A British elementary teacher by the name of Gillian Gibbons was arrested for blasphemy last Tuesday. She brought a teddy bear into class and allowed her students to name it. So, with this freedom, the children decided to call the teddy bear Mohammad. She was teaching in the Sudan when she got a little more adventure than she bargained for. Apparently, she was turned in by and angry secretary who had just lost her job. The blasphemous act of naming the bear Mohammad was punishable with up to forty lashes and at least six days in prison. However, two lawyers from the House of Lords persuaded the officials to free her. They brought up a good point that pardoning her would lead to goodwill for their country, internationally. Finally, President Omar al-Bashir officially pardoned her and she was allowed to go home. As far as the teacher’s intentions go, she claims to have meant no harm. She has nothing but good things to say about Sudan; it’s beautiful and she had a good time. This pitfall has not discouraged her from wanting to teach. She has stated that she wants to spend Christmas with her family and then begin searching diligently for a new teaching job in the New Year. This would be a good time for her to turn over a new leaf.
I can understand how naming a teddy bear Mohammad could be degrading, but I do not understand giving someone forty lashes over it. I was quite surprised by the story and I am glad that she is now safely at home. Honestly though, she should have been more thoughtful and careful of what she was doing. She had to have known that naming a bear Mohammad would be a bad idea.
Mindy Collins
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/04/sudan.teacher/index.html
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