A bear by any other name….
Has the world gone stark raving totally bloody bonkers? As I write, a rather nice lady in her fifties from Liverpool is languishing in a Khartoum jail. Her crime? Allowing her pupils to call the class teddy bear Mohammed.
Did A. A. Milne face such censorship when he came up with the, let’s face it, slightly dodgy name of Winnie the Pooh? Did the naming of Paddington cause even a ripple of scandal?
Gillian Gibbons yesterday escaped a flogging but was sentenced to 15 days in jail followed by immediate deportation. What punishment will they inflict on the poor bear I wonder?
Rupert has a bear that he was given at birth. For forty-five years this bear remained nameless. He is a rather special bear, able to cheer the children up in a crisis (he went with Leo to hospital the other day) and do acrobatics. Finally this morning my husband announced he is going to be named.
“I will call him Mohammed,” he said.
I’m not sure the name suits him that well but I’m prepared to go along with it. Mainly so that every time I look at him, I will remember that having the right to call a teddy bear whatever you like should be a right enjoyed by teddy bear owners the world over.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007
30 Nov 2007 helena
Back in the 1970s our second daughter had a golly-wog called Enoch. No complaints from the Conservative Party in Smethick,no prosecutions from anyone, but a lot of chuckles.
I hope there will be a lot of Mohammed teddy bears this Christmas (the aniversary fo the birth of Christianity I beleive).
She deserves to be punished, but the crime should be stupidity. And
all do-gooders should be repatriated by force leaving the
unappreciative rabble to educate themselves. In Islam, men are
created in the image of the prophet i.e. no clowns, no cartoons, no
comedians and definitely no household pets or teddy bears called
Mohammed. To be named so is a great honour.
Yeah, I know - go figure.
Have a nice day. G.
How ridiculous can one get! To young children naming a teddy bear is a great homage not an insult. These fellas have their towels wrapped too tight around their heads. (It restricts the flow of blood to the brain.) Conservative religious thought (or organized religion) is an oxymoron, whether it occurs in Africa, the Middle East or in Southern US. Have you ever noticed that it is always propagated by men trying to control women? Women of the world revolt!!!
Momo. Call the teddy Momo. One of my favourite French film’s is La vie est Une Langue Fleuve Tranquille about two boys named Momo - this time Maurice - swapped at birth. Rupert, named no doubt after a bear, had the genetic reflex to do the right thing. Go Rupert!
Graham, this particular do-gooder I suppose was under the impression that she might be helping the poor people of Sudan and the unappreciative rabble thought they were being insulted by a non-believer, and I think comments like yours tend to resemble the very behaviour we are trying to eliminate in favour of a bit of tolerance and understanding.
How dodgy a religion can Islam be if its offended by Islamic children (NOT the teacher) naming a teddy bear Muhammed.
Sudan relies on oil sales. Maybe all western countries should stop buying their oil until the woman is released.
Oh yes…. and everyone who gets a teddy this xmas… you already now what to name it!!
Organised political rubbish; her bear was not named after the Prophet after all.
I have a teddy bear, born early 1930s. He now has an eye patch, alas, and he has no name. I think I will call him either, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Omdy, or Gordon, as he says his prayers and stands to attention to the Lord every morning, Abe.
Behead the bear!
Today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their mechoui.
My dentist had his surgery in the house where Major-General Charles George Gordon, known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha and Gordon of Khartoum, was born. The house was adorned with a blue plaque which told that Major-General
Gordon died in Khartoum. I always stood in awe in front of that plaque before my annual scrape and polish because I knew that Gordon had suffered for me. I was ready to suffer for me too.
Khartoum, as you may know, is in the Sudan. Wind swept, fly-blown and prone to drought and disease. The Sudan has received untold millions, nay, billions in aid from the civilized world. This “aid” has been shared amongst war lords and corrupt politicians. The poor die and the rest get Mercedes and Kalashnikovs.
Our Gillian has been released despite her stupidity. Lucky for her. The world of Islam is not to be compared to the world of Liverpool’s happier suburbs, although similar thoughts may be hatching in dark alleyways and mosques.
Gillian is extremely lucky. She named her class teddy bear “Mohammed” and she narrowly escaped flogging or death.
Should the British government punish those immigrants who prey to Islam and preach death and destruction to the countries they shelter in?
“Rinse and spit” said Dr. Rives…. But it still sticks in my throat.
And I thought the War on Christmas spam I’m being bombarded with was bad.
Why can’t we put all the extremists together on an island, and let them attack each other, while the rest of us have a glass of wine by the fireplace?