Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

UK teacher jailed over teddy row

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread		 This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU
 
muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 01:39 PM
Original message
UK teacher jailed over teddy row
Source: BBC

A British teacher has been found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, has been sentenced to 15 days in prison after a day-long court hearing.

Mrs Gibbons had been accused on three counts of insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

She will be deported after serving her sentence in Sudan's capital Khartoum.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7119399.stm


Idiots.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
Ishoutandscream2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 01:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. "We need to put God back in our classrooms"
Yes, it sure is working in Sudan. Unreal.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Mz Pip Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 01:45 PM
Response to Original message
2. Even without the lashes
this is really a ridiculous sentence.

This certainly is hardly a good recruitment tool for enticing foreign teachers to come to educate their children.

Mz Pip
:dem:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
JDPriestly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 01:47 PM
Response to Original message
3. This is an insult to our revered president and leader, Teddy Roosevelt
You name your dolls and teddy bears after people you admire and love. I remember naming a doll "Elizabeth" in honor of Queen Elizabeth II of England. I admired Elizabeth very much when I was a little girl. I collected pictures and made an album about Queen Elizabeth. What silly characters these Sudanese are.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rosa Luxemburg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. but Teddy wasn't a prophet
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
leftynyc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 04:08 PM
Response to Reply #6
15. So what?
The fact that a British citizen is sitting in a shithole Sudanese prison for any length of time for this is ridiculous.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pennylane100 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 03:37 PM
Response to Reply #3
13. I did too.
I remember standing in the rain to see her drive by our school. I am afraid I no longer have any respect to the royal family. They do not do anything useful but they do bring in the tourist dollars.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
AspenRose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 01:56 PM
Response to Original message
4. I'm glad she didn't get the lashes
This is really sad. She wasn't the one who named the bear, it was the children in the classroom. And the kids and their parents were defending her.

This really makes the governing officials look foolish...even to some Muslims, apparently, if you read the comments on the BBC site. Most everyone thinks they went too far.

That poor teacher.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 03:11 PM
Response to Reply #4
11. Every Muslim quoted in Britain said she should be released with no charge
eg the Muslim Council of Britain:

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has said it is "appalled" by the decision to prosecute Ms Gibbons.

"This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense," Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the MCB, commented.

"There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith. The children in Ms Gibbons' class and their parents have all testified as to her innocence in this matter."

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/autocodes/countries/sudan/sudan-prison-uk-teacher-$1173367.htm


An American Muslim organisation said basically the same thing, too. It's some nationalist and/or fundamentalist idiots in Sudan who are claiming this was part of a 'western plot' against Islam. :banghead:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mlevans Donating Member (642 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 02:02 PM
Response to Original message
5. At least they didn't name it Buddha the Bear.
Frankly, I think Muhammad would be a very good name for a teddy bear. Very classy and dignified.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rosa Luxemburg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 02:09 PM
Response to Original message
7. next thing Gordon Brown will be invading the Sudan
:evilgrin:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mlevans Donating Member (642 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 02:50 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. He considered it, I believe,
but on second consideration found he couldn't "bear" the thought.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
GeniusLib Donating Member (117 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 02:34 PM
Response to Original message
8. Let me get this right..............
having terrorists that murder innocent civilians in cold blood named Muhammad is not offensive but giving a teddy bear that name is.


Makes sense to me :crazy:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pennylane100 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 03:42 PM
Response to Reply #8
14. You have to worry about the future of such a country.
Edited on Thu Nov-29-07 03:43 PM by pennylane100
They have genocide, mass starvation and ethnic cleansing. However that pales beside the crime of naming a teddy bear after their god. I feel so sorry for the people in that country, they are ruled by moronic idiots.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
nedbal Donating Member (675 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Dec-01-07 06:26 PM
Response to Reply #14
18. They have cleansing of the infidels for years now, No sane Christan should live there
Much of the world still has a strong tribal / clan society, and have no problems with the genocide of all others
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CJCRANE Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 03:08 PM
Response to Original message
10. Muhammad is a very popular name in muslim
countries. I would be surprised if the kids DIDN'T call the bear Muhammad.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mlevans Donating Member (642 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 03:16 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. A very good point.
Really, the only way this could reasonably be considered a crime against Islam would be if the teacher intended to name the bear after the Prophet. Otherwise, it could be any old Muhammad.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
AspenRose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #12
16. Exactly
Edited on Thu Nov-29-07 04:50 PM by DesertedRose
It was a young boy in class who said he named it after himself
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7116401.stm


There are rules about this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7115821.stm

Edited to add Amnesty International's statement:

"The sentence is a mockery of justice and Amnesty International consider Gillian to be a prisoner of conscience. She should be immediately and unconditionally released."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7119917.stm
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
fortyfeetunder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Dec-01-07 06:50 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. Flame me -- but there is a point here....
The point is, like we have some Murkans that expect all immigrants to speak English, there are mores in Sudan that don't tolerate naming objects after religious names -- like how about a similar event happened in Fundy USA with kida naming the teddy bear "G-d"....

<<Gill Lusk, the associate editor of Africa Confidential and a specialist on Sudan, says the incident will have offended many in the country. As Sudan is a place where religion is never mocked or satirised, it's "unthinkable" that a toy or pet could be given a religious name.

"You're not supposed to give a religious name to any objects - it could be seen as idolatry." >>
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tom_paine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-29-07 05:36 PM
Response to Original message
17. Muslim Fundamentalsist and Bushtian Fundamentalists are so very alike
Pat Robertson is likely quite jealous of the punishment meted out to this secular liberal, despite his outward show outrage for the feebs who follow him.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Sun May 12th 2024, 04:30 AM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Latest Breaking News Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC