OK for people to be called Muhammad, but not a teddy bear (not in Sudan anyway)

[WendyWeber]

Poor woman

40 lashes???

I love the calm quote from the Muslim teacher at the school:

"I was just impressed that she got them to vote"

These are 6-7 year-olds, they chose the alternative names and they voted for Muhammad (also the name of the most popular boy in the class apparently) and most of the parents are fine with it - just one fanatic took offence from the sound of it.

At least it wasn't a cuddly pig or dog...

From some reading around the subject I understand that when a man defiled the mosque area by urinating on it, the Prophet didn't order the man flogged or punished. He cleared up the mess himself.

Do the followers of a man who set a precedent as calm and rational as that really feel that they have the right to beat a woman over the name of a toy?

Shame on them

I wish people wouldn't say that muslims are sensitve about blah di blah.

Nutters with a chip on their shoulders are sensitive about blah di blah. Normal sane rational muslims are no more sensitive than the average.

oh I should have said nutters with a chip on their shoulder and / or a big political axe to grind

LB, to be fair, I think that everyone on this thread has said, or infered 'some' muslims. Haven't they?

Fucking bearded nutters.

What a constructive comment Desi .

oh yes I was just referring to the news reporting of these sorts of incidents. They always say things along the lines of "fears of offending muslims" as if all muslims are sitting there trawling the internet and media for things they can be offended about. That idiot seemingly random comment in the BBC report about it being offensive to make an image of the prophet, as if that is connected with the naming of a teddy bear - it's reinforcing that image of muslims as being particularly ready to take offence and seizing on the most peripheral of issues to get indignant about.

Must I be constructive? I don't think it's very constructive to throw a teacher in jail for naming a teddy bear Muhammud.

Freedom of speech ... remember that?

desi, recall at all where this is taking place
Ever heard of the janjaweed...
You think 40 lashes for naming a teddy is bad
Darfur anyone
perspective....

I do. I was referring to my right to freedom of speech when I referred to those responsible for this teacher's incarceration as fucking bearded nutters.

And I stand by it. It would hardly have been conceivable 500 hundred years ago, let alone now.

One must therefore deduce that desi obviously has firsthand experience of fucking nutters...

that's fucking as a adjective rather than a verb

LOL
I've had experience of fucking nutters both as a verb and an adjective.

Cosmopolitan, me.

What's your point, piffle? It's lost on me.

Me too, piff - I don't see what Darfur has to do with this.

I do think 40 lashes for naming a teddy is bad, as it happens.

No shit, Sherlock

I was responding to Piffle's question Desiderata.

But yes, does seem rather obvious now you mention it...

Darfur is relevant because it's in the same country!
This (horrific) scenario is happening in a troubled war torn genocidal unstable country where a fight for religious ascendancey will be as important as any religious observance would be.

For the record, there are members of DPs family who (though they would no more lash a sack of potatoes nor wish to see any human hurt) would demur at an image of an animal named Mohammed. But they would tactfully point it out.

Imagine a post on MN, under 'education' from 20 yars ago...
'my child attends a primary school in N ireland. We are catholics, and our protestant class teacher has sent home the class pig, which is apparantly called John Paul..' (or whatever the Pope was called 20 years ago...sorry...) can you IMAGINE the calls to go straight to ofsted, the LEA etc etc? Even though the poor visiting suply teacher from Norfolk had no idea of the currency of the thing.

This is a horrible situation, and quite unreasonable, and hopefully diplomatic intervention will save her from horrible treatment. But this isn't about any general 'excusing of mad Muslims' etc etc.

"Class pig", Blu??? It's a teddy bear! (belonging to a child in the class! and the children chose the name!)

I still don't see the relevance of Darfur to this incident .

yes...look, WW, I'm not going to stick up for what is going on...but read what I wrote again.

WE view teddy bears as cuddly sweet animals. In many other parts of the world animals are animals. I changed it to pig in the theoretical scenario to take away the general positive affection with which we view teddies. It doesn't always translate like that.

It didn't belong to a child in the class - this teacher introduced it a la UK curiculum - bloody barnaby Bear. But she, alas, has more reason to think that of him than the rest of us who had the class bear for the weekend this year.

Drafur is relevant because all sense of proportion or human mercy is in abeyance in the country, it would seem.

This woman is a victi, to some extent, of that.