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November 29, 2007
Sudanese Islamist Court Sentences British Teacher For 'Teddy Bear' Offense
Topics: Understanding IslamA Sudanese court has found the British teacher guilty of insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohamed, and is to be sentenced to 15 days in prison followed by deportation. Actually, she's fortunate that they didn't sentence her to 40 lashes and years in prison, or beheaded as the whacko Islamonuts in Sudan were demanding.
The real issue in this ridiculous case is just who or what was insulted more - Mohammed or the teddy bear. On this, Julia Gorin offers an important perspective:
Sudan has found the British teacher who allowed students to name a teddy bear 'Muhammad' guilty of insulting religion and inciting hatred against Islam, and has sentenced her to 15 days in jail and deportation.Indeed, she obviously deserves to be punished. The only problem here is that she was charged for the wrong offense. It was the teddy bear that was insulted, not Mohammed.Upon hearing this news, prisoners all over Sudan began naming teddy bears Muhammad.
While jurists in the free world mostly agreed with the Sudan verdict, they disagreed with the charges, saying that the teacher should have been convicted for insulting a teddy bear. They argued that naming a bed of nails or a guillotine 'Muhammad' is one thing, but warm and fuzzy objects such as teddy bears truly run contrary to Islam.
Posted by Richard at November 29, 2007 4:38 PM
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