Plastic Jesus

CNN.com reports this morning on a British teacher, Gillian Gibbons, who may face being whipped in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed. This is apparently considered blasphemy in the muslim world--I guess something akin to taking the Lord's name in vain. Considering that 80% of the male muslim population seems to be called Mohammed anyway, this does seem a little pedantic to me, but what do I know.

In any case, if it is decided that Ms Gibbons acted in good faith, she will likely be absolved with a caution not to do it again. One might feel that the parents who reported her to the authorities could have chosen the more pious route of simply giving her their own caution, but I guess setting an example to their kids that snitching is a sin was not a priority to them.

Anyway, all of this reminds me of the little plastic Jesus figure that very blasphemously sits on my bedside table. Blasphemously because he is there as a joke--I do not believe in Jesus, and my husband gave me the toy because of my liking for the song Plastic Jesus. This song has been performed by many artists, but the best version is of course the one by The Levellers--see video below. If you want to see what my plastic toy looks like (oo-er missus), check the much worse version by Billy Idol (also below).

And a good, blasphemous morning to y'all.