PrintDecember 3, 2007
'Multiculturalism and inclusiveness' backfires
The fallout from the case of Mohammed, the Sudanese teddy bear continues with chilling after effects and ironic implications.
Teddy bears are named after President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, so the story goes, because he liked to hunt. That was considered an honor. However
A BRITISH children's author who called one of his characters Mohammed the Mole to promote multiculturalism has renamed him Morgan so as not to offend Muslims.
The author, Kes Gray, who is postponing reprinting his book until he gets his multiculturalism straight also stated:
“I had no idea at all of the sensitivities of the name Mohammed until seeing this case in Sudan,” Gray told The Sunday Times.“As soon as I saw the news I thought, 'Oh gosh, I've got a mole called Mohammed - this is not good'.”Gray's book, which has sold 40,000 copies in Britain and overseas, also featured the characters Dipak Dalmatian and Pedro Penguin in an effort to be “inclusive”
As of this moment the dalmatians and penguins haven't stated their speciest objections to being named after humans.
Meanwhile, the British government has been able to wangle a pardon for the Teddy Bear Teacher which will clear her for a trip back to the 21st century:
Meanwhile, the British government has been able to wangle a pardon for the Teddy Bear Teacher which will clear her for a trip back to the 21st century:
Sudan's president on Monday pardoned a British teacher jailed here for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad — putting an end to a case that has outraged Britons and Muslims around the world.
The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, said she did not intend to offend anyone and had great respect for Islam. Sudanese officials said she would be released later Monday, the same day two Muslim British politicians met with President Omar al-Bashir to seek the pardon.
"The president has told us he has already signed the papers for her pardon," Lord Nazir Ahmed, who met al-Bashir along with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a fellow representative from Britain's House of Lords, told reporters afterward.
