The teddy bear fiasco in Sudan doesn’t look like it is going away. Null’s WTF<\/a> is a good starting point, and from there the Times Online<\/a> takes up some of the slack.<\/p>\n

Writing today, Joanna Sugden notes:<\/p>\n

Gillian Gibbons<\/a> has today been charged with blasphemy, and accused of inciting hatred and insulting Islam, in Sudan for allegedly naming a class teddy bear Muhammad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, I am obviously much to rational to be able to work out how naming a class teddy bear Muhammed either incites hatred or insults Islam. If she had named the bear “Islamic law is madness and anyone who follows it is a lunatic,” I could see their point, but she didn’t.<\/p>\n

She made the mistake of allowing her class to vote on a name for the bear. Obviously this is the problem. Acts of democracy and free-thinking for children is potentially deadly for Islamic nations and they seek to stamp it out at the earliest possible stage.\u00c2\u00a0 Loki forbid that Sudanese law have concepts such as mens rea<\/em><\/a> – who cares if she intended to do wrong, the fact of the matter is a thinly skinned religion has taken the hump over a trivial issue. Who said Islam had no sense of humour? (Well they were right)<\/p>\n

Interestingly, and just in case the raging nutcase Christians thought they were being let off lightly today, the article on the times has this snippet:<\/p>\n

Blasphemy is a crime on the statute book of Sudan, as it is in many countries governed by Islamic law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My, what backward nations they are… Oh, hang on a second… Blasphemy is still a crime on the statue book of the United Kingdom and we certainly are not governed by Islamic law… (I suppose the only difference is you wont get 40 lashes in the UK…)<\/p>\n

If you are sane enough to think this is madness please take a moment to sign the petition<\/a> calling for the revocation of this nonsensical law. If you have a blog, please spread the word about this petition.<\/p>\n

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    The teddy bear fiasco in Sudan doesn’t look like it is going away. Null’s WTF is a good starting point, and from there the Times Online takes up some of the slack. Writing today, Joanna Sugden notes: Gillian Gibbons has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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