A 54-year-old British teacher instructing at a British private school in Sudan was thrown in jail by the Sudanese government over the naming of a stuffed teddy bear. The teacher, Gilliam Gibbons, wanted students to take turns bringing the bear home on the weekends and keep an active diary of what the bear experienced. However, before the assignment commenced, Gibbons asked the class to name the bear.
The class voted on Muhammad, the name of a seven-year-old boy in the class, but also the name of the Prophet Muhammad of the Islamic religion. From this point on, pandemonium ensued. Once Sudanese government received word of what had happened, Gibbons was accused of inciting religious hatred and placed in jail. Another grizzly aspect to Gibbons’ punishment is that she could receive up to 40 lashes for her so-called “blasphemy.”
First of all, it is clear Gibbons had absolutely no intent of disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad or the religion of Islam by the naming of the stuffed animal. In actuality, Gibbons did not even name the teddy bear herself. Students in the class, not the teacher, voted on the name Muhammad. As ridiculous as this whole incident is, why not just put these children, the ones clearly responsible for this terrible sacrilege, behind bars? Probably because it would be the only thing Sudan could do to would make this event even more absurd.
The name Muhammad is one of the most common names in the world. As aforementioned, the bear was named after a boy in the class who is also named Muhammad. The children in the classroom even said they were not thinking of the Prophet Muhammad while picking a name for the teddy bear. Undoubtedly, the barren land of Sudan has blown the incident out of proportion. We’re all for protecting religious ideals and sentiment, but to take it this far is quite wrong. The Sudanese government should step back, take a look at the harmlessness of the situation and learn to just grin and bear it.
Sure, correlating a key religious figure to an animal might be considered sacrilegious to some, but it barely compares to the situation at hand. We’re talking about a toy stuffed full of cotton. Give us a break.
The Unity High School temporarily closed down shortly after the incident and relieved Gibbons of her position as a teacher. Officials at the school say Unity will remain closed until high tensions subside. However, we believe the school should take opposite action and lobby for Gibbons’ release. Instead, the school condemns Gibbons’ actions calling them “unacceptable conduct.” The refusal to take a stand for a wrongly accused comrade is frankly unbearable.
It’s truly a shame “The Colbert Report” is at a standstill because of the writers strike. Stephen Colbert would definitely have something to say about this mess – he hates bears.
