Teacher faces whipping over toy bear

[pegkerr]

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday that officials were working to secure the early release of a British teacher who faces being whipped in Sudan after she allowed her class to name a teddy bear "Mohammed."

It's hard to know what to say about this jaw-dropping story. Respect for other religions, yeah, yeah, but come on. I wonder what the Prophet might have thought about his followers raising respect for his name practically to the point of idolatry.

Edited to add: I also wonder why it doesn't seem to occur to anyone to also give 40 lashes to the 20 out of 23 kids in the classroom who voted to give the teddy bear the name "Mohammed."

Comments

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

As I am currently in the UK the press this is getting is interesting. They are concentrating on the fact that the kids voted for the name, and that she has only been there since August and thus she may not have been aware of the implications.
I must admit I struggle with the fact its okay to call your kid Mohammed by not an inanimate object...(though some kids do damn good impressions of inanimate objects).

[ann-totusek.livejournal.com]

If I were her, I'd be sorely tempted to be extremely contrite in order to avoid the lashing. Then go home, buy a pet pot-bellied pig and name it Mohammed. Although I'm assured by a friend of mine in the UK that you'd be arrested for that there as well. Nanny state indeed.