Do you ever stop and think how lucky you are to live in a country that honors and values free speech? Short of yelling “Fire” in a movie theater, we are allowed to openly criticize our leaders and debate any issue in an open forum, as these posts attest.
Look at what the Muslim community abroad gets upset about. 54 year old Gillian Gibbons teaching kids in Sudan brought a teddy bear into her class. She asked her class of seven-year-olds to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats. After considering the names Hassan and Abdullah, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of Muhammad — the first name of the most popular boy in the class. Unfortunately for Gibbons, it is also the name of the sacred Islam prophet.
Gibbons was arrested Sunday. The teacher was convicted of insulting religion but cleared of two other charges of inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.
She could have faced a sentence of 40 lashes, a fine or jail term of up to a year. Hundreds of protesters brandishing ceremonial swords and sticks gathered outside Khartoum's presidential palace Friday to vent their anger. Some of the protesters demanded the teacher's execution. Some chanted: "No tolerance: Execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."
Remember last year the Muslim outcry at what they found to be offensive cartoons of Mohammed. A French newspaper reproduced a set of Danish caricatures depicting Muhammad that caused outrage in the Muslim world. Muslim nations threatened boycotts and death threats made against Danish citizens traveling in the Middle East.
The ability of Muslims to threaten death, and to have mass demonstrations (1 million in Karachi) over something so trivial as illustrations or naming a teddy bear, yet retaining a total inability to condemn Muslim atrocities such as 9/11 and suicide bombings with such mass protests is atrocious.
What are the children learning from all of this? One mother, whose seven-year-old son was in Gibbons' class, said her family had not been offended by the name. "Our Prophet Muhammad tells us to be forgiving," she said. "So she should be released. She didn't mean any of this at all."
Look at what the Muslim community abroad gets upset about. 54 year old Gillian Gibbons teaching kids in Sudan brought a teddy bear into her class. She asked her class of seven-year-olds to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats. After considering the names Hassan and Abdullah, they voted overwhelmingly in favor of Muhammad — the first name of the most popular boy in the class. Unfortunately for Gibbons, it is also the name of the sacred Islam prophet.
Gibbons was arrested Sunday. The teacher was convicted of insulting religion but cleared of two other charges of inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.
She could have faced a sentence of 40 lashes, a fine or jail term of up to a year. Hundreds of protesters brandishing ceremonial swords and sticks gathered outside Khartoum's presidential palace Friday to vent their anger. Some of the protesters demanded the teacher's execution. Some chanted: "No tolerance: Execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."
Remember last year the Muslim outcry at what they found to be offensive cartoons of Mohammed. A French newspaper reproduced a set of Danish caricatures depicting Muhammad that caused outrage in the Muslim world. Muslim nations threatened boycotts and death threats made against Danish citizens traveling in the Middle East.
The ability of Muslims to threaten death, and to have mass demonstrations (1 million in Karachi) over something so trivial as illustrations or naming a teddy bear, yet retaining a total inability to condemn Muslim atrocities such as 9/11 and suicide bombings with such mass protests is atrocious.
What are the children learning from all of this? One mother, whose seven-year-old son was in Gibbons' class, said her family had not been offended by the name. "Our Prophet Muhammad tells us to be forgiving," she said. "So she should be released. She didn't mean any of this at all."
EDIT 12/3 - Gibbons released from Jail after Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir granted her a presidential pardon, apologized for any distress her actions may have caused.
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