Teddy Bears’ Picnic
by george s, 29 November 2007
I well remember The Teddy Bears’ Picnic: If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise….
Gillian Gibbons is up for trial in Sudan today. The facts of the so-called case are already well known. The children she taught chose to call their class teddy-bear Mohammed, an act which, according to the charge, involved “insulting religion and inciting hatred”. You see, this was her responsibility. She let the children choose that very nice name because the children liked their teddy. That was way back in September though, since when some well-meaning pious soul has shopped her, so now, just in time for Christmas, she faces forty lashes or a prison sentence.
Much has been written about this but the charge is not wrong. There is incitement to hatred. Only it’s not Gibbons that is doing the inciting: it’s the sharia court. No surprise there, not down those woods. They boil in hatred, they wallow in it, they apply it liberally, why, they lash it on. Forty lashes of it.
Ah but it is because – you must understand – Moslems so love Mohammed, says the cleric interviewed on telly.
Love does interesting things. In the case of fundamentalist Islam, the religion of peace, it does hate exceedingly well. So well you can hardly tell the difference between hatred and love. Because, of course, if you love so much you must simply hate those that don’t love so much. Surely you see the logic of that? Please make an effort to get it through your thick skull. Do move on. Nothing to see here, folks. Just move on. And while you’re moving why not sing along? Here’s some music..
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic…
As Dave Allen used to say: May your God go with you.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 18:58
Thanks for this Georges.
Well, looks as if she has been sentenced to jail, but has been spared the 40 lashes.
Religions often are so desperate to be taken seriously, that they become a parody of themselves. Blasphemy laws are nothing new in Islam or Christianity, but whenever they are exercised they represent the slow death of humanity. I’m afraid that this is not something that can be excused as just an extremist mentality: it is written into the core of the monotheistic religions. One thing common to Allah, Jehovah, and the Bible God, is that they are all jealous deities - how angry they get when their name is used in vain!
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:13
Surely you see the logic of that?
Oh, indeed I do. Absolutely impeccable logic.
I’ll join you in song, George, but I’m not moving along.
Gillian Gibbons has this afternoon been convicted of insulting Islam, and sentenced to 15 days in prison, following which she’ll be put straight on a plane for Blighty. And from Radio 4’s PM programme I understand that, contrary to previous reports, it wasn’t a parent who grassed on Ms Gibbons, but a fellow teacher, possibly with a professional grudge.
Well, arseholes to the bitching pedagogue, and arseholes to the Sudanese judiciary, clerics and government, and that smirking gobshite of an Ambassador to the Court of St James. When one cheers on the cuddly Islamist Inayat Bunglawala, as I did yesterday when he debated the issue on Newsnight with His Fuckwitted Excellency and a sleepy looking Paxo, then something is clearly very, very wrong.
Oh, and I’m not best pleased with David Miliband and the British government, what with their mealy-mouthed statements about respecting Islam. It’s none of the business of government to respect Islam, or any other religion. I can understand the need for diplomacy when acting to protect British citizens in foreign custody, but here the government went way too far in appeasing reactionary political and religious forces in Sudan.
As Will hasn’t said for at least 24 hours, fuck the lot of ‘em.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:16
Report on verdict here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7119399.stm
Note the sniveling cowardice and bending over backwards to accommodate that’s on show by certain elements.
‘faith communities” — yes — they can all fuck off as well.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:19
Let’s go for a lot less tolerance of this kind of thing. Individual Moslems (yes, let’s go back to the old spelling to show that we’re not going to be told how to write our own language) are OK so long as they do some pretty fierce distancing. But our tolerance for Islam should be over. No recognition of the sovereignty of Sudan (or, as it should now be called, Rapistan) and similar tyrannies. All support for the rebels in Darfur. And no Palestinian state either. We don’t want any more of this sort of thing.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:28
‘As long as we have a master in heaven, we will be slaves on earth.’ Bakunin.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:39
‘faith communities” — yes — they can all fuck off as well.
What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?
Settle down Tim. Yes, support Darfurian independence, but failure to establish a viable Palestinian state is a recipe for disaster.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 19:52
“it wasn’t a parent who grassed on Ms Gibbons, but a fellow teacher”
To Grass: short for grasshopper, slang British : to inform on someone
She did nothing wrong. How could anyone grass on her if she did nothing wrong?
Besides, I have to wonder how this thing even got to court in the first place. If other teachers heard about the teddy bear, couldn’t one of them have alerted her to the riskiness of the matter? Isn’t there a principal that would tell her this was not an acceptable name for a teddy bear? This whole story stinks of ill-will and malicious intent.
I wonder Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu did not rush to exonerate the Sudanese courts as exemplary models of judiciousness. And where was Louise Arbour? Has anyone heard from her?
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 20:26
Offence is in the eye of the offended. It doesn’t matter whether or not Gillian Gibbons did wrong (in any absolute sense). Whoever told the authorities about the teddy bear knew that the story could be interpreted as a blasphemy. The term grass is appropriate owing to the ill-will and malicious intent.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 21:48
‘Adam’ the muslim prayer bear here.
He’s Different…He’s Unique
*Ideal learning tool for young Muslims
*Press his paws and ears
*Six Different Islamic sayings in Arabic with English Translation
*Have fun learning Islam with Adam
size: Hight is 11″
The sayings are:
01 Allah-o-Akbar
02 La-illaha ilallah Mohammad ar rasulullah
03 Asalam-o-alaikumwa rahmatullah
04 Al-humdullilah
05 Bismillah ar Rahman nirahim
06 Subhanallah
All with english translation
http://www.simplyislam.com/iteminfo.asp?Item=56174
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 22:13
Apparently it was a school secretary who made the initial complaint and was a witness for the prosecution. If I was her employer, I’d think again about employing her.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 22:13
“‘Adam’ the muslim prayer bear here”
Looks like a Zionist impostor to me.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 23:01
“‘Adam’ the muslim prayer bear here.”
“This product has been discontinued.”
You don’t say.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 23:12
Needs a Youtube
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jxo81Ok9Urk
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 23:16
“Apparently it was a school secretary who made the initial complaint and was a witness for the prosecution. If I was her employer, I’d think again about employing her.”
It’s the Islamic version of the Spanish Inquisition, payback for 1492.
Thursday 29 November 2007 at 23:21
“The school’s director, Robert Boulos, told the AP news agency:
Oh — that’s OK then - nothing to see here — everything fine. As you were.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 9:37
Individual Moslems (yes, let’s go back to the old spelling to show that we’re not going to be told how to write our own language)
Mussulman, shurely?
Friday 30 November 2007 at 10:12
Balls. It was “Moslem” until very recently, until someone started putting about that the only acceptable vowels in Arabic transliteration were a, i and u, as in “Usama Bin Ladin”. Well, this is bollocks, or bullicks, as we have five vowels, plus y. No, it’s Osama Bin Laden (or it was - no real evidence that he’s been alive since December 2001) and it’s Moslem. And a Palestinian (Palastinian?) state would be failed from the start, su what’s the bluudy puint?
Friday 30 November 2007 at 11:54
“…failure to establish a viable Palestinian state is a recipe for disaster.”
(You can write your own curse-out for this bilge water.)
Friday 30 November 2007 at 12:07
No — the bilge is coming from Timmy the dopey didpshit and yourself.
Take your heads out of your arses before commenting like a couple of fucking HP Sauce trolls.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 13:21
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7121025.stm
Shoot UK teacher, say protesters
BBC breaking news graphic
Thousands of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for UK teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot.
Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed by a court on Thursday after children in her class named a teddy bear Muhammad.
She was sentenced to 15 days for insulting religion, and she will then be deported.
The marchers took to the streets after Friday prayers to denounce the leniency of the sentence.
The protesters gathered in Martyrs Square, outside the presidential palace in the capital, many of them carrying knives and sticks.
Marchers chanted “Shame, shame on the UK”, “No tolerance - execution” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad”.
Hundreds of riot police were deployed but they did not break up the demonstration.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 13:38
“Shoot UK teacher, say protesters.”
Dontcha love them a little more each time? And these are the people we shouldn’t offend?
Friday 30 November 2007 at 13:42
“No tolerance - execution”
You know what they say–a change is as good as a holiday.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 14:18
Put the teacher to death? Quite right, I say. I’ve been put to death many times and it never did me any harm.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 15:28
Wankers! Can we get a SAS hostage extraction unit ASAP, please?
How I would love to see some serious hardware brought down on that fundamentalist mob — scurry for cover with your clubs, knives & axes!
Friday 30 November 2007 at 16:48
“after Friday prayers”…”the protesters gathered…many of them carrying knives and sticks.”
Christian, after Sunday services, go home to eat.
Jews, after Shabbat services, go home to eat.
Why Muslims, after Friday prayers, don’t go home to eat?
Friday 30 November 2007 at 16:51
Anti-theists just eat.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 20:04
Little Mo may yet join this distinguished lineup.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 21:37
How come I’m a dopey dipshit for not going along with every bit of mindless pro-Islamic political correctness? I thought that was what this site was about. My mistake.
Friday 30 November 2007 at 22:54
Little Mo may yet join this distinguished lineup
From the article:
No. 13 ‘A sculpture of Buddha with a banana and two eggs strategically placed was happily on display at the Royal Academy of Arts this summer, but when it was moved to the sculptors’ home city of Norfolk it raised hackles amongst the local police force’s hate crime unit. DC Dan Cocks ordered it to be removed from the gallery.’
And our animal blasphemer’s name is Gibbons…
Divine irony, anyone?
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 2:10
Thank God for the Irish –
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmY2MWJmOGJkNGY0YjJhZTk1MzY1ZWJhNTUzZTM5YmM=
thanks to john from cin city for the heads up.
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 7:53
Perhaps we can negotiate a swap with the Irish - Shaheed Satardien for Inayat Bunglawala?
How appropriate that Lord Ahmed - yes, the same Lord Ahmed who claimed in June that Salman Rushdie was on the same level as a 9/11 murderer, and that Rushdie had ‘blood on his hands’ for blaspheming Islam - has gone to lead the rescue mission. He apparently has ‘close links’ with the Sudanese authorities. The BBC editor Frank Gardner seemed to think last night that Ms Gibbons would be handed over to him as a pure believer and as a means of thumbing their nose at the Foreign Office.
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 8:59
Good for the Irish Muslims. I’ll spell it right for them.
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 13:05
“The only thing to come from this affair is for the name of Islam to be dragged through the mud yet again by bigots.”
Forgive me for being a cynical scpetic, but who are those “bigots” the Irish Sheik speaks of?
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 14:29
See any thread at HP Sauce where the post mentions the ‘muzzies’.
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 14:50
I try not to visit HP as a matter of principle. But I found this definition of “muzzie” on the Double-Tongued dictionary:
Muzzie n. a nickname for a Muslim.
Editorial Note: This word is often, but not always, derogatory. It is not commonly used by North Americans.
So you think the “bigots” are the Muslims who supported the treatment of Ms. Gibbons? I thought they might have meant the “bigots” who make hay out of this incident to besmirch Islam.
Saturday 1 December 2007 at 20:14
If you are going to play the game of religious sensitivities, then I don’t see why muzzie should be any more an indication of bigotry than ‘Jesus freak’ (which is always meant in a derogatory sense). As Taj Hargey, one of the best Muslim leaders in the country, suggests, the root of the problem with faith groups today is their inability to take criticism, and we should be very careful not to engage in their game of perpetual outrage.