Muse: ‘Good Men Do Nothing’

Blogging in the spiritual battlefield I found this gem from The Muse On The Rock:

Good Men do Nothing

I have read, with increasing disbelief, the current news story about the British Teacher incarcerated in the Islamic state of Sudan for allowing her class to name a Teddy Bear Muhammad. The reactions of religious zealots demanding her public flogging, death, or both, is only surpassed by the deafening silence from the supposedly peace-loving majority of Muslims.

My anger is swiftly overtaking my despair. I tried to release some of it in the following verse.

Good Men do Nothing

Such anger boils within me

What right have they to hijack faith

And use it as a stick to beat the innocent?

Projecting their warped hatred of faith

On that icon of love, a child’s teddy bear

Where’s the condemnation for those

That murder in their prophet’s name?

Poisoning Islam blood-lust to kill and maim

The so-called moderates standing piously by

Oblivious to horror, pain and suffering

This evil will take wings and fly

If all good men do nothing.

Words: Kev Moore Copyright 2007

Art by Miki and Kev Moore

Perceived Insult To Islam Turns To Assault on Reason

Sudan: Officials seize a British teacher’s approval of students ‘Muhammad’ teddy bear to play the culture card

This Week’s Top Scrooge - November 30, 2007

By ALEXANDER

I suppose there are worse atrocities in the world.

Sure, the Sudanese government’s imprisonment of a kindly-looking teacher for the “hate crime” of allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad may not seem like a big deal to some.

After all, her sentence is only 15 days (five of which she has already served) and the maximum 6-month sentence and 40 lashes were not dished out by the Sudanese judge. I guess to prison veterans (and Muslim jailers), this is just a walk in the park. But for a teacher?

In finding that British primary school teacher, Gillian Gibbons, is guilty of insulting Islam by allowing her seven-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad, Sudanese officials have deliberately assaulted reason.

The Sudanese leaders have attempted to use Gibbons and Teddy ‘Muhammad’ Bear to call the rest of the non-Muslim world ignorant for not bowing to them. They are saying that all of us must walk on egg shells, careful to not accidently be offensive or we will be lashed, imprisoned, or killed.

Yet, they themselves have been most offensive in chucking a stuffed toy back in our face. And sadly, even the “inciting hatred” part of the criminal code is more reflective of what the Sudanese officials did with their behavior…not of Gibbons and her students’ teddy bear named Muhammad.

Perhaps indicative as to what great lengths some will go to call the rest of us ignorant, a Sudanese official gave one of the worst spin jobs in international history.

Khalid al-Mubarak played the “culture card” like this:

“We don’t have any teddy bears over here, so in Sudan, for us, it is a fierce and dangerous animal,” Khalid al-Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in London, told the BBC. “The cultural background is very different. That is a very important point.”

Apparently it’s important enough to some Muslims, that Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, now sits in a jail, guilty of “insulting religion” after an eight-hour hearing in Khartoum north court.

First reports stated that Gibbons was outed by disgruntled parents. Now it turns out that complaints about naming the teddy bear Muhammad had come from a fellow member of the staff at the exclusive Unity High School where Gibbons was working. The complainant was named as Sara Khawad, an office assistant at the school, who was the key prosecution witness.

So, Sara, you can join the Sudanese officials in receiving This Week’s Top Scrooge dis-honor. Apparently you are waging a War on Reason as well.

Yes, I suppose there are worse atrocities in the world.

However, knowing that in the year 2007, man is still capable of such ignorance and lack of compassion is more than a bit disheartening.

RELATED NEWS STORY: Calls in Sudan for execution of Briton

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Teddy “Muhammad” Bear Teacher Found Guilty, Sentenced to 15 Days in Jail

SCROOGE ALERT – INTERNATIONAL

This from AP:

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A defense lawyer says a British teacher has been found guilty of inciting religious hatred and was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad.

The crime was punishable by up to 40 lashes.

Gillian Gibbons walked in without handcuffs, wearing a dark jacket and blue skirt, according to reporters in the courtroom before media were ordered out of the chamber. Riot police surrounded the courthouse.

Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but giving the name of Islam’s founder to an animal would be seen as insulting by many Muslims.

In a statement read to the court, Gibbons explained the incident and emphasized that her 7-year-old students picked the teddy bear’s name, British Embassy spokesman Omar Daair told The Associated Press. Gibbons’ lawyer said she would likely take the stand later.

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British teacher charged with insulting Islam in teddy bear ‘Muhammad’ row

SCROOGE ALERT – INTERNATIONAL

Gillian Gibbons will face charges of insulting Islam after she allowed students in Sudan to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

I rarely name Scrooges outside the U.S., but This Week’s Top Scrooge just may go to the Sudanese officials “investigating” the British teacher with the heart-of-gold reputation.

Story on NowPublic

LATEST NEWS: Teddy “Muhammad” Bear Teacher Found Guilty, Sentenced to 15 Days in Jail 

Teddy Bear ‘Fierce and Dangerous Animal’ in Sudan

Sudanese authorities said teacher had insulted prophet Muhammad by allowing her 7-year-old pupils to give his name to a toy bear

In one of the worst spin jobs in international history, a spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in London told the BBC that, ”We don’t have any teddy bears over here…” 

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This from the Washington Post:

LONDON – British officials were working Tuesday evening to secure the release of a British schoolteacher arrested in Sudan on allegations of blasphemy after children in her class in Khartoum named a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he felt “very sorry” for Gillian Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, and that officials were working with the Sudanese government “so that she can be released soon.”

In a case echoing last year’s controversy over Danish newspaper cartoons lampooning Muhammad, Sudanese authorities said Gibbons had insulted the prophet by allowing her 7-year-old pupils to give his name to a toy bear.

“We don’t have any teddy bears over here, so in Sudan, for us, it is a fierce and dangerous animal,” Khalid al-Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in London, told the BBC. “The cultural background is very different. That is a very important point.”

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UPDATE: Teddy Muhammad Bear Teacher Says Sudanese Jail Not Bad

LATEST NEWS: Teddy “Muhammad” Bear Teacher Found Guilty, Sentenced to 15 Days in Jail