ThisYouWillDo
12-04-2007, 06:31 PM
In the past couple of weeks, the British tabloid press has been working itself into a frenzy because a British teacher at a primary school in Sudan allowed the children in her Year 2 class to name a teddybear, which was to be the class mascot. The children decided to name the teddy Mohammed after one of the boys in the class, and the teacher allowed this to happen.
She was reported by another person at the school to the authorities who charged her with various offences including disrespect for the Islamic faith and the Prophet. According to Sudanese law, she faced a year's imprisonment, or 40 lashes.
She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to 15 days in prison. After much diplomatic intervention she was released and returned to Liverpool. (Some would say she was better off in a Sudanese gaol, but that's another matter!) Extreme Moslem factions wanted her hanged, but good sense prevailed. She had been naive and had not bothered to consider how much offence would be caused by giving an animal the same name as the Prophet, but she had not intended any offence really.
On another tack, it was mentioned on BBC Radio 4 that an Iraqi boy - a teenager - living in the UK had taken another boy - a child of 6 - into the local shopping centre and had bought him some sweets. He had not sought the permission of the child's parents to do this. When the alarm was raised, they were soon found and the teenager was arrested and charged with kidnapping the child and with child abuse.
The teenager could not comprehend what was happening. He had never had to ask parents' permission to take a child into town where he came from. He understood he had had to look after the boy while he was in charge of him, and there was never any suspicion that the child would come to harm. People look out for each other in his culture. All he had done, afer all, was take him out and bought him sweets.
Nevertheless, he was found guilty, given a gaol sentence, and will have a criminal record for the rest of his life. Furthermore, his name has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register, and that means he will never be allowed to work with or be in a position of trust or responsibility around children.
We are all guilty of failing to understand each other and we seem to be unwilling to try. And real people suffer as a result.
TYWD
She was reported by another person at the school to the authorities who charged her with various offences including disrespect for the Islamic faith and the Prophet. According to Sudanese law, she faced a year's imprisonment, or 40 lashes.
She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to 15 days in prison. After much diplomatic intervention she was released and returned to Liverpool. (Some would say she was better off in a Sudanese gaol, but that's another matter!) Extreme Moslem factions wanted her hanged, but good sense prevailed. She had been naive and had not bothered to consider how much offence would be caused by giving an animal the same name as the Prophet, but she had not intended any offence really.
On another tack, it was mentioned on BBC Radio 4 that an Iraqi boy - a teenager - living in the UK had taken another boy - a child of 6 - into the local shopping centre and had bought him some sweets. He had not sought the permission of the child's parents to do this. When the alarm was raised, they were soon found and the teenager was arrested and charged with kidnapping the child and with child abuse.
The teenager could not comprehend what was happening. He had never had to ask parents' permission to take a child into town where he came from. He understood he had had to look after the boy while he was in charge of him, and there was never any suspicion that the child would come to harm. People look out for each other in his culture. All he had done, afer all, was take him out and bought him sweets.
Nevertheless, he was found guilty, given a gaol sentence, and will have a criminal record for the rest of his life. Furthermore, his name has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register, and that means he will never be allowed to work with or be in a position of trust or responsibility around children.
We are all guilty of failing to understand each other and we seem to be unwilling to try. And real people suffer as a result.
TYWD