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Have you guys heard this story?
In Sudan, a private school teacher is in PRISON and has been charged with blasphemy (punishable by public lashing or six months in jail), for allowing her 6-7 year-old students to name their class teddy bear Muhammed -- a name which, coincidentally, happens to be perhaps THE most common name in the world. In fact, the students chose that name because the most popular boy in their class is named, you guessed it, Muhammed.
Read more about this developing story here:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/11 … pstoryview
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ … 55,00.html
One of my favorite comments in response to the CNN article, and one I think you'd all appreciate, too, was the one that read:
A teddy bear is a dearly loved, cherished and revered part of English culture. To say it is insulting to name one Mohammed is an insult to Teddy and his millions of fans around the world. Fortunately, Teddy doesn't judge and he's open to ALL religions.
I'm all for abiding by the rules of one's country of citizenship whether they make sense or not, and I believe completely in tolerance and respect for cultures not my own. I don't have a problem with Islam despite the whole 911/Osama/Iraq thing; those acts do not define ALL Muslims, many (if not most) of whom are compassionate, humane souls.
But isn't this taking things a bit far... like, deep down the rabbit hole, with Alice, and into crazytown?
Criminies.
MerBear Originalsapparently it's a crime to name an inanimate object Mohammed.
That's not quite as bad as the gang-rape victim who has been sentenced to 200 lashes in Saudi Arabia for being with a man who wasn't her husband though!
Hey... I hear ya, loud and clear.
I've seen this story...I think the woman is a victim of a lack of proper information. The school she worked at should have told her about the dangers of this sort of thing...if it's such a big deal to do this she should have been briefed before taking charge of her class. You can't argue with religious laws ..they aren't fair..but they are cast iron in countries such as these. I suspect that calling a teddy Jesus in many parts of the world..including mine...would be frowned upon. ...but I do think this poor woman is involved in something where she is helpless and it's now whirling out of control...since she has now been charged with inciting religious hatred and blasphemy.
I think she is being singled out as someone who has been spouting anti-religious stuff on purpose, when in fact all she did was try to give her charges something they could collectively care about....which in any religion has to be good.
The world has gone mad...all they needed to do was tell her.
The world has gone mad...all they needed to do was tell her.
Exactly! Tell her upon arrival, OR, insist upon immediate change regarding the bear's name given the seemingly innocuous nature of her offense. Maybe I'm just being a daft Westerner here, or one of those namby-pamby teacher types (I am one of those, frankly)... but if anything, this woman was probably trying NOT to incite hatred or blaspheme, but instead, to connect with her students, and to help THEM connect to their learning, using an object they could relate to with warmth, that they named themselves, as the vehicle.
One of the people who commented at CNN wrote that half of Mexico is named Jesus and in that country, that's seen as the opposite of blasphemy; it's a sign of faith and devotion, not as idolatry or the worship of false gods. I do understand that there are cultural differences at work here. It just seems like, hey, we're all human, right? Where did common sense and understanding go in this circumstance? When I read that police RAIDED the school -- how scary for the staff, parents and kids! -- and that men showed up stating they wanted to KILL this woman, I just thought, "Yeesh. Murder in the name of God (a God who goes by ANY name) is still murder. How can it be okay to MURDER a school teacher, but a crime punishable by lashing and jail time to name a teddy bear insensitively?"
So much melodrama. When did people forget how to simply talk to one another?
My question would be, how does a teacher (of all people!) fail to inform herself of such important elements of the religious culture she is teaching within? Surely if you choose to take such a responsible position in a foreign country, it is your responsibility to educate yourself first and foremost, so that you can teach your pupils within the established boundaries of their country's religion?
MerBear OriginalsMy daughter has been teaching in Thailand the last 3 years - I think it should have been the responsibility of the school to give this type of training. Again, naming a personal Mohammed is OK (like Jesus in Mexico) - they are upset cause she named an inaminate object Mohammed (even tho it was the Muslim children who picked the name). I don't think they like idols of any kind in that religion.
I agree it's the schools responsibility to inform the staff of important issues like this...especially in areas where western/non-muslims are teaching their children...but also the teacher should have aquainted herself with these strict religious laws. However unfair and daft we see them, they are the law and it's someone elses country..and what they say goes. I just wish that rule of thumb applied over here ..where everyone seems to get away with everything..including murder!!
Matilda Huggington-bearehttp://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/sunrise … eing-raped
I hope this link works.? If you girls want to help the rape victim, click on this link and scroll down to the Marie Claire link to sign the petition. They have petitioned on behalf of other women in this position and it has helped.
"It's a brutal world but not all people are brutal".
Waggle BearsAccording to the NBC news last night, some Muslim groups from around the world have come to the teacher's defense in stating that she intended no disrespect and should be released immediately. These groups were not in the Sudan, however.
LuxembearsIncredible. The bottom line is people need to STOP GETTING OFFENDED(period, exclamation point). 
Posts: 1,836Hoping all authorities involved with this tragic and questionable (dare I say hypocritical) situation are pondering the true meaning of the "inciting hatred" quote.
We pray for each other in BearHugs all the time, our collective power of positive thoughts and prayers is so strong. Maybe we could all keep this well intended woman (someone's best friend, sister, cousin, daughter) in our TT prayers. Send her some Bear Prayers!!! :pray: :hug:
:hug:
~Chrissi
tEDDIE bearsShelli - I have emailed you privately about using my website to express my feelings about this radical muslim country. I posted on here and rather than discuss it on TT, I directed people to my opening webpage. Those opposing my sentiments hacked into my website and destroyed it by deleting ever file in every directory. I had to have Intercal delete the thread and warned them of the demise of my website. These are not very nice people and since they have found that the hackers entered from a Saudi Arabian IP address, they could care less about 1st Ammendment rights. Take care (for real) Ed
I, too, am in favor of prayers and understanding, and tolerance, and compassion, and discussion, and problem solving, rather than any kind of reactive behavior -- verbal or otherwise -- that just perpetuates these truly destructive cycles of aggression and defensiveness.
The latest thing I heard is that the people there are protesting and wanting her to be executed, which is ridiculous to say the least.
The most simple solution is just ask her to rename the bear and have done with it. This way everyone is happy, and no-one gets hurt.
Unbelievable. The British government needs to drop a helicopter and rescue that poor woman. They need to get in there in for a few seconds at gunpoint, grab her back and take her home.
