Oh, for God’s sake

In Sudan, British citizen and teacher Gillian Gibbons has been convicted by a court and sentenced to 15 days in jail before being deported:

A court in Sudan on Thursday found a British teacher guilty of inciting religious hatred by allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Mohammed” and sentenced her to 15 days in prison and deportation, her defense laywer (sic) told CNN.

The court in Khartoum ordered Gillian Gibbons, 54, to be incarcerated in the city’s Omdurman women’s prison, her lawyer said, adding that the verdict was “disappointing” and they would be mounting an appeal.

For the record, I suppose we should be grateful that Ms. Gibbons is not to be flogged. She very well could have been, and so their forbearance is to be regarded as a Sudanese brand of mercy, it seems.

For the record, the name “Mohammed” was overwhelmingly chosen by her students – the majority of whom were Muslim – as the toy’s name.

For the record, the name “Mohammed” is the second most common name in Islam.

For the record, there’s nothing so likely to incite religious hatred as this risible succession of patently unjust and inhumane verdicts by ostensibly serious people.

Some Muslims claim that they are angry by the lack of respect their religion is accorded in the West. For the record, the rest of the world will find it difficult to take seriously, far less respect members of any faith so thin-skinned that they would flog a girl for being raped, and threaten to flog a teacher over a teddy bear.

I’m just saying.