dwight D. Eisenhower met with a small group of Adventists and, trying to be sociable, reached back into his memory to try and make some connection that would establish common ground. The best he could come up with was something like “Aren’t you the ones that do something with peanut butter?” I suppose it’s a bit better than being aligned with the Reign of Terror, but maybe not much.