Briton Convicted in Sudan Blasphemy Case
02 Dec 2007, 6:44 am
The whole thing is quite rediculous and further proof of the insanity of unchecked religions. Are all these protestors showing the same concern for the massive ethnic killings that's currently going on in their country, orphaned kids from war don't care about a name of a teddy bear.
02 Dec 2007, 7:11 am
OK, some of you still have not realized what's going on so I'll try to explain it a different way.
Imagine that you're in the bible belt in the USA, there are folk living there who are hard-core Christians and so far as they are concerned you're either a Christian or you're going to hell. Now, head off to Toys R Us and buy a bear. Next Sunday go to the largest church you can find, stand in the middle of the stage and announce that your new furry friend is called Jesus Christ, son of God.
What sort of reaction are you going to get?
To repeat what I said earlier, there are no images of the prophet in Islamic culture. By calling the bear Mohammed you are (in their culture) saying that their prophet looks like a bear, an animal. In Islamic culture most animals are regarded as unclean so naming an animal after the prophet is a really REALLY bad idea. Some of you have raised other points so I will try to answer them:
She didn't name the Teddy Bear by herself. - No, she was in charge of a class of Christian schoolchildren and when they came up with the name she should have told them that this was wrong.
She likely didn't know about the "law". - She was working in a Muslim country and she should have been aware of basic Islamic law. Most countries (including those in the West) have a basic principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse and if she was not sure of something she should have asked.
She taught in a private, Christian school. - Which would be governed by the laws of Sudan, religious or otherwise.
She didn't hurt anyone. - Yes she did, she offended an awful lot of devout Muslims
Ed Almos
02 Dec 2007, 9:08 am
Don't forget that Muslims take the whole 'worshiping false idols' thing a lot further than other Judaic religions. You're not supposed to make or draw any kind of representation of worldly things. Islamic art consists of mathematical patterns, not pictures.
You can see the original idea behind the law. People's time could be better spent on things than worshiping celebrities, and imaginary characters. Like most religious laws though, it's been twisted into a way to make as many people as possible sinners, so they can be guilt tripped into doing the preacher's political will.
Somehow it's OK to have huge pictures of political and religious leaders though.
02 Dec 2007, 9:13 am
I read that the patterns have to have a mistake somewhere, because onlu Allah is perfect.
and name your children after them... I wonder, is there an 'official' spelling of the icon mohammed, and all the boys named mohammed have to be spelt in other ways?
02 Dec 2007, 10:25 am
Imagine that you're in the bible belt in the USA, there are folk living there who are hard-core Christians and so far as they are concerned you're either a Christian or you're going to hell. Now, head off to Toys R Us and buy a bear. Next Sunday go to the largest church you can find, stand in the middle of the stage and announce that your new furry friend is called Jesus Christ, son of God.
What sort of reaction are you going to get?
To repeat what I said earlier, there are no images of the prophet in Islamic culture. By calling the bear Mohammed you are (in their culture) saying that their prophet looks like a bear, an animal. In Islamic culture most animals are regarded as unclean so naming an animal after the prophet is a really REALLY bad idea. Some of you have raised other points so I will try to answer them:
She didn't name the Teddy Bear by herself. - No, she was in charge of a class of Christian schoolchildren and when they came up with the name she should have told them that this was wrong.
She likely didn't know about the "law". - She was working in a Muslim country and she should have been aware of basic Islamic law. Most countries (including those in the West) have a basic principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse and if she was not sure of something she should have asked.
She taught in a private, Christian school. - Which would be governed by the laws of Sudan, religious or otherwise.
She didn't hurt anyone. - Yes she did, she offended an awful lot of devout Muslims
Ed Almos
She would NOT be prosecuted in a Western country for naming a teddy bear Jesus Christ so no, it's not the same, and just because it's the law in some fundamentalist hell hole like Sudan (which incidentally has bigger problems than the names of teddy bears) doesn't mean it's reasonable.
What really gets me is all these people who are really ticked off by the naming of a teddy bear (i.e. mere words), but don' seem to object to the Sudanese government killing thousands (many of them Muslims). Glad we've cleared up what their priorities are.
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LeKiwi
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02 Dec 2007, 11:44 am
Imagine that you're in the bible belt in the USA, there are folk living there who are hard-core Christians and so far as they are concerned you're either a Christian or you're going to hell. Now, head off to Toys R Us and buy a bear. Next Sunday go to the largest church you can find, stand in the middle of the stage and announce that your new furry friend is called Jesus Christ, son of God.
What sort of reaction are you going to get?
To repeat what I said earlier, there are no images of the prophet in Islamic culture. By calling the bear Mohammed you are (in their culture) saying that their prophet looks like a bear, an animal. In Islamic culture most animals are regarded as unclean so naming an animal after the prophet is a really REALLY bad idea. Some of you have raised other points so I will try to answer them:
She didn't name the Teddy Bear by herself. - No, she was in charge of a class of Christian schoolchildren and when they came up with the name she should have told them that this was wrong.
She likely didn't know about the "law". - She was working in a Muslim country and she should have been aware of basic Islamic law. Most countries (including those in the West) have a basic principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse and if she was not sure of something she should have asked.
She taught in a private, Christian school. - Which would be governed by the laws of Sudan, religious or otherwise.
She didn't hurt anyone. - Yes she did, she offended an awful lot of devout Muslims
Ed Almos
You're missing the point though -
She's a divorced, working, Western mother in a country that represses its people - especially the women - to a horrific scale on a day-to-day basis. She's a threat. That's what it's about.
She likely didn't realise naming a teddy bear Mohammed would cause so much offense; I don't think many Brits would have thought that (actually, the vast majority of the British muslim community have been quick to say they think it's ridiculous, it wasn't particularly offensive, and the whole thing is plain embarassing for them). Even those that do realise you don't name things Mohammed probably wouldn't have thought anything of naming a Teddy bear it, aided by a class of 8 year olds. Did she mean any harm? No.
Cultural Misunderstanding.
It's all conveniently distracting from the fact that this is a country where rape and genocide are arbitrarily handed out and condoned by the govt on a day-to-day basis...
02 Dec 2007, 6:09 pm
top-recommended comment from BBC have your say:
Well, I'm glad that's cleared up.
there are several other good comments on this on BBC HYS: bbc hys
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I am the steppenwolf that never learned to dance. (Sedaka)
El hombre es una bestia famélica, envidiosa e insaciable. (Francisco Tario)
I'm male by the way (yes, I know my avatar is misleading).
02 Dec 2007, 6:25 pm
What about the animals in your country that lock people up for 50 years for 50 dollars of weed?
Or the animals in your country that kidnaps 14 year olds and torture them in guantanamo torture dungeon?
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02 Dec 2007, 6:51 pm
What about the animals in your country that lock people up for 50 years for 50 dollars of weed?
Or the animals in your country that kidnaps 14 year olds and torture them in guantanamo torture dungeon?
I don't think the former is true. And besides, if you're caught coming into Indonesia with a lot of drugs, well, you're dead, or as good as.
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02 Dec 2007, 7:13 pm
What about the animals in your country that lock people up for 50 years for 50 dollars of weed?
Or the animals in your country that kidnaps 14 year olds and torture them in guantanamo torture dungeon?
I don't think the former is true. And besides, if you're caught coming into Indonesia with a lot of drugs, well, you're dead, or as good as.
50 $ of weed is not a lot of drugs. It is pretty much true or near as.
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Make mine a super frapalapi with double cream lots of Aspartame choc chip cookies a lump of lard and make it a big one
02 Dec 2007, 7:21 pm
In fact there is at least one case ion an us jail where a young man got 15 years or suchlike for about $20 weed and was promptly thereafter gang raped continually.
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Make mine a super frapalapi with double cream lots of Aspartame choc chip cookies a lump of lard and make it a big one
02 Dec 2007, 7:28 pm
well, gang rapes are hardly uncommon in Sudan (Darfur). I very much doubt that prisons in Sudan are better than those in the West. What's the penalty in fundamentalist Sudan for selling alcohol?
_________________
I am the steppenwolf that never learned to dance. (Sedaka)
El hombre es una bestia famélica, envidiosa e insaciable. (Francisco Tario)
I'm male by the way (yes, I know my avatar is misleading).
02 Dec 2007, 7:46 pm
well, gang rapes are hardly uncommon in Sudan (Darfur). I very much doubt that prisons in Sudan are better than those in the West. What's the penalty in fundamentalist Sudan for selling alcohol?
I think you are quoting the lying press viz Darfur.
Secondly, i fond it hard to believe that gang rape is as common an occurence in Sudan as it is in USA. Sudan is a Muslim country where rape and bestiality and buggery are frowned upon.
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Make mine a super frapalapi with double cream lots of Aspartame choc chip cookies a lump of lard and make it a big one
02 Dec 2007, 7:47 pm
well, gang rapes are hardly uncommon in Sudan (Darfur). I very much doubt that prisons in Sudan are better than those in the West. What's the penalty in fundamentalist Sudan for selling alcohol?
Probably more or less the same as where you are for heroin.
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Make mine a super frapalapi with double cream lots of Aspartame choc chip cookies a lump of lard and make it a big one
03 Dec 2007, 6:55 am
Maybe, but Sudanese jails are unlikely to have gyms, sky tv, etc like British jails apparently do.
A couple of interesting comments from BBC HYS in reaction to the pardon, the first by someone called Samira (no location given), the second by someone called Stacey (Aberdeen):
It's a real shame - Sudan will now be in more of a crisis as so many brits wont be donating to them anymore. And that is all of their own doing.
_________________
I am the steppenwolf that never learned to dance. (Sedaka)
El hombre es una bestia famélica, envidiosa e insaciable. (Francisco Tario)
I'm male by the way (yes, I know my avatar is misleading).
03 Dec 2007, 8:02 am
You heard? She's being pardoned.
http://www.bigpond.com/news/breaking/co ... 108443.asp
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