That whole thing stinks!!

I think some people need to seriously loosen up a bit. This is a perfect example of religion gone bad.

kwind

Heard on news at lunchtime, that this lady is on her way home, THANK GOODNESS!! this is very scary stuff, and the response from the fanatics was terryfying,

Sure, it is a non-issue for us. But if we have Muslim fundamentalists for neigbours, who are particularly sensitive about certain practices, then we ought to respect that, especially if it's no cost to us.

It is in bad taste to eat beef in public where cows are sacred, or ham where it is not kosher, or make graven images of sacred personages where such a thing is frowned upon. How would we like it if someone spit on our altar, just because they think it's no big deal, and we should just tolerate it.

I'm kind of between Arminius and Kwind.

I have to wonder if the same fuss would have been raised if it were a male Sudanese teacher who had done the same thing.

I wish there were a choice on the poll somewhere between non-issue and religious hatred. Although I hesitate to use "ignorance" as an excuse for anything, but I think that we have to take into account that the teacher was not aware that she was doing anything wrong, and did not mean to offend anyone. Mohammed is a very popular name, and since it was a student who suggested the name, not knowing himself that it would cause such a problem, how could the teacher have known? I wouldn't call this a non-issue, however. It is important for people to be educated about the world around them and to know the cultural customs of the places that they visit.

Arminius said:
How would we like it if someone spit on our altar, just because they think it's no big deal, and we should just tolerate it.

Turn the other cheek, eh, Arminius?

I think the important thing is intention. Certainly, that is so in the criminal law. Intention is a prerequisite for a criminal act. Strict liability is an anomaly in the law of civilized countries. This teacher is a stranger in a strange land and she would likely have thought that naming ones Teddy bear Mohammad was quite a permissible use of the name and could even be seen as a sign of love and respect. (As I recall this is precisely how the name "Teddy" came to be ... as a reference to King Edward who as a child had a stuffed bear and when the public began to emulate the royal family by giving the bears to their own children they were referred to as "Teddy" bears to honour the future king.) In any case a foreigner might be excused for thinking that since every other ditch digger, hod carrier, beggar, rickshaw driver, real estate agent, and cab driver in the Muslim world (and increasingly in Canada's major cities too) is named Mohammed that it might be quite alright to endearingly name one's Teddy bear "Mohammed". But I for one view such a naming as a grave slight upon a beautiful Western tradition and yes, even upon Her Majesty and her forebears and call for death to those who would desecrate a poor defenceless Teddy bear ... (and, yay, the very institution of the Teddy bear that has become so much a part of our culture!) by attempting to take away from it the name of a king and to replace it with the same name as belongs to half of the men employed in sweeping the camel droppings out of the town square of Khartoum.. One could show more respect by referring to ones Teddy as Tom, Dick or Harry. Death to all those who would demean their Teddy in such a fashion! Death I say!

Sure it is a non issue for many of us but I know some Christian fundamentalists who would be up in arms if a teddy bear here was named Jesus or Jehovah. That reaction would be equally as silly. After all it just the musings of children...not a plot to overthrow a religion.

I agree with Rachel. I would have liked a choice between non-issue, and religious hatred. I see this as neither and as something in the middle. Like others have said, I think the teacher was misguided and did not fully understand the culture in which she was teaching. That was somewhat disrespectful and ultimately unwise.

Luckily it seems she was aquitted and is going home.

Faerenach: Well, Fairie, we would, wouldn't we, instead of running down the street with raised swords screaming revenge.

How about the bobble headed Jesus?

This is not just a religious issue, in Sudan this is political (indeed there is no distinction between the two in the Sudan). It is fine for us to say, in the culture of tolerance and sensitivity we now live in, that we should show respect for the views of religious fundamentalist. But the millions of Christian refugees fleeing from Sudan would beg us not to show tolerance to their oppressors. I refuse to show respect for a position that condones or encourages the murder of a human being for the "crime" of using the name of someone's god in an inappropriate way. Extremism should never be tolerated.

The brand of extremism currently brewing in Sudan is not one to be respected. It is one to be feared. Millions upon millions of children are dying slow and excrutiating deaths in the Sudan right now, because the government will not cooperate with international agencies or the UN. Entire generations are being raised in tents in refugee camps.

A teddy bear? In the midst of all that needs attention in Sudan? Give me a break. This is not the time to beef up our cultural sensitivity to the point where it becomes ludicrous. This is the time for a reality check.

This reminds me of a tricky discussion we had months ago here, about tolerance. Do we tolerate INtolerance? And if not, do we then ourselves become intolerant? I don't believe in tolerating everything. We would not be living in the comfortable and relatively enlightened country we do now, if we had.

I think this teacher's intentions were innocent enough and I agree that people over-reacted, after all if a teacher in Canada named a teddy Jesus, no one would freak, right?

Couldn't we vote for something between "non-issue" and "religious hatred"? Neither of these extremes comes close.

Supposing someone named a teddy bear Jesus. Was it a child or adult? Did they do it to ridicule Christ or out of love and admiration for Christ? Not knowing, I would tend to object to this (until learning more details), but I surely wouldn't want to jail, torture or otherwise punish them.

It is true that Mohammed (with various spellings) is the single most popular given name in the world, so it could be that the teddy bear's name does not relate to the prophet, it might be like a Canadian calling his/her teddy bear John or Bill. (I actually have a stuffed koala bear named Sheila).

Why is there no 'STUPID' button on your poll???

Unfortunately I can't remember who coined the phrase, holy manners, but that is what is called for here. No one should be traveling to another culture without learning something of the culture. With the number of complaints that the im-moderates Moslems have been making these days, it is best to just stay away from the whole issue.

It is part of our Western chauvinism that because we are "tolerant" (and only so far...try wishing people a Merry Christmas these days.) that ever other culture ought to be as tolerant as we are.

It is naive to think this is simply an issue of being tolerant of another culture. Yes, this quasi-simpleton of a British school teacher should have known better. But it doesn't make the situation right or just. People should have known better than to criticize Hitler in Nazi Germany. The Bmonks should know better than to criticize China. Certainly she was not trying to make a political statement, but in the end, that's what it escalated to. And in the end, the question is not whether she should have known better but rather, should Sudan know better.

Muslim extremism is not "their culture". It is the practice of a poweful few and an ignorant many. It does not represent all the people of Sudan, most obviously not the Christian population. Sudan has only recently emerged from the longest civil war in the planet's history and it is still highly unstable. What Sudan needs is support and development in terms of basic human rights and human needs. There is no room for religious exgtremism in the development of either of those two goals.

you know i have to say that this is just plain SAD!!! i don't mean to offend anybody but i find that this issue is pointless. they are acting like spoiled children! way too uptight about religion, and at this point i don't even think it is about the religion anymore, i think its that they feel as if they are being attacked and need to defend themselves. personally its pathetic that people will do this about the most minor issues! can they just let it slide? NO they need to stretch it into something into something huge that gets everyone angry.

Pan: I'm not offended by the bobble headed Jesus, but I find it in bad taste. To make a carricature of our most revered personage, just to demonstrate to the world how liberal we can be? How low can we go? I don't like this Monty Pythonesque attempt at humour.

I'll enclose my favourite picture of Jesus. It is a 5th century seal found by Professors Hirschfeld and Miller of Hebrew University, Jerusalem, at one of their digs. It is said to be the oldest depiction of Jesus we have come across so far.

I think this represents the total lack of humour some of us have.

the suggestion of a boycott for the Golden Compass is another example of humourlessness and religion in mixture.

we need to have humour and religion together, otherwise we'll become something that no one identifies with.

I'm sorry, but I am all out of political correctness and understanding. When fanatics can turn the naming of a teddy bear into something worth running down the street, carrying a sword, and calling for the death of a teacher, it is time to call it stupid, ignorant and fanatical behavior. This went so far beyond a reasonable response that it enters the range of lunacy.

I also would have liked different options for voting. One thing I would like to know was if the teacher was teaching predominantly muslim children. After the fiasco over the comic strip last year in Europe, it would be hard not to be aware of the sensitivity of using the name of Mohammed in vain.

I still have to reiterate, this is NOT an issue of sensitivity.

We would not be "sensitive" to Hitler's belief that only the most fit blondes should be allowed to live, nor would we be "sensitive" to the KKK's belief that Blacks should be lynched. We would not tolerate these extreme positions in our own community because they infringe on our human rights. Those in Sudan who are having their human rights infringed on, beg us for the same consideration. This is not an issue of cultural nor religious sensitivity. It is an issue of extremism and how it prevents the development of a stable and safe society.

Popele have been using the words "stupid" and "silly" to describe what Sudan did. We have to understand, however, that their values are different from our North American values.

In Sudan, it's illegal to show any depiction of Mohammed at all. This includes drawings, staues, and, whether we knew it or not, teddy bears.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY YOU MUST ABIDE BY THEIR LAWS.

"Oops, I didn't know" is not an acceptable excuse for them. We can probably assume that this women did not mean to cause a stir and offend anyone. Especially in the Middle East we as tourists and visitors need to be mindful and aware of their laws.

And if we followed that logic then mutilating little girls' vaginas using broken glass, to make them more sexually desirable for future husbands, would be something we should respect because it was someone's "culture".

Since when does it become OK just because it is "someone's culture"? It wasn't ok to enslave blacks, even back when it was "our culture". It's not OK for polygamists to marry 7 little girls, even though they consider that to be "their culture".

The practices of "someone's culture" are their own business and no one else's, until they start affecting the safety and well-being of some members of that culture, or yes, even visitors to that culture.

Time for common sense to prevail. That and a little dash of human rights for good measure.

I really enjoy taking part in the vote but I couldn't this week. For many of us here in Canada we would view it as a non issue. However, the laws of the land where the teacher was has far different rules and expectations. Fair? Not in my way of thinking but none the less it is not our country, we would be guests there. Just as we would expect visitors whether working or touring in Canada, to adhere to our laws the same should apply. I'm not saying I have the right answer, it's just how I see it. However after saying that, I also don't believe anything was done with hatred or disrespect in mind. I love this country and it's freedom.

Your choices on this issue are incomplete.
You left off ignorance of religious issues/concerns.
The teacher should have known better. She should have brushed up on Isalm before going to teach in a country with a majority of Muslims. This is a very big mistake, especially for a teacher.
Lorraine

So, if I was black person going to South Africa during appartheid, it would be ignorant for me to go to the white golf course right? I would be arrested, and it would be my own fault right? I should have respected their culture after all.

There are limits to respecting another culture. The teacher is clearly a bit of a dim bulb from her interviews on tv, but that's neither here nor there. Sometimes, it takes a dim foreigner and a teddy bear and a few men with machetes calling for her beheading, to highlight the extreme oppression in other countries and cultures.

Sudan is an extremely oppresive country, it oppresses and slaughters its own citizens. Just because some people consider that to be their "culture" does not make it acceptable nor respectable. There are millions of citizens in Sudan praying that this story will highlight the conditions under which they live every day. And there's no embassy for them to flee to, no delegations coming to fly them home.

There are also millions of Muslims around the world shaking their heads at the yet-again-bad-name this example of extremism is giving to their faith. This is not a matter of "brushing up on Islam". Yes, she was naive to not recognize the extremist brand of Islam currently in power in Sudan, but learning about Islam will not teach you that naming a teddy bear Mohammed may result in your beheading. What made this an international story was not that she was reprimanded for using the name Mohammed - a reprimand would have been understandable. What made it a story was the extreme nature of the reaction and the extreme nature of the possible punishment. That is not Islam. That is extremism.

I think that Islam is presently at the level of spiritual understanding as that of the Pharisees; strictly Legalistic.

I hope that someday, the love of Jesus may penetrate the wall of intolerance that pervades many of the Islamic political entities. May God love them and lead them to His way. Let's support the missionaries that risk thier life each day working and witnessing in the realm of Islam.

There is lots of great discussion around this topic. The part that seems to be missing for me is simple culture senstivity. If we every hope to build relationships across religions and ethnic lines then we must listen to and then try to be respectful of what others hold as sacred. This is more than tolerance, it is respect. I too felt that the voting choices were very limited. I don't think the teddy bear act was "hatred" based but it was insensitive.