Excuse me while I go against the current here.. The comments here so far are pretty short-sighted. While I think arresting the woman was going too far, and I do have some sympathy for her, she should have known better.
Originally Posted by X_Sheeperklaas I think it's absolutely ridiculous. Some people name their sons Mohammed too, and nobody complains.
As far as I understand, the issue is that she named an inanimate object after Muhammad.
What I think is absolutely ridiculous is that she went there without educating herself on their laws. Many countries have laws that we regard as "silly" but are actually very serious to the people who live there and form a large part of their culture. We might not understand why, but when you're in their country, you play by their rules.
Did you know that in Britain it's illegal to draw on a stamp? You're defacing the Queen's image and you can justifiably be arrested and charged (if you're unlucky to have met a bored enough police officer.) This is Sudan's version of that.
The media would like us to focus on the stuffed animal, with headlines such as "Arrested over a Teddy Bear", but it's irrelevant. The law is as black and white as that.
Originally Posted by AndyUK[Ectoprods] the death sentence
She was arrested and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation. There are probably other reasons why members of the public there were calling for the death sentence.
Originally Posted by NimShe was arrested and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation. There are probably other reasons why members of the public there were calling for the death sentence.
Deportation was a sentence? If I was there I'd be happy to get out of the crazy country!
- Ok, you must admit that was the most creative cussing this site have ever seen -
"Did you know that in Britain it's illegal to draw on a stamp? You're defacing the Queen's image and you can justifiably be arrested and charged (if you're unlucky to have met a bored enough police officer.) This is Sudan's version of that."
I don't know about "justifiably" Nim...in the US it's illegal to deface money, but that's because it becomes useless when defaced, not because we're not allowed to draw little mustaches on our presidents...though yes, if you're teaching somewhere, you should know the laws and abide by them, even if they seem stupid...then it's your fault when something goes down...
It's just another example of people taking religion too seriously.
Integrating your religion into your law is this. Wanting to give somebody a death sentence because they let a child name the teddy bear is ridiculous.
In my opinion this is a racist issue rather than a criminal act.
I'm sure in that country there are loads of bad things bearing the name "Mohammed", unless they've made it illegal to call your child that
Nim said:
Many countries have laws that we regard as "silly" but are actually very serious to the people who live there and form a large part of their culture. We might not understand why, but when you're in their country, you play by their rules.
That being said, every country's laws are getting out of hand.
I think it's hard for US citizens to understand--people can burn the US flag here, and although it bothers many people, there's a great number of people who don't really care. I don't think we have the same feeling of national unity as other countries, because of our personal history and general apathy towards everything.
Since people name their kids after the messenger dude, I don't really see much difference in naming a Teddy that name... If a name is sacred, you shouldn't name your kids after it either. Really..
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