Thursday, November 29, 2007

British Woman Faces Lashing for Teddy bear Named Muhammad

Gillian Gibbons, a British woman who teaches kids in Sudan, is facing severe punishment for allowing her class to name a teddy bear "Muhammad".

The controversy began when Gibbons asked the kids in her class to suggest names for the class teddy bear. The class chose "Muhammad" , naming the teddy bear after one of the students.

Islamic fundamentalists took the naming of the teddy bear as an insult to the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. As a punishment, they have determined that Gibbons should receive 40 lashes with a bamboo cane, a punishment common in their religion for "blasphemy" against the prophet.

Despite an international outcry, including moderate Muslims, the authorities are going ahead with this outrageous punishment.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was "appalled" at the decision. He said: "This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense."

"There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith."

You can see what a lashing looks like in the picture at the left. This is another example of the irrationality of the religion of Islam, which is more interested in beating and killing innocent women and children than in justice, peace, and love.

Don't believe all the people who say Islam is a religion of peace. Wherever you find Islam, you find terrorism, torture, hate, war, the denial of human dignity, and no value for human life.

1 comment:

Burt Noyes said...

hey Justin, good to hear from you again.

It's great news that they are going to lessen Gibbons' punishment to the jail time and deportation.

Interestingly, the reaction of the Sudanese was extremely vitriolic-
From the Associate Press:
Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."

In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.

The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.

So the wonderful adherents to the peaceful religion of Islam figure that the death penalty is more appropriate than the lashings.