TheScroogeReport

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

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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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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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 

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 

This UPDATE from FOXNews:

Boy defends British Teacher

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A 7-year-old Sudanese boy is defending the British teacher accused of insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Muhammad, Reuters reported.

The boy said Gilliam Gibbons, 54, asked him what he wanted to call the stuffed animal and he said, ‘Muhammad,’ after his name, Reuters reported…

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

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

Gibbons accused of blasphemy, faces being whipped; UK officials work on early release

SCROOGE ALERT - INTERNATIONAL

This from CNN:

Bid to stop whipping over toy bear

LONDON, England — UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday that officials were working to secure the early release of a British teacher who faces being whipped in Sudan after she allowed her class to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

Gillian Gibbons, 54, has been accused of blasphemy and is being held by police in the capital Khartoum, Kirsty Saunders, British Foreign Office spokeswoman told CNN.

Police arrested the school teacher after she asked her class of seven-year-olds to come up with a name for the toy as part of a school project, according to widespread media reports.

Parents of students at the Unity High School in Khartoum informed the authorities and Gibbons was taken into custody Sunday, Saunders told CNN.

So far Gibbons has yet to be charged with any offense, however, under Sudanese law, insulting Islam is punishable with 40 lashes, a jail term of up to six months or a fine, she said.

However, a Sudanese official told CNN that if police decided that Gibbons had acted in good faith, she would most likely be spared punishment.

“If the intentions are good, definitely she will be absolved and will be cautioned not to repeat this thing again,” Mutrif Siddig, Sudan’s under secretary for foreign affairs, said…

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SCROOGE ALERT

A woman, second from left and facing camera, is separated from another woman, right, after a shoving match over their place in line to see Santa Claus. (Joshua Sudock, OC Register)

Oh, what a joyous time of year! Sad that this kind of news is no longer shocking..it has become a “holiday” tradition.

This from the Orange County Register:

Jingle bell brawl in Anaheim
Three mothers get into shoving match over place in line to see Santa Claus.

By JOSHUA SUDOCK

ANAHEIM –The arrival of Santa Claus to the Anaheim Town Square shopping center was interrupted briefly Friday when three mothers — one holding an infant – got into a shoving match over their place in line to see Saint Nick.

Security guards and event workers separated the women, who were shoving one another for nearly 30 seconds. No injuries were reported, and no arrests were made.

One mother claimed that she’d been saving her family’s place in line since 9 a.m. for Santa Claus’s noon appearance.

The mothers – all with children in tow – were lined up to see the “Jingle Bell Jump,” which involved Santa Claus landing in the parking lot in a hot-air balloon.

The Jingle Bell Jump was an annual tradition at Anaheim Town Square that featured Santa Claus parachuting into the shopping center. After Sept. 11, 2001, a no-fly zone was enacted in a three-mile radius around Disneyland. Anaheim Town Square falls within the restricted area by a quarter-mile.

The first 300 people at the shopping center on the corner of corner of Lincoln Avenue and State College Boulevard received free T-shirts.

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This from Newport Aquarium:

Newport Aquarium’s ‘Scuba Santa’ swims with sharks and amazing aquatic creatures in a 385,000-gallon tank during the holiday season. ‘Scuba Santa’s’ underwater presentations have captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world. Daily dive shows are part of the Newport Aquarium’s ‘Scuba Santa’s’ Water Wonderland, now in its fifth year at the Newport Aquarium. Located in Newport, Ky., across from Cincinnati, the Aquarium houses thousands of animals in a million gallons of water. www.newportaquarium.com. (PRNewsFoto/Newport Aquarium)

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Twenty-five dollar “reverse offering” given with hope of helping others in need

This from the Denver Post:

Reversing the distribution plate
Arvada church gives each congregant $25 to be spent, in turn, on others

By ELECTA DRAPER

God works in mysterious ways — and so can the Rev. Gary Witkop.

When the pastor of Community in Christ Lutheran Brethren Church in Arvada said he was passing around the collection plate for a second time one recent Sunday, the congregation dutifully reached for wallets and purses to give a little more.

Instead, Witkop told every one of the 60 men, women and children in the congregation to take $25 from the plate.

And so, on Nov. 11 every congregant received a “reverse offering.”

There was one catch.

Witkop told his flock to use the cash — $1,500 in all — to show God’s love to someone else.

They could treat a friend to dinner or engage in some other form of fellowship.

They could use the money for anything, as long as it was for somebody else.
“I was floored,” said Eddie Culpepper, a 46-year-old Arvada mechanic. “I never expected to see that in church. Now it’s time for me to reach out.”

That was the message.

“That is what Jesus is calling us to do, to love people in ways that are practical,” Witkop said in his sermon. “Love needs to be shown one individual to another, one person to another. Love needs to wear skin and bones.”

Witkop, who has been pastor at the church for 12 years, had been mulling over the idea of a reverse offering for weeks…

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