30 Nov 07 Craziness

I’ve always believed that while national pride is good, and quite natural, when it borders on racism, it’s going to far. I very much try to treat everyone, wherever they are from, equally.

I do, however, feel that when you visit, live or work in another country, you should try your best to follow the customs and culture of that country, at least publicly, so as not to offend your hosts.

This brings me to the case of Gillian Gibbons, the British school teacher in Sudan.

Gillian has taught there for some time. Recently, she held a vote in her class to name a teddy bear. By an apparently clear majority, the children chose the name Muhammad.

Everything was fine at that point, although the head teacher pointed out that it was perhaps straying into sensitive areas. Gillian’s problems started when a parent complained about the naming. Apparently, the parent that made the original complaint didn’t want it to lead to what has happened since. The next day someone from the Government came by, and Gillian was arrested and taken into custody.

She was charged with blasphemy, which could have led to a 6 month sentence, 40 lashes, and a fine.

She received 15 days in jail, with a deportation order at the end of it. She maintains she was only going along with what the children wanted to do.

Now, we have thousands marching in the streets in Sudan to demand the death penalty!

I realize that even this represents only a minority of the citizens of Sudan, but this kind of behavior does nothing to help foster better relations between Muslims and the West, which the vast majority of people on both sides wish for.

Tags: apparently, blasphemy, borders, customs, death penalty, deportation, gibbons, gillian, head teacher, lashes, marching in the streets, muhammad, muslims and the west, national pride, racism, school teacher, sensitive areas, sudan, teddy bear