The last known picture of Mohammad Bear, in disguise and on the run in Sudan. Unfortunately, being a bear, Mohammad didn't understand the finer points of religious differentiation.For those of you who've been living under a rock for the last few days, there's a rather disturbing story out of Sudan.
Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Monday after complaints from parents that she had insulted the Prophet Mohammad. Her "crime"? She allowed her class (of mostly Muslim students) to name their class teddy bear "Mohammad". Apparently, the Sudanese think Allah is so fragile that He might be offended that a stuffed bear might bare (sorry) his Prophet's name, and Article 125 of the Sudanese Penal Code makes it an offence to publicly insult or degrade any religion, its rites, beliefs and sacred items, or humiliate its believers (unless, of course, they're Jewish, in which case, they're fair game).
Yesterday, Gillian was sentenced to 15 days in prison, followed by deportation. She avoided the maximum penalty of six months in jail, 40 lashes and a fine, but the bit of Sudan that's not prison is such a shit hole that I can't even imagine what prison would be like.
Sadly, there has been no news of the fate of Mohammed Bear, the innocent victim of all this extremism.
I have made several attempts to contact Mohammad Bear today, but he can not be found and I fear for his safety. Is he in hiding, or is he yet another faceless victim of oppression in the name of religion?
We must do something to save Mohammad Bear. Write to your local Member of Parliament (or congress, or whatever it is you call it where you come from). Call your local talk back radio station. Buy a "Save Mohammad" T-Shirt. And, of course, make a generous donation to "The Save Mohammad Rescue Fund" that will be hiring a team of mercenaries to enter Sudan, kick some butt and get him out of there.
Mohammad Bear... today, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Monday after complaints from parents that she had insulted the Prophet Mohammad. Her "crime"? She allowed her class (of mostly Muslim students) to name their class teddy bear "Mohammad". Apparently, the Sudanese think Allah is so fragile that He might be offended that a stuffed bear might bare (sorry) his Prophet's name, and Article 125 of the Sudanese Penal Code makes it an offence to publicly insult or degrade any religion, its rites, beliefs and sacred items, or humiliate its believers (unless, of course, they're Jewish, in which case, they're fair game).
Yesterday, Gillian was sentenced to 15 days in prison, followed by deportation. She avoided the maximum penalty of six months in jail, 40 lashes and a fine, but the bit of Sudan that's not prison is such a shit hole that I can't even imagine what prison would be like.
Sadly, there has been no news of the fate of Mohammed Bear, the innocent victim of all this extremism.
I have made several attempts to contact Mohammad Bear today, but he can not be found and I fear for his safety. Is he in hiding, or is he yet another faceless victim of oppression in the name of religion?
We must do something to save Mohammad Bear. Write to your local Member of Parliament (or congress, or whatever it is you call it where you come from). Call your local talk back radio station. Buy a "Save Mohammad" T-Shirt. And, of course, make a generous donation to "The Save Mohammad Rescue Fund" that will be hiring a team of mercenaries to enter Sudan, kick some butt and get him out of there.
Mohammad Bear... today, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
9 comments:
If a religion is so fragile that it can't handle a little fun poking or bear naming, then the religion is clearly too weak to survive - give up hope, just let the poor thing die.
We may not understand why it is offensive, but it should be simple enough to respect their wishes.
After all, it's pretty easy to avoid using that name for our pets, stuffed animals, cartoon characters, and what not. Was it so important to name that stuffed bear the one thing that offended the local population? No.
And why are we ridiculing them?
Vollman is right. I am going to make some cartoons that ridicule Mohammed the bear.
That way, by insulting the bear that was insulting his namesake, I am actually praising Allah.
Hopefully this will improve our relations with these guys.
Unless they think I am doing it ironically and then bomb an innocent U.S. embasy.
Robert, we're ridiculing them because the foundation of civilisation is tolerance.
Jesus, Moses and Mohamed play a central role in their respective religions. One is believed by his followers to be the Son of God. The other two are considered by their followers to be Prophets of the Word of God. I'm neither Christian nor Muslim, but I respect the beliefs of those who are, and I expect similar respect in return.
If a teacher in an Islamic school here in Australia, or over there in Canada where you are, named a teddy bear "Jesus", would that teacher be arrested, threatened with a flogging, imprisoned and then deported? I don't think so.
There would be a small minority who would get upset, talk back radio switchboards will be filled with people calling in to vent, and there'd be lead stories on the six o'clock news about insults, but that's about as far as it would go. Most of us would just take a deep breath, exhale and get on with our lives. There certainly wouldn't be raging mobs on the streets calling for her execution (as there was in Sudan today).
And if the they named a teddy bear "Moses", which would be roughly equivalent for Jews, no-one... not even the most religious Jew, would even blink.
I've said it before... Islam needs to chill out and get a sense of humour. They need to get rid of that big chip on their shoulder.
And the double standard is, once again, breathtaking... Sudan is a country where a cleric can stand before his congregation and sprout the most vile antisemitism with impunity (even though, technically, this would place him in similar breach of Article 125).
The so called religion of "peace and tolerance" has a great deal to answer for right now, and I, for one, would like to see them walk the talk.
What the bear said, only double!
As a by the way, Mr Bear, you might like to read this
Yes, the issue is not whether it should or should not be offensive, but really the somewhat ridiculous reaction to the naming of said Bear. It could even be argued that naming a bear after someone is intended as an acknowledgment, which is probably what the kids were doing.
And everything Chester said.
That's it. I'm naming my next pet Jesus. But only for the shock value.
"Islam needs to chill out and get a sense of humour. They need to get rid of that big chip on their shoulder."
Yes.
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