The only way is…?
Is there only one way? Is there ever a real wrong when so many different religions, factions, nations and people believe that they are in the right? I honestly have no idea but I can freely state that the mind boggles with the variety of punishments given for some crimes.
Gillian Gibbons, a British teacher, was taken from her classroom in Sudan, arrested and thrown into prison, where she remains under threat of a jail sentence or 40 lashes for allowing pupils at Unity High School in Khartoum to call their teddy bear Mohammed - an act which, according to Sharia law, insults Islam’s holiest prophet.
I would imagine that Ms Gibbons is not a spiteful person and that what she allowed to happened was not deliberate. We’re in modern times and modern thinking but at the same time old thoughts and old traditions still have some standing in the world we live in.
It is difficult to even comprehend getting involved with it because, for the majority of us, we would be walking right into something of which we have little or no knowledge of. I realise that going to into the unknown and not caring about the consequences is a reason that wars have started but I would argue if Ms Gibbons would not have realised how fragile a peaceful existence can be when you are not a native of a country with such strong religious beliefs.
We may look from the outside and say ‘Isn’t it awful the way they treat people in that country?’, but do they not look at us and think ‘It is terrible how they destroy themselves with food, alcohol and drugs and that they do not seem to be able to discipline their children or adults in the proper manner’
It is hard to change a view that has been around for a long time and every religion realises this. For those who question where does loyalty and a sense of community and belonging lie in the modern world they only need to look to those who cling onto a belief when it seems like nothing else is working for them anymore.
I really hope that whoever makes the decision as to Ms Gibbons fate that she is warned and spared a severe punishment. No matter what happens I am convinced she will learn from her mistake, it may cause her to leave Sudan and also leave the teaching profession which would be a shame as there are never enough people to teach the younger generation.
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 and is filed under Pain and suffering, Views on News.
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Francis Rooney Says:
Ms Gibbons should have got herself educated on the customs of the country before she went to teach there.
What about the punishment (abortion) handed out in Britain on unborn children with cleft palates, etc; is this not a lot worse than that which Ms Gibbons received?
December 8th, 2007 at 7:56 pm