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I just wanted to see what the feeling was of the British teacher who is in a jail in Sudan for allowing the 6-7 year old children in her class to name him Mohammed. Just the other day on the news I heard that they (Sudan) were not getting any support in comparison to the whole Danish comic strip last year (which was horrendous and caused much distress). This didnt look very good for the Sudanese when people started saying they were overreacting. Then after friday prayer a crowd of over a thousand started chanting that she(Gillian Gibbons) should be beheaded!!!! Does it seem that there is something else at work here apart from outrage (they werent outraged yesterday or even this morning!!!) like maybe trying to save face......No one really seemed to be that bothered.....ok maybe not such a good idea to name anything after any prophet (without double checking with your superiors, especially whilst in another country) but these are children and they revere their prophet so they were asked whats a good name, well there isnt a better name in Islam than Mohammed!!. Surely there was a better way of dealing with it? Is this a valid reason for beheading someone?
I'm guessing they think it is blasphemy and does constitute strict punishment, and sadly, they do not tolerate religious freedom in their country, so I feel awful for that poor woman, she didn't do it to be mean or blaspheme their prophet, but basically, I feel it's ridiculous and they need to get over it. Poor woman. I don't call for the beheading of anyone who says "oh my God" or something I don't really like that much,
Well its not good, was discussing it with my husband (we're muslims) and it is very sad, it was accidental and the school could have done something to prevent this from happening!!! They chose not to and now this poor woman and her family....
But why would they invite her to take a position at a school there? Thats got me baffled....Educating their 6-7 year olds...if they were so concerned surely this would have seemed like a bad decision?
I can't answer the question about hiring her in the first place Kiki. However, it was a poor decision on her part knowing the situation in that country. When you think about the probability that the only way word of this could have gotten out of the school is through the children telling their parents what happened that day in school, she must have had some inkling earlier that at least one, two, or more of the parents didn't particularly like the idea of her teaching their children. It is very sad that she didn't take into account the response in the Danish newspaper last year and be extremely careful of what she said or did. Of course, what strikes me as oddly hypocritical in this whole affair is that men and boys are named Mohammed and it is not considered an insult. Those children chose the name of Mohammed for the teddy bear by voting on a number of mens names that they picked out. Unfortunately, in allowing this to occur, she brought Democracy into the classroom. Big no no.
I think this whole uproar has more to do with certain people looking for problems rather than it being an actual problem. I believe the Democratic voting that took place is the underlying reason for this. The lag in time in which suddenly people were rioting in the streets looking for this poor woman to be beheaded, suggests to me that this was fully instigated by extremists. They will grab a hold of and blow out of proportion any incident, no matter how small or benign, to strike against Western culture. When there is a Westerner teaching their children, I am sure that there is some amount of fear that they will lose their children to Western society/values. Those children were being taught they have an actual voice in the decision making process. That freedom of choice doesn't exist over there. Learning something like that might compel them to question how they live as they grow into adulthood. So, in a way, this excessive show is a form of damage control. I am sure the person who lit the initial fire is very proud of himself right now.
I can't answer the question about hiring her in the first place Kiki. However, it was a poor decision on her part knowing the situation in that country. When you think about the probability that the only way word of this could have gotten out of the school is through the children telling their parents what happened that day in school, she must have had some inkling earlier that at least one, two, or more of the parents didn't particularly like the idea of her teaching their children. It is very sad that she didn't take into account the response in the Danish newspaper last year and be extremely careful of what she said or did. Of course, what strikes me as oddly hypocritical in this whole affair is that men and boys are named Mohammed and it is not considered an insult. Those children chose the name of Mohammed for the teddy bear by voting on a number of mens names that they picked out. Unfortunately, in allowing this to occur, she brought Democracy into the classroom. Big no no.
I think this whole uproar has more to do with certain people looking for problems rather than it being an actual problem. I believe the Democratic voting that took place is the underlying reason for this. The lag in time in which suddenly people were rioting in the streets looking for this poor woman to be beheaded, suggests to me that this was fully instigated by extremists. They will grab a hold of and blow out of proportion any incident, no matter how small or benign, to strike against Western culture. When there is a Westerner teaching their children, I am sure that there is some amount of fear that they will lose their children to Western society/values. Those children were being taught they have an actual voice in the decision making process. That freedom of choice doesn't exist over there. Learning something like that might compel them to question how they live as they grow into adulthood. So, in a way, this excessive show is a form of damage control. I am sure the person who lit the initial fire is very proud of himself right now.
Great post!! The parents found out because she sent them a letter home introducing the teddy bear (by the chosen name) and saying in the letter he was going to visit their homes and could they write a diary with their children of what they did with the bear. Now somewhere this had to have been run by a senior teacher at the school. You dont go to a school in a different country without checking and double checking!!! What saddens me is that these kinds of teaching methods are not available over there, opting more for the structured learning then any other type of model. The children would have been very excited, new teacher, new challenges and new ways of learning. This has now been removed and it is such a shame that yet again politics have taken over.......why does this happen? What is there to prove? I HATE politics!!!!!
Well, I guess you must have read or heard more detail on this than I did. I heard that the teddy bear was going to spend time at each child's house, but I hadn't heard any more details surrounding that. You are right, you would think that a senior teacher would have been her advisor and known about all of this. Hmm. Very interesting! Makes me wonder about the intentions of the person or people who were overseeing her lesson plan.
Yeah, politics bites. But, this is just so much more than simple politics as we know it. When we have such diverse cultural issues in the mix, it always leaves the door open for any situation to explode. We westerners are so hated in that part of the world. The United States & the UK in particular. When you have a country in which the information that is given out to the public is completely controlled by the governing body, people only know what they are being told. Just look at how the story itself was handled in the media. I am in the U.S. The story hit and initially info was limited. It was superceded here by some big "to do" locally in the area where I live. So, I was missing information. Now, we live in a democratic society and although I am sure there is information that is withheld at times by our governments, most of our information is controlled by the media. When you ask "Why does this happen" and "What is there to prove?" Well, in this particular situation, you have to look to the cultural climate of the region for your answer. You are an individual who has found balance between your religion and life in your country. As difficult as it is for you to comprehend such a reaction and this incident would be a non-issue where you live, if you were raised in the Sudan, you might not be so understanding.
It's a teddy bear for crying out loud ; a bunch of foam stuffing covered with artificial fur!! And Mohammed is just a name for goodness sake! Come on now ; if this isn't insanity then I don't know what is! Sorry, but at this point any respect or empathy I may have had for Islam just went right out the window!
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