Job Discussion Forums

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Holy cow, that is frightening.
There's a serious lack of perspective by some people. Wow.
I'm glad I teach in Russia, where nearly every subject is ok to talk about, with my students having at least some global perspective.

[sojourner]

Nowadays, of course, in English-speaking Western countries a person who holds "unorthodox" views would not be gaoled - let alone flogged ! Yet, the power elites can still give a hard time to those who voice "unpopular" views in public fora. Refer to the following article, from "Spiked" :

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/earticle/4124

[Stephen Jones]

O'Neill is a leading member of the Living Marxism cult and Spiked is its official propoganda vehicle.

Living Marxism disguised itself as a left-wing movement for many years but has now sold out to big business, and opposes anything that prevents large companies maximizing their profits.

If you suggest that a power station that blasts sulphur fumes from sub-standard coal should not be placed next to an orphanage, you will be accused of being PC, an eco-fascist, and determined to keep the working class in poverty.

[tonyf]

OK.

Naming of a teddy bear. A lecturer from England came to our school to give a lecture on health. During the lecture he took out his handkerchief, tied a knot at one end, and made a "rabbit"character.

He called the character (guess what?) the M name, as in the case of Gillian. The staff waited patiently, quietly took him aside, had a few soft words.

He made a verbal apology, followed up a few days later by a written apology, which went on the bulletin board for a while.

End of "issue".

There is definitely more to this than meets the eye. Even when I was in Sudan, it was a hotbed for many "islamist"groups.

According to sharia, a non-muslim cannot be served an Islamic punishment- I am informed by our own Islamic studies teacher. Blasphemy is a ludicrous charge to bring against the teacher here.

[Takahiwai]

I asked my students (female primary school teachers), who were not previously aware of the case, if they could explain it to me. One of them told me that it was a grave offence to give the name of one of the 25 prophets to an animal (or anything non-human). A usually shy and mild-mannered teacher immediately called for the offender to be executed, although she commuted this punishment to imprisonment when she found out that the person concerned was a non-Muslim. This was supported by the others in the group. It's very easy to give offence unwittingly, particularly with regard to religion. In one of my classes last year, on physical description, I mentioned that I didn't particularly like beards (which was pretty stupid now that I come to think of it) and was severely taken to task by an Islamic Studies teacher, because Mohammed had a beard and therefore ...

[coledavis]

Generally speaking, the person who does something wrong, even if disgusting from a local point of view, is let off because they're a foreigner and don't know any better. The determination to take offence has become quite explicit now with demonstrators' calls for this teacher's execution.

[Julieanne]

I am just glad she is out. I have taught many places but as a woman I would be wary of teaching in Middle Eastern countries.