The Teddy Bear Prophet

This really isn’t the typical entry I like to write, but I have a pretty strong opinion about it that I would like to share.

By now, I’m sure a lot of people have heard about the British teacher who was accused of insulting islam and the islamic prophet in Sudan. If not, the basic premise of what happened is that she let a child in one of her classes name a teddy bear Mohammed. The child said that he chose the name because it was also his name and he wanted to name the teddy bear after himself. The problem is that that also just so happens to be the name of the religion’s prophet. If you would like more details, you can read more about it here, but you won’t need them for what I’m about to rant about.

I should first say that I have nothing against islam or those who practise it. The problem I do have, however, is with the ridiculousness with which it is sometimes practised. The extremism sometimes goes too far and in today’s global society, that just doesn’t work. I understand that there are extremists in every religion out there, but for whatever reason, islam seems to have the most or at least the ‘loudest’. I find it absolutely ridiculous that someone in today’s world can still be arrested for allowing a child to name their teddy bear after themselves and consequently, in this case, after the islamic prophet.

Even more ridiculous is the Sudanese reaction to the whole thing. Other than the arrest itself and the whole principle of it, I think the Sudanese government has actually been extremely fair in only sentencing the British teacher to 15 days in jail followed by immediate deportation rather than the other options of 40 lashes (which in itself is quite archaic), 1 year in prison, a hefty fine or any combination of those. What I find to be ridiculous is the reaction the Sudanese people in general have had. Following, the teacher’s arrest, protesters protested with swords and drums in the streets calling on the Sudanese government to execute the teacher by firing squad for the insult to the religion. That kind of archaic thinking has to stop if a country wants to progress and modernize.

If I were in an islam-governed country at the moment, I would most likely be arrested, prosecuted and possibly executed for writing an article such as this. That I also find absurd.

Aside from just islam, religions in general need to evolve and modernize. In today’s world, people are educated and informed and can thusly make their decisions as to what they believe based how they see things. When religions try to convert you to their own religion or try to influence society as a whole, this is backwards thinking. If someone converts to a religion because they agree with what it teaches, then that is one thing, but trying to force it onto other people is no longer going to work the way it would have in the past.

Again, let me re-emphasize that I don’t have anything against islam or the people who quietly practise the religion. I just get really irritated by the extremism with which it is often practised in countries such as Sudan.

I know there are going to be a lot of people who disagree with me, but let’s hear your opinion on this situation anyway. I’m interested to see how other people view it.