Religion of Peace takes one prisoner for teddy heresy

[Rye]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7112929.stm

A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.

Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.

The BBC has learned the charge could lead to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

Officials from the British embassy in Khartoum are expected to visit Ms Gibbons in custody later.

"We are in contact with the authorities here and they have visited the teacher and she is in a good condition," an embassy spokesman said.

The spokesman said the naming of the teddy happened months ago and was chosen by the children because it is a common name in the country.

"This happened in September and the parents did not have a problem with it," he said.

'Very sensitive'

The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals.

Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.

"This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and this year's topic was the bear.

Ms Gibbons, who joined the school in August, asked a seven-year-old girl to bring in her teddy bear and asked the class to pick names for it, he said.

"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad," Mr Boulos said, adding that she then had the children vote on a name.

Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.

Mr Boulos said each child was then allowed to take the bear home at weekends and told to write a diary about what they did with it.

He said the children's entries were collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover and a message which read, "My name is Muhammad."

Book seized

The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added.

It is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Muhammad.

Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at her home inside the school premises after a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education.

He said police had seized the book and asked to interview the girl who owned the bear.

The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported that charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.

No-one at the ministries of education or justice was available for comment.

Mr Boulos told the BBC he was confident she would not face a jail sentence.

One Muslim teacher at the independent school for Christian and Muslim children, who has a child in Ms Gibbons' class, said she had not found the project offensive.

"I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote," the teacher said.

In Liverpool, a family spokeswoman said Ms Gibbons' grown children, John and Jessica - both believed to be in their 20s - were not commenting on her arrest.

"I have spoken with her children and they do not want to say anything and aggravate the situation over there," she said.

Rick Widdowson the headteacher of Garston Church of England Primary School, where Gillian worked for ten years, added: "We are an Anglican school and I know for a fact that Gillian would not do anything to offend followers of any faith.

"Certainly she is also very worldly wise and she is obviously aware of the sensitivities around Islam."

Cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad printed in several European newspapers sparked violent protests around the world in 2006.

[[R_H]]

Why did she get punished, if it was the children that named the damn teddy bear Mohammed? And why isn't there just one Mohammed, their prophet?

[Rye]

Because they're dicks. You can pretty much use that for all subsequent questions.

[[R_H]]

Because they're dicks. You can pretty much use that for all subsequent questions.

That much I understood already. But wouldn't naming everyone else who won't achieve something as great (in their eyes) as the Mohammed the prophet be an insult? Welcome to our village. "As television and radio are the tools of the Western devils and Satan, we have other ways of entertaining ourselves, ah, here he is, the star of our village, the village idiot, Mohammed."

[Darth Wong]

Why did she get punished, if it was the children that named the damn teddy bear Mohammed? And why isn't there just one Mohammed, their prophet?

Try to put yourself in their mindset: they believe it is EVIL to do such things. So if she allowed the schoolchildren under her supervision to commit an act of EVIL, then she is criminally negligent at best, or EVIL herself at worst.

The real problem is the idea that morality is determined by religion, not its application in this case. If a schoolteacher in America allowed schoolchildren to watch porno and defended the decision by saying that they voted for it, that wouldn't cut her an inch of slack.

[Darth Lucifer]

But aren't there a bazillion men named Muhammed/Mohammed? Why isn't there any retaliation against these people and the parents who named them?

Could have been worse...they could have named the bear Jesus.

[Rye]

Nah, that would've been about the same, since Jesus is a prophet in islam, well, unless she did so in LRA territory, in which case they'd probably kill her and take her kids to be child soldiers.

[Falkenhayn]

But aren't there a bazillion men named Muhammed/Mohammed? Why isn't there any retaliation against these people and the parents who named them?

Teddy bears can't preach Allah's word, die gloriously in His Causes, or slit their sister's throats for making them feel bad around the neighbors.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Since people are created by God, they can be named Muhammad. Since Teddy Bears are created by people, they cannot. That is all there is to it, folks; Muslims are literalist to a fault and that is the straightforward and obvious explanation.

[Ubiquitous]

I hope that her British passport saves her here, but in the face of fundies, I think it might be more of a hindrance than a help.

[Drooling Iguana]

Why did she get punished, if it was the children that named the damn teddy bear Mohammed?

One or more of the children involved in the naming might have been male. Notice that when you hear a story about a cruel and barbaric punishment being meted out for an insignificant "offence" in the Muslim world, 90% of the time the person being punished is a woman.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I hope that her British passport saves her here, but in the face of fundies, I think it might be more of a hindrance than a help.

The punishment can be as little as a fine, which will probably be given here. Possibly along with 3 - 6 lashes, but no prison time.

[Justforfun000]

One or more of the children involved in the naming might have been male. Notice that when you hear a story about a cruel and barbaric punishment being meted out for an insignificant "offence" in the Muslim world, 90% of the time the person being punished is a woman.

Yes. Very good point there. It seems like women always get the short end of the stick in that religion.

[Chardok]

One or more of the children involved in the naming might have been male. Notice that when you hear a story about a cruel and barbaric punishment being meted out for an insignificant "offence" in the Muslim world, 90% of the time the person being punished is a woman.

Yes. Very good point there. It seems like women always get the short end of the stick in that religion.

They get the long end. The short part is where the men hold it while beating her to a bloody pulp.

[TithonusSyndrome]

I hope that her British passport saves her here, but in the face of fundies, I think it might be more of a hindrance than a help.

The punishment can be as little as a fine, which will probably be given here. Possibly along with 3 - 6 lashes, but no prison time.

What the fuck is Sudan going to do to Britain if they demand she not be assaulted and lean on them until they get their way? Are they going to bar the handful of British tourists to Sudan?

[Gil Hamilton]

You know, if people are created by God specifically, I'm going to have some tremendously blasphemous things to say the next time I get lucky.

But seriously, there is no way the British government is going to let one of their citizens get whipped by these people.

[wautd]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7112929.stm

Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.

Clearly this woman was teaching the evils of democracy in their glorious theocratic utopia

[Dooey Jo]

One or more of the children involved in the naming might have been male. Notice that when you hear a story about a cruel and barbaric punishment being meted out for an insignificant "offence" in the Muslim world, 90% of the time the person being punished is a woman.

Not that I want to defend them or anything, but remember that people reading the news probably wouldn't care as much if some Muslim man was sentenced to stoning or whatever, as opposed to a teenaged girl or woman. Hell, in those shitholes I'd expect people to be executed pretty much daily.

[Justforfun000]

Chardok Wrote:

They get the long end. The short part is where the men hold it while beating her to a bloody pulp.

Oooooh. Nasty. But unfortunately....too generally accurate to even slough off as just mild humour. Uhhhh....we really have a long way to go yet before we're even remotely humane in our basic principles regarding middle east religiousity.

[petesampras]

But seriously, there is no way the British government is going to let one of their citizens get whipped by these people.

I don't see what they can do to stop it.

[Molyneux]

But seriously, there is no way the British government is going to let one of their citizens get whipped by these people.

I don't see what they can do to stop it.

Grant her diplomatic immunity? From what I've heard, the UK government is pretty adamant about protecting its citizens while abroad.

[Aaron]

I don't see what they can do to stop it.

Perhaps you've heard of the SAS, they could be deployed to retrieve her.

[Gil Hamilton]

I don't see what they can do to stop it.

This is exactly the sort of situation that SAS is deployed for. If it comes down to it, they'll probably retrieve her.

[Androsphinx]

I don't see what they can do to stop it.

This is exactly the sort of situation that SAS is deployed for. If it comes down to it, they'll probably retrieve her.

Oh, get a grip. There are two other sentences - jail time or a fine. The courts will give her one of those, she'll do the time/pay the money, and that'll be it.

[General Zod]

Oh, get a grip. There are two other sentences - jail time or a fine. The courts will give her one of those, she'll do the time/pay the money, and that'll be it.

Considering the country it's practically guaranteed they'll do everything they can to get her the 40 lashes. Either way the charges are absurd.