Teddy Bear Teacher: Courageous Brit, or Ugly American?
The term "Ugly American" is typically applied to arrogant Westerners who travel abroad and refuse to respect the customs and traditions of the places they visit. This phenomenon is especially prevalent in Muslim nations where American travelers think they have a right to commit unspeakable crimes - such as chewing bubble gum on Tuesday in the presence of an unmarried woman, or wearing their underwear on the outside of their pants - without paying any consequences for their actions.
British teacher Gillian Gibbons probably thought the Sudanese people would be grateful to her for educating their children and injecting a little bit of hope into their miserable lives - but she would soon learn the error of her arrogant ways. As tolerant as Muslims are of other cultures and religions, they rarely receive the same courtesy from Westerners in return. When Gibbons encouraged her students to name a teddy bear after the Prophet Mohammed in total defiance of the Holy Quran's scriptural bloodlust for plush toys, it was the last in a long succession of infidel straws. She was arrested and faced a punishment of 100 lashes. The sentence was later reduced to 40 lashes when it was revealed that she had never been raped. The sentence was reduced even further after the trial - 15 days in jail and permanent barring from FAO Schwartz, Khartoum.
Some may consider her punishment "barbaric", but Muslim culture is in many ways more advanced and compassionate than our own - as proven by the Sudanese President graciously granting Gibbons a full pardon. The teddy bear, however, was ceremonially beheaded live on Al Jazeera this afternoon. Angry crowds then dragged him from his cell and hung him from a construction crane, where he was disemboweled, dismembered, and burned alive as prescribed by the Holy Quran.
Gibbons flies back to London tonight having never served a single day of her sentence, blissfully ignorant of the irreparable damage she has done to both her nation's reputation, and the deep friendship shared between Muslims and Christians everywhere.
She may be British, but in the eyes of the world Leeza Gibbons is the ugliest American of them all
blamebush.com
