When an American teacher at a school in Manhattan named a teddy bear Moses, one of her young students told his parents about it. They immediately called the principal who ran the school, who quickly called several teachers and parents to discuss the situation.
A course of action was determined and the next day the principal went to the teacher’s classroom.
“I understand you named a teddy bear Moses.” she asked.
“Yes, I did,” she replied. “Did I do something wrong?”
“She did not do it!” called a boy.
“All he did was ask us to name him,” a third student chimed in.
“My name is Moses, so I suggested the name,” a third boy admitted. “I like that the teddy bear has my name on it.”
“Will I be flogged and imprisoned?” the teacher wanted to know.
“Because?” he asked himself, being, fortunately, an enlightened director. “I think naming him Moses is cute.”
“You do?” she asked.
“Of course,” he replied. “Also the teachers and parents I spoke to.”
“Wow,” the teacher pointed out, “how different from being a teacher in Sudan!”
“Obviously, very different,” he agreed. “I’m sure you and your students think a lot about the name Moses or you wouldn’t have chosen it.”
“That’s how it is!” the boy named after the teddy bear volunteered.
“We call him Mo for short,” said another boy.
“Month?” asked the manager.
“I’m afraid so,” the teacher admitted.
“Don’t worry,” he told her. “I know a lot of men named Moses who go by the name Mo. I even have an uncle Mo. So this is what I’ve decided. You obviously know how to get kids involved. So I’m giving you a raise.”
“Oh thank you,” she said. “But the kids deserve it just as much as I do.”
“No, take it yourself,” insisted a student.
“But are you sure I deserve it?” he asked the director. “We all know that the teacher in Sudan did not get a raise.”
“Yes, we do,” he acknowledged.
“And if a teacher at a Christian school asked her children to name a teddy bear, and they chose ‘Jesus,’ do you think she would get a raise?” the professor speculated.
“Well, he might,” the principal decided, “especially if he was teaching in a school with a lot of Hispanic kids, since many of them are named Jesus.”
“But get a raise?”
“I have no way of knowing,” the director told him. “However, I’m relatively sure she wouldn’t be swamped and sent to prison, especially since this isn’t the Dark Ages anymore, at least, in America and much of the rest of the world.”
“But the English teacher in Sudan didn’t get a raise,” the teacher insisted.
“I think we have to leave that in the hands of the Muslims,” he replied. “Religious freedom is a mutual obligation.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he admitted. “Well, at least they agreed not to search it.”
“Yes they did it.”
“And the president of Sudan released her from jail six days before her 15-day sentence was due to end.”
“I think we can congratulate him on that,” he agreed.
“But speaking of the general matter, don’t you think a religion is better off when children are given reasons to like the prophet who founded it?”
“Wow, that’s exactly the conclusion we came to when I spoke to the children’s parents.”
“I’m so glad,” the teacher told him. “I’m not sure that the children in Sudan, who have now lost a wonderful teacher, are so happy to play with the teddy bear they named Mohammed.”
“That is a very relevant observation,” he concluded.
At that point, a student asked, “Can we play with Moses now?”
“Of course you can,” the teacher said, handing the teddy bear to the principal. “You give it to him.”
“Thank you,” he said, “it’s my pleasure.”
When he gave it to the students, they began to hug him, kiss him, and talk to him. you
The teacher looked on with a smile, as did the principal, who noted how much the children loved Moisés and that, even when they called him Mo, he seemed no worse for wear.