From The Guardian

Teacher on blasphemy charge over 'Muhammad' teddy bear
James Sturcke and agencies
Monday November 26, 2007

A British primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of blasphemy for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad, it emerged today.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested yesterday at her home inside Unity high school, a British international school, after a number of parents made a complaint to Sudan's education ministry.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said Gibbons had since been charged with blasphemy, an offence he said was punishable with up to three months in prison and a fine.

Gibbons's colleagues told Reuters they feared for her safety after receiving reports that young men had already started gathering outside the Khartoum police station where she was being held.

Boulos said Gibbons was following a national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and their habitats. This year's animal was the bear.[snip]

Boulos said he had decided to close down the school until January for fear of reprisals in Sudan's predominantly Muslim capital. "This is a very sensitive issue," he said.

"We are very worried about her safety," he added. "This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Unity, an independent school founded in 1902, is governed by a board representing the main Christian denominations in Sudan but teaches both Christians and Muslims aged four to 18.

I've nicked the title of this piece from a book by JB Phillips that I read years ago. IIRC, his main premise is that we imagine our gods as being just like us,or like parts of us, such as the 'Inner Policeman' or the 'Managing Director'. I long ago left behind Christianity for this very reason. The Christian god is too small, and I couldn't find a way to enlarge him without removing the Old Testament from my Bible completely - thus not being Christian at all.

So what sort of god is so small-minded that She gives a shit what you name a teddy? I've said it before, but I'm not averse to repeating myself, so I'll say it again: how small must god be if She cares about the insults of humans? If He wants us to love him? I They need our praise?

Instead, it is us, using 'god' as an excuse to inflict our own petty concerns on others. A handy excuse for violence, intimidation and bullying of others.

All is One and One is God. So when we get stupid enough to get violent with eachother, THAT is when we are offending god. It's like sitting there while your leg tries to break off from your hip. That's why all religions emphasise love, underneath all the human errors in translation and made up stuff.

So everyone do what you like, so long as you don't harm anyone else (that's 'harm', not 'offend', because some people can be very nit-picky and prickly).