Teddy Bear Teacher Says No Hard Feelings
I’m sure you all followed the story of British school teacher Gillian Gibbons who was recently imprisoned in Sudan for “inciting religious hatred” by allowing her 1st grade (equivalent) students at a private Sudanese school to name a class teddy bear “Muhammad.” Sudanese Muslims filled the streets demanding she be killed and beheaded.
So afraid were authorities that harm would befall her before her trial that she had to be whisked to a secret location for her own protection. After eight days in custody, she was convicted and sentenced to fifteen days in prison, a much lighter sentence than she could have received, and one that further inflamed Muslims, some of whom said they would kill her themselves if they saw her on the streets.
Two British Muslim members of Parliament hurried to Sudan to beg — yes, beg — for her pardon and release which were ultimately granted. She appeared on Good Morning America this morning and said she hopes no one will be angry with the people of Sudan, the ones who wanted her beheaded, over the incident for which she deeply apologizes.
In order to understand the issues involved, you first need to realize that Muhammad is a very common name in Muslim countries, including Sudan, and boys are often so named by their families. In fact, Gibbons’ young students voted to name the teddy bear after a boy in their class!
So why all the fuss? My take is that Muslims are so brainwashed that they can be easily incited by clerics who tell them that a crime against Islam has been perpetrated and that they must seek vengeance, usually by killing someone. And Britain, in fact most of Europe, has allowed such fanaticism to fester for so long under the guise of religious tolerance that it will be all but impossible to ever correct. Indeed, the Europe we once knew is no more.
Watch the video (excuse the advertisement) that accompanies this news link. Note the “religion of peace” marching in the streets and demanding death to the infidel teacher. This is what liberals want us to be “tolerant” of. This is what will happen in the U.S. if we continue along the present primrose path of misdirected “tolerance.”
Doug
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Reader Comments (15)
What I want to know is why the U.S. is still subsidizing the Sudanese government, the largest supporter of that country in the world I believe, to the tune of $2.6 billion? We are subsidizing terrorists! Isn't it time we get our heads out of the sand?
If Gibbons had been an American citizen, what would our government have done? Nothing different, I am afraid.
I love it when you get pissed! And we get a two-fer today, the "Greenies" AND the Jihadist culture of intolerance against Westerners. Great!
Yes, rant on! I am with you 100%!
I see us sitting back just like we and Europe did when it was Nazi fascism instead of Muslim fascism threatening the world. Everyone sat back and said we didn't have a dog in that fight. Until Pearl Harbor when we no longer had a choice.
We've had 9-11. What more will it take before we haven't a choice?
Offending Islam isn’t the problem. Islam IS the problem.
I can hardly wait for the book (you know there’s one in the works as we speak) and the made-for-TV movie. But she'll likely be portrayed as insensitive because of her “Western” upbringing.
But wouldn't it be refreshing if she blasted Islam for the barbarity it invokes in it’s followers?
And who will play our heroin? Angelina Jolie? Meryl Streep?
Hey Doug! I forgot to mention, I like the new mast head!! I liked the old one too, very cool, but it is always nice to have variety.
We like your new banner but what is it? Jack thinks it is the inside of a spaceship :=p
I think everyone is forgetting that the war we are in is against the extremists who profess to be following Islam. They are the exception not the rule. The most of Muslims are peace loving people. We shouldn't condemn the whole religion for the actions of the few. We have bad Christians but all Christians are not bad.
Katrina, I don't even know where to begin. That way of thinking is an endless loop. Let me assure you that if a radical segment of our country, lets call them "fundamentalist Americans" had nuclear weapons and decided to drop them on Sudan and Iran, do you not think those countries would consider that an act of war and retaliate?
Controlling our citizens is our responsibility. We wouldn't be able to say, "Well, those are bad guys, we have no control over 'them' so don't retaliate against 'us'. It's the 'bad' Americans. The rest of us are 'good guys' who don't support 'them'." Like that would work!
It's the responsibility of the countries in which jihadists are being incubated to control their own or suffer the consequences of our retaliation. During WWII, we didn't try to isolate the "bad" Germans from the "good" Germans. Couldn't be done. If we had tried, we would all be speaking German today and living under Nazi rule.
We will struggle and wring our hands until we recognize this simple fact.
Thanks for noticing that I changed the banner. Everyone, including Wifey, seemed to like the old one, a photo taken of an exhibit at Caldwell-Snyder Art Gallery, but I think change is often a good thing and decided it was time.
Contrary to Jack's speculation that the new image is of the inside of spaceship (had a couple nips, did you, Jack?) it's actually of one of the ceilings at the de Young Museum. I love the architecture of the de Young and found the ceiling particularly interesting. I cropped and resized it to fit as a banner.
I'll rotate banners from time to time with images I find interesting. If you have one you think might work, pass it along. I can't promise I'll use it, but I always enjoy looking at other photographer's work.
Doug
Wake up Britain. Sharia law is coming to a town near you!
I’m an old SAC aircrew guy and I am quickly approaching the old “nuke ’em till they glow and strafe them in the dark” mindset. They really need to start passing some Thorazine around during the Friday prayer sessions. I have lost all tolerance for these habitual complainers.
I can’t believe you people. A couple weeks ago you got a banner headline that the enemy is using it’s petro wealth to buy up America and you’re still talking about this even though Sudan didn't press the issue. Yes, it was awful. But talk about fiddling while Rome burns....
Years from now, in some Arab classroom, they will be teaching a class on America’s fall from power and some student is going to ask, “If it was known they were paying us all this money, why didn’t they take any steps to stop it?” I’d love to be there to hear the answer.
I know that any time I make this point, I get hit with charges of “flamer” or, worse, a passing reference to ANWAR (fine, fine, drill in ANWAR, it’s like a parking lot dent in scope to this problem).
I realize I’m a bit off topic here, but the Citibank purchase isn’t being discussed anywhere and it’s the "big story" now in the war on terror, way bigger than some British teacher and her teddy bear.
I share your concern, Truman, but I think you may be overly alarmed. Although some might view Abu Dhabi as buying Citigroup at a "fire-sale price" - the bank's shares have lost about 45 percent of their value so far this year, wiping away $124 billion in market capitalization - Abu Dhabi's planned $7.5 billion minority investment in Citigroup could help stabilize the bank, which has said it will likely write down the value of its portfolio by $8 billion to $11 billion in the fourth quarter because of the mortgage crisis.
Have you listened to this lady on TV? She was almost beheaded by the fanatics she was trying to help and she is so brainwashed by the left's "pc correctness" doctrine that she is telling everyone not to blame those who wanted her head! Her head is mush! We are being brainwashed into docile sheep.