Hermenuetics

Comments

Are you kidding me? "Seeing persecution where there is likely none"? Have you heard of Aqsa Pervez, or Amina and Sarah Said? Or the media exec in upstate NY? Honor killings happen in the US and Canada. Why are you so loath to believe the girl's story, when all sorts of Muslim sources advocate killing of apostates, and when Sharia law specifically says killing your own child is not punishable??

Posted By: Kozak | August 13, 2009 11:18 AM

I believe Rifqa is at risk. Too often in similar situations, family members will coax their daughters back home, only to kill them for reasons of supposed honor. One need only Google these crimes to see that this is one of the patterns.

Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"

Posted By: ERS | August 13, 2009 11:34 AM

Plenty of parents and teenagers have conflict - and any family in a religion or sect that tends towards control is not likely to be happy about their daughter's decision to change religions. That does not mean they are going to kill their child. Some American Christians want to find "persecution" in America far too badly; another form of our self-centered Amerocentrism.

Posted By: Ann | August 13, 2009 12:51 PM

Every Muslim parent is not out to murder his/her children because of a conversion. Maybe some are.

In any case, she's nearly an adult. Once she turns 18, she need have nothing to do with her parents if that is what she wishes. In the meantime, whether her parents truly threatened her or not, surely the media attention to her case gives her some protection. Should she end up dead in the next couple of months, it would appear highly suspicious.

Posted By: Robyn | August 13, 2009 1:31 PM

She probably won't live long enough to turn 18. She will most probably be sent to Srilanka and her turning or not turning 18 wouldn't matter. Yes, we can sit here and think about whether she is telling the truth or not but just think, if she is telling the truth, just IF, then we would've missed any opportunity that we could have had to save her life. I understand the whole concept of turning the other cheek, I am an ex Muslim, now a Christian. Nowhere did Jesus say, turn your cheek and force others to turn their cheeks also.

In the end, all I can say is that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". Us Christians prove this quote day after day after day. Shame on you impotent men and women!

Posted By: Avenging Apostate | August 13, 2009 7:09 PM

If she needs a place to live or stay indefinately, she is welcome here. We have two children 17 girl, and 18 year old boy. We are christians and would welcome her into our home. Have her contact us if she is willing.
Terry and I have been married 36 year so our marriage is one based upon the bible.

Posted By: Sharon Offenbacker | August 14, 2009 8:06 AM

I am a Sri Lankan but not a muslim. I don't think she is in danger as claims to be. Sri Lankan muslim are moderates. They don't resort to these extreme things as alleged by this teenager.

Of course the parents must be upset. I think most parents would be do find out that their child has converted to different religion. But I think the media is making this out to be much more that what it really is.

Posted By: Asoka | August 14, 2009 1:09 PM

I think what's most telling is that she seems to have very little knowledge of Islamic laws and beliefs. When speaking about honour killings she looks to someone else for help, not something that would be done if she actally understood the topic.

Now, I do think life at home will be tense, particularly after this fiasco. However, I doubt very much that her parents will actually do her harm. Maybe a good grounding for running away like she did.

Posted By: Tobias | August 14, 2009 1:52 PM

I think the US has gotten used to its Muslims being - being Western Muslims - most being direct descents from Christians.

There is a big difference - between the westernised Muslim and those Muslims who immigrate from the Muslim world.

Let me educate you - at least a little. Most Muslims in the Islamic world marry within families - 75% are in first cousin marriages. And a significant amount of the marriages are arranged with relatives from the Islamic world.

To get the child to go along with the marriage -- to say that these youngsters are placed under enormous pressure - is probably putting it lightly - so many are tricked into going to Pakistan on a vacation or told they are visiting family - and then forcibly married against their will.

If they don't go along with these arrangements - they are at times killed - by their 'loving' families.

Americans think Europe is going crazy about Islam and Muslims problems - let me continue.

There are so many cases - a youtube videos will follow - but I will tell you a couple of extreme cases - there was one British Bangladeshi female doctor who was in a relationship with a Hindu man - and a Muslim woman can't marry a non-Muslim man - her family told her that her mother is sick - that she needs to come back to Bangladesh - when she gets there - her loving family brings in a doctor who drugs and keeps her imprisoned in her room for three months - then they hold a marriage ceremony - while she is drugged and she was married without her permission - it was only that she texted her colleagues in London - who sought help from the police 'forced marriage unit'.

Here's a case that would astonish you - and remember this is the free world

Article: Across the cultural divide: The Muslim woman and older British man whose love survived death threats
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1199279/Across-cultural-divide-The-Muslim-woman-older-Brit-love-survived-death-threats-doomed-fail.html

UK >> US: A 'bin liner' is a trash bag ~ which the girl's family said they would put her in!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYBo92EPrkI

One of the things they do is to lull the girls (usually) into a false sense of security - such as Rifqa's father is doing - they tell them to meet them somewhere to talk - and that everything is okay - and the honour killing occurs.

A German Turkish girl who was forcibly married to someone in Turkey - whereby he gains papers to come to Europe - beat her and mistreated her - she divorced him - and struck out on her own as a single mother - she was doing a course and was hoping to support herself and her child. Her family said let's meet - everything is okay - her younger brother made contact - and shot her point blank at the bus stop.

That's not all - German society was upset by the killing - but when a group of German Turkish school kids were asked - what they thought about the murder - they laughed saying - she got what she deserved - she was living like a German 'whore'.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,344374,00.html

Another German Turkish girl was killed - by her loving family - when they found that she had been having pre-marital sex. She was shot in the face and her body left in the woods.

The best thing - I can say is believe Rifqa first - in the UK there are so many Muslims girls living on the run and under police protection - because their families want to kill them - hear me out - Muslims believe that if the girl dishonours the family - then some sort of curse is placed on the family - therefore believe that they have to kill the girl in order to break it and restore the family's honour.

Youtube video
British documentary show 'Dispatches':

Persecution of 3000 Ex-Muslim Christians in UK - (Part 1/4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXF-rJAOHGQ

Honor killing in Turkey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mn35S-9hY8

The police and social services should take Rifqa Bary's concerns very seriously.

So serious are these matters that within the next year all London Met police will be trained in how to deal with honour crimes.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23724912-details/Met+to+target+'honour'+crime+with+specialist+training+for+all+officers/article.do

Posted By: Rebecca | August 14, 2009 2:53 PM

I don't know who to believe here, but surely the best thing to do would be to err on the side of the girl's safety.

Posted By: Merciel | August 14, 2009 5:58 PM

China Arnold, is a Dayton, Ohio woman who on September 8, 2008 was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole[1] for murdering her one-month old baby daughter I am a Ex Christian Now I am A Muslim here are some chistian Parents who killed their childrens here are some by putting her in a microwave in 2005[2] At the time of the baby's death, Arnold lived with her four children and then-boyfriend Terrell Talley in a flat at a housing complex. Prosecutors told the court how she put her daughter in the microwave and cooked her to death after an argument with Talley over whether he was the baby's biological father. She did not receive the death penalty as the jury failed to reach a consensus.[3]

Francisca Ballesteros
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Francisca Ballesteros (b. 1969) is a Spanish serial killer who between 1990 and 2004 killed her two daughters and her husband and attempted to kill her son.[1]

[edit] Crimes history
Francisca Ballesteros was born in Valencia. A few years later, she moved to Melilla.

After marrying Antonio González Barribino, Ballesteros gave birth to a girl named Florinda. In 1990, Ballesteros suffered from postpartum depression and wanted to end her marriage, but she finally desisted. She decided to kill her family and flee to Valencia. Ballesteros poisoned Florinda, who was only five months old, with Colme, a drug used to treat alcoholism. After the death of the baby, Ballesteros decided to wait to kill the rest of her family.[2]

In 2004, 14 years after murdering her daughter, Ballesteros, who had met many men through Internet, decided to kill the rest of her family, flee to the city where one of the men that she had met online was living, and marry him. On 12 January 2004 Ballesteros killed her husband Antonio González Barribino with Colme and with the sedatives Zolpidem and Bromazepam. On 4 June 2004, Ballesteros killed her daughter Sandra with the same medications and attempted to kill her 12-year old son Antonio, who was admitted to the hospital with poisoning on June 4, 2004. The autopsy revealed that she had been poisoned.[3]

On June 7, 2004 Ballesteros was arrested and confessed to the murders.

On September 26, 2005, Francisca Ballesteros was sentenced to a term of 84 years in prison.[4]

Dr. Mine Ener was a history professor at Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania who committed the filicide of her six-month old daughter, Raya Donagi, who had been diagnosed with Down syndrome, on August 4, 2003.

Dr. Ener was an innovative scholar and beloved teacher; her death, and that of Raya, were the result of untreated postpartum psychosis, an affliction which befalls thousands of women each year.

Research is only now being done in prevention and care of this tragic disorder; for example, see the recent work in "The American Journal of Psychiatry" by Dr. Margaret Spinelli, who heads the perinatal mental health program at Columbia University and see also the book "The Postpartum Effect" by Andrea Huysmans.

Dr. Ener committed suicide in a Minnesota prison on August 30, 2003 by smothering herself with a trash can liner.[1]

A media frenzy resulted from Ener's case. A plaque was installed in her memory at Villanova University, but was removed by outraged alumni donors to the school, a Catholic institution founded on tenets of compassion and social justice.

Nelson Hart
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Nelson Hart (born 1968) is a Newfoundland, Canada resident who was convicted on March 28, 2007 of murdering his three-year-old twin daughters in 2002.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Death of twin daughters
3 Investigation and undercover operation
4 Conviction
5 Appeal
6 Sources

[edit] Background
Nelson Hart lived with his wife, Jennifer, and twin daughters, Karen and Krista, in the relatively isolated town of Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada. Tammy Leonard, a social worker, was working with the Hart family in the months leading up to the death of the twins. She testified that the Harts were having chronic financial problems and were on social assistance. There was consideration on behalf of the social workers to remove the children from the family before they moved in with Jennifer Hart's father. In June 2002, the family found themselves homeless again, and the possibility of the children's removal was revisited. By mid-summer, the Hart family was living in an apartment and receiving regular visits from a new social worker, Carolyn Chard, who testified that Nelson appeared increasingly angry with her presence. At no time did either social worker think that Hart posed any danger to his children.

[edit] Death of twin daughters
On August 4, 2002, Hart and his daughters traveled to the near-by area of Little Harbour on Gander Lake. Nelson returned home in a panic and said that Krista had fallen in the lake. Hart returned to Gander to get help, but when police arrived, Karen was dead and Krista was unconscious. The next day she was taken off life support.

[edit] Investigation and undercover operation
In the initial questioning, Hart claimed that his daughter had fallen into the lake, but months later changed his story to say, that being an epileptic, he had suffered a seizure and couldn't recall how the girls ended up in the water. He claimed that he lied to avoid losing his driver's license.

By February 2005, the police hadn't made much more progress in the case, so they decided to launch an elaborate undercover operation which would end up costing over CAD $400,000. It began with Hart being approached in a parking lot by an undercover agent, and eventually being asked to run a delivery for what he was told was an organized crime group. Over a period of four months, the agents would continue the operation and get closer to Hart, and led him to believe that he was becoming more accepted in the organization. After four months, the supposed leader of the group asked Hart a question he was told would test his loyalty. It was at this time he was asked about the murder of his daughters, and with some detail described the scenario, eventually taking some of the agents to the scene of the crime. The jury at the trial was able to watch the confession taped from a hidden camera in the hotel where Hart described the murder.

"This is just about the perfect murder," the officer said.
"It was pretty well-organized," Hart replied.
"You must be a thinker, eh?" the officer said.
"Sometimes it pays to be that way."

[edit] Conviction
On June 13, 2005, Hart was charged with first degree murder, and his trial began on February 27, 2007. His lawyer claimed that Hart was intimidated by the undercover agents and made up the story to impress them. Ultimately, the jury did not believe this and other claims, and on March 28, 2007 gave the verdict of guilty, and automatically sentenced him to life in prison with the eligibility of parole in no less than 25 years. Hart did not testify in his own defense during the trial, as the judge refused to close the court to spectators during his testimony.

[edit] Appeal
On April 11, 2007, Hart filed an appeal to the guilty verdict, claiming that the videotaped confessions were not admissible. It also claims that the judge should have closed the court to allow Hart to testify during the trial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_P._Arnold

Posted By: Sean Wanigasekara | August 14, 2009 6:40 PM

Mr. Wanigasekara needs some better reading comprehension skills. I'd refute what he says, but, man, he couldn't make it any easier.

Christian parents? Where, in *any* of the articles you posted does it say that?

Honor killings are well established in all the major schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

To Tobias, no, she didn't look to others for help on Islamic Law. She explained it quite well on her own and just referred the interviewer for more detailed info.

And to Katelyn Beaty, I would have hoped for better from Christianity today. "...persecution where there is likely none" ? Please. The girl's life has been threatened. She comes across as a scared girl recalling something that has happened. For real. Not some rebellious teenager trying to find an excuse to break free from her parents. She hid her Bible for years, she said. You think she wouldn't have stuck around if the situation hadn't escalated? She had friends, she was a cheerleader and she was risking it all by leaving.

"...are intent on killing Bary because their beliefs make them inherently violent"

Do a little research, will you? Not all Muslims are "inherently violent," but what inevitably happens when any Muslim delves deeper into his faith is that they become more devoted to what Islam teaches. So read the Koran and study what all the major schools of jurisprudence teach, rather than relying on your apparent desire for ecumenical fellowship.

And remember, the truth is often offensive. So try sticking to the truth without regard to whether or not it's going to hurt someone's feelings, or make them feel 'marginalized' or whatever. After, the CROSS is one of the most offensive messages of all time. But it IS true.

Remember Amina and Sarah Said
Remember Aqsa Parvez
Save Fathima Rifqa Bary

Posted By: SaveRifqa | August 16, 2009 12:54 AM

Are you joking. A Muslim family in Canada just murdered three women for not being Muslim enough. Then there was the Toronto girl murdered by her brother and father for being too Western.

Muslims kill their own quite often for apostasy, compared to other religions. It's endemic to Islam, even in North America. The only thing that keeps Muslim's from murdering more of those who leave their perverse religion is that they fear they will get caught in North America. In Islamic countries this crime is often not a crime or the penalty is minor.

Get a dose of reality about Muslim violence.

Posted By: James Martel | August 16, 2009 3:46 PM

Of course it could be that Rifqa has fallen in with Christian fundamentalists who are the very individuals who are afraid that the Muslims are going to "come kill us all" as a few of them have told me. In that case, since Muslims do have something to fear from that quarter, perhaps her father was angry that she fell in with that? Maybe even scared? In any event, the sensible thing to do is sit down with her family, discuss this, and send her back home. Maybe if she converted to Catholicism or became a Lutheran or a Methodist then that would be one thing, but she has been brainwashed by fundamentalists and I see no good coming from that. I don't trust these megachurch people who run around asking for money and insisting that you will become wealthy if you send in thousand dollar donations. I would never entrust a young person of any religious background with these people.

Posted By: Dave | August 16, 2009 6:13 PM

She's a cheerleader? Sounds like a pretty westernized and moderate Muslim family to me. Not all Muslims are fundamentalists, any more than all Christians are. I've known a number of moderate Muslims, and none of them would dream of killing their kids, no matter what.

If she can get away from the New Apostolics she's fallen in with, she might have a future as an actress, though.

Posted By: phat | August 16, 2009 10:44 PM

Rifak Bary is a troubled child and this has got nothing to do with her relinquishing her religion and converting to Christianity.Growing up with people of Christian faith around her she has been compelled to think that it is the accepted religion.
Islam is probably not cool enough for her to fit into the US society or so she must feel,being so young and naive.
This given people of the Islamic faith have been branded 'barbaric terrorists' by most Western media.
Pay attention to the way she speaks about Islam/Christianity the latter is all spoken of as if she has been instructed to say the same.
Iam a Sri Lankan Christian...and I have many a muslim friend,colleague,neighbour - they are the most peaceful people you can come across.They are definitely not the brutes they have portrayed to be just because some extermists from their faith messed up for them.
The Barys are normal,simple people as can be seen and Rifka needs to be returned to her parents - that is where she belongs and not in the arms of a man she just befriended on Facebook (God knows what motives he has - now thats another story)

Posted By: Kashu Kuma | August 17, 2009 3:19 AM

Dear Catelyn Beaty,
Islam is violent. Do not make this a controversial issue. Learn the facts: Faithfreedom.org
Learn the facts: IslamWatch
Learn the facts: The Religion of Peace
Do not sugarcoat EVIL. Islam is Evil, and you can take what I am telling you to the Bank

Posted By: Anonymous | August 17, 2009 3:53 PM

Katelyn Beaty,

If that little girl is forcibly repatriated and ends up being killed or shipped off to Sri Lanka for a hasty, forced marriage to a Muslim, I hope you'll be able to live with yourself for what you've written here and the fact it may have influenced someone who otherwise would have helped her.

Posted By: Jeff Guthery | August 18, 2009 3:14 AM

This is the United States, people. You cannot forcibly remove a minor child from her parents without some sort of proof of abuse. Would you like your children removed from your home simply on the word of your child without any other investigation? Kids lie. So do parents. That's why there is an investigation.

Due Process. The parents are entitled to it. If the girl is in danger, then I hope she finds shelter. If not, I hope she feels horribly someday for dragging her parents through this. The TRUTH is, we don't know the truth. Hopefully someone else who is in a position to make a judgement does.

Posted By: Robyn | August 18, 2009 11:27 AM

Islam is not a religion.

Rifqa's parents are Muslims first, parents second. (perhaps fifth)

"Whosoever changes their religion, kill them!" - right from the Koran!

It is halal (permissible) for parents or grandparents to kill their offspring without compensation under sharia law.

It is the duty of all Muslims to kill apostates.

Honor killings are common in Islamic countries.

Posted By: tanstaafl | August 18, 2009 12:04 PM

I am amazed at the egregious ignorance on the part of some of the posters here (e.g., Robyn, Kashu Kuma, phat, Dave, Tobias, Ann, as well as the author of the post, Katelyn Beaty) with regard to the actual realities of the beliefs and practices of strict, Salafist and Wahhabist Muslims EVERYWHERE -- INCLUDING IN WESTERN COUNTRIES. As is so often said in legal contexts: Ignorance is no excuse. Please familiarize yourself with the ugly realities.

First, read Pam Geller's gruesome "hall of shame" of photos of young women killed IN WESTERN COUNTRIES (that INCLUDES the GOOD OLD USA) and in RECENT YEARS by their Muslim family members (fathers, brothers, cousins): http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/03/honor-killing-islams-gruesome-gallery.html

This is NOT something that happens only in Nigeria, Jordan, Egypt, etc. It happens in England, Canada, Germany, and the US, as well.

Second, there IS a track record of physical abuse of this young girl at the hand of her father and brother -- a track record that was SHAMEFULLY IGNORED by Rifqa's school counselors!

No one has done more research on Rifqa's situation -- or blogged it with more laser-like discernment than Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs. Here is her latest (of many such posts): http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/08/rifqa-bary-before-her-escape-beatings-brutality-subjugation.html

The link immediately above makes clear that Rifqa's father doesn't attend just any mosque: He attends a VERY strict mosque that has hosted some extremely virulent, anti-American, jihadist speakers.

Let's not whitewash this: The girl is in danger.

To those who say: If she had become a Lutheran, it might be real, but since she has attended "fundamentalist" churches, this vitiates her testimony. Where is the logic in that? Muslims view conversion to ANY form of Christianity as apostasy. They don't care about "Lutherans" v. "Catholics" v. "fundamentalists." Again: Ignorance on display, and ignorance for which there is no excuse given the veritable plethora of information available online regarding what Islam is really like.

Similarly, for those who focus on the (Western) legality that the girl is only seventeen (rather than older) also don't comprehend the strict Muslim mind: They don't CARE how old she is. Again, reading the first link above, you will see that that ages of women who have lost their lives to their relatives in "honor killings" very from quite young to quite mature.

Time to wake up: Sharia is spreading in this country like a cancer, abetted by anti-Christian secularists and ignorant Christians.

Posted By: man_in_tx | August 19, 2009 2:19 AM

This girl's fears are genuine and justified. See links under DAUGHTER SLAUGHTER at The Religion of Peace™ Subject Index

Posted By: Moss | August 20, 2009 5:36 AM

Among other things, the authorities in Ohio need to determine how Bary's parents will reconcile letting their daughter live with their faith, how they will protect her from other Muslim family members and friends who may want to harm her, whether they will take her to any Muslim countries where people may want to harm her, and whether they will harm her if she doesn't re-convert. Right to life trumps parents' rights to raise their children as they see fit regardless of religion. From Bary's perspective, if she is forced to return to her family, she may want to "re-convert" until she's 18 and then get as far away from her family and the Islamic culture as possible.

Posted By: Dave | August 21, 2009 3:42 PM

I personally met a young man who also became a christian and because of that he could not go back to Kuwait, because he knew his parents had to kill him. He was very homesick, but could not go back.
Please help this young lady. She lives in a country where there is FREEDOM. Give it to her I beg you. She is telling the truth. and keep her out of danger.
Thank you Ina

Posted By: Ina Hagan | August 21, 2009 6:58 PM

This is for real. Rifqa was in our home days before her mother found the Christian material. We had just met her - she was vibrant, full of passion for Jesus unlike any American believer I had ever met. She knows the freedom only Jesus can give. None of us knew that night what lay ahead for her. While at our house - she expressed this great fear - its real, folks, really real. She needs everyone's support now. And, Christians need to quit shooting other Christians in the foot like the author of this article. How dare her question Rifqa (she never met)- Rifqa loves her parents, but lived in fear for her life if they discovered she had given her life to Jesus. We assured her that night that God has given her grace to endure persecution thus far and will continue to do so. May He continue to do so!

Somali muslims who convert to Christianity in this nation also fear for their lives and must, for their safety, conceal their new found faith and life with Jesus Christ.

May Rifqa's case help further freedom of religion and speech in our wonderful nation where there is still liberty and justice for all.

Posted By: Patricia | August 21, 2009 10:00 PM

I am Sri Lankan and a muslim and have lived there all my life. I've never heard of an honour killing in my life in the country even in the case of people who've left the faith. It is very surprising especially since she is of a sri lankan muslim background.

Ive ben living in India for the last 2 year studying journalism and I've discoeverd that honour killings r rampant here across religions. Sikhs and hindus too are guilty of it. And lets not forget the atrocities committed by the inquizzition when it came to apostates.

The tape looks highly dramatic and she seems to just want to stay back in America and get a citizenship there. She's obviously attracted to the lifestyle there and feels this is the only way out.

Sri lankans back home from all religions are quite shocked by her behaviour and the way she is maliging the community .

Posted By: Aamina | August 22, 2009 12:57 PM

Did you guys vote for Obama?

Posted By: Jim | August 22, 2009 9:57 PM

Let us try and stick to the facts here shall we??

Lets put the evangeligal and Zionist jewish agendas aside for a quick minute and look at the facts?

First off she was a "cheerleader". Does that suggest her amily are the |Taliban.

This is a quite simple case of decietful adults luring away a hormonal teenager from her family. How many 17 years olds are there who have never had a big argument at home??

Some Rationality is required but I doubt the "conservative" and "zionist" (Mr Spencer) blogosphere is going to allow that.

This is simply too good a media circus to not apply spin as much as possible for them.

Onwards christian warriors I suppose.

Posted By: Adam979 | August 24, 2009 1:22 PM

Egads, CT staff. You need to hire some moderators. Too many articles are full of fruitless, thoughtless chatter in the comments. I can't understand several of them because they are incoherent.

Posted By: Bart Wang | August 24, 2009 1:48 PM

I agree with Bart Wang - too many comments are incoherent chatter. But I suppose that's the price of freedom.

That said, I'm ashamed by the gun-jumping by many Christians, assuming the guilt of Rifqa's parents and using this example to paint all of Islam as a religion of violence. Sure, Jesus is The Way, but that doesn't make all Muslims suicide bombers. It is just as possible that Lorenz is manipulating the girl as it is that her parents want her sent off to Sri Lanka. Let's not forget that Christians are capable of manipulating the media for their own ends, and much of this smells like a publicity stunt.

So yes, let's pray about this, but for a good result for the Barys, not for ways to spread malicious rumors or win political points.

Posted By: Brendan | August 25, 2009 11:09 AM

Just one comment. Remember Tawana Brawley?

Posted By: Anonymous | August 25, 2009 10:08 PM

I can speak for myself that if, when I was 17, decided to convert to Islam from Christianity, I too would be scared to death to tell my parents. However, I also know for certain that they would've loved me no less. I understand her fear, but to me it seems like she is somewhat of, for lack of a better term, a drama queen. She is only 17, she needs to be sent back home to Ohio to live with her parents. And at this point, there is enough attention on her and her family to ensure that nobody is gonna put a finger on her without anybody knowing. The courts can make social services pay regular visits to the home to make sure everything is ok. But the law says that she's a runaway. She needs to be sent home. Period.

Posted By: mIKE | September 1, 2009 3:43 AM

When does she turn 18?

Posted By: Kate | September 3, 2009 3:13 PM

Thank goodness for this blog post... finally someone who has pointed out that not all Muslims are violent people. I am surprised at some of these blog comments that make it sound like they are all horrible psychopaths on honor killing sprees... My neighborhood is predominately Muslim, and they are nothing but polite to me. The only time I encounter something that could be deemed "rude" is that they won't come near me when I walk my dog because they come from a sect that believes dogs are basically dirty. They all care for their children, and spend a lot of time with them.

Yes, honor killings do happen. Yes, it is completely and utterly wrong. And Yes, that young lady may be in danger. BUT we need to remember that she is 17, and there are more 17 year old's in America that have a lying problem or want to move out of their house or perceive an issue with their parents being larger than one is than there are extremist Muslims.

Plus, she is wearing a sleeveless top. If the young lady grew up her whole life in an extremist Muslim family I doubt she would be comfortable showing that much skin. I may be jumping to conclusions, but it seems odd to me.

My point is this: Muslims are not the enemy. Their beliefs are wrong, but they are still children of God, not some evil creation of Satan. They are still human, and full of love and goodness.

Posted By: Sara | September 4, 2009 12:04 AM

Islam is not violent. Research yourself, dont listen to the bias media.

People keep bringing up the violent acts "Muslims do to their kids or wives" but no one brings up the violent acts the rest of the world does, remember that Austrian guy who locked his daughter in his basement for over a decade and repeatedly raped her? (she was put on anesthetics too) He was probably Christian, if not then Jewish but did ANYONE blame it on the religion?

All those lone cases of violent Muslim acts ARE SEPARATE FROM MUSLIM FOLLOWINGS.

INNOCENT KILLING IS NOT ALLOWED IN ISLAM
HONOR KILLING IS NOT ALLOWED IN ISLAM
FORCED MARRIAGES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN ISLAM
(in response to a comment about a lady being drugged and forced to marry)

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Posted By: nh123 | September 6, 2009 12:49 PM

My perspective on this issue.

http://lawblog.legalmatch.com/2009/09/08/religion-and-child-custody/

Posted By: RustyShackleford | September 8, 2009 4:09 PM

"Seeing persecution where there is likely none keeps the church defensive, improperly focused, and forgetful of the triumph it already has through Christ."

On what basis do you claim that there is likely no persecution? Are you aware that some of Rifqa's friends in her home town witnessed her with bruises from her father's beatings before she finally ran away? Are you aware that these beatings were reported to school authorities, who in defiance of the law did nothing further to protect Rifqa? Are you aware that Rifqa's father liquidated his jewelry business after he discovered she was missing? Do you understand the implications of that?

If Rifqa is telling the truth (and so far, there's been no evidence that she's a liar or a delinquent) then her life is in jeopardy. Not in some remote corner of the world where everything is strange and foreign. She's in danger right here, in the United States, where these things should never happen. Shouldn't we at least give her the benefit of the doubt? Is that really a loss of focus?

Posted By: Peggy | September 9, 2009 11:54 PM

The UN estimates 5000 honor killings worldwide (see the recent WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574398290365247498.html?mod=googlenews_wsj).

Posted By: Ken | September 12, 2009 12:05 PM

I usually ignore your rag, which is irrelevant to anyone who truly believes in Jesus and actually serves him. Christianity Today has had both feet in the world for quite some time. But today you have outdone yourself. You have cast doubt on a girl who is in danger for her life and who is in this danger for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Professional integrity would have saved you if you had actually been an investigative reporter. You would have done the research on honor killings in Islam and found that our own American girls have been honor killed and the trend is growing. If you had cared about being a real reporter, you would have discovered that Rifqa had pleaded with school officials over 20 times to protect her from the constant and unpredictable beatings by her father, which left cuts and bruises on her body. If you had been a a reporter instead of a stooge for liberal causes, you would have investigated the mosque the family attends and discovered that they adehere to the most fanatical and openly violent dogmas. They are connected with known terrorists and these very people are the ones who called RIfqa's father and told him to deal with his daughter. But you don't have the integrity, because you are not a reporter. You blithely,stupidly, foolishly and wickedly consigned this girl to whatever fate she would find in Ohio where the stakes are high to silence her by death. If she dies in Ohio or in Sri Lanka, I consider you an accomplice to murder. Think the next time you decide to pimp for liberal causes in the vain hope that your brand of Christianity, if it can be called that, will ever be acceptable to the world.

Posted By: Bronwyn | September 12, 2009 10:28 PM

I have a boyfriend who is a muslim, yet I am a christian. we cannot be seen together in public places as he is a well-known guy in his community. he is telling me that he can marry me because i am a child of the "books", but at the same time, he's telling that he cannot marry me because if he did, he will be killed by his own family. i was shocked, and confirmed it, and he said that if he leaves islam and embrace christianity, his own father will gladly take his life because he dishonored the family.

what kind of religion will teach you to kill other people, let alone your own flesh and blood? and to that concept of honor killing, i wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of people running away from islam to escape the brutal teachings it inculcates in its followers. open up your minds people... this girl tells the truth, and she wants to live her life until she gets old..

Posted By: peekabooo | September 24, 2009 12:56 AM

That's indeed a very sensitive issue. But I beleive that one should not listen to the biased media. One should think on his own before drawing any conclusion.

Posted By: naturheilkunde | October 5, 2009 6:19 AM

This article reminds me of an expression my Norwegian brother-people have:
"Quisling", noun. Derived from the Norwegian politician during WW2 who was the head of government during the Nazi occupation. His name has become synonymous with "collaborator".

Or we could take the word the first Church used to describe the members who handed over Scriptures to the authorities for burning, and agreed to sacrifice to the pagan idols. They were called "traditores", from which a well-known English noun has evolved. Guess which.

Both are applicable to this situation, and the author of this article.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better leave before I say something uncharitable....

Posted By: Mark Pedersen | November 3, 2009 4:22 PM

I hanve this messages for Rifqa:
1. John 10:16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
Imagine these words from Jesu Christ to You.

Acts 7:60 And he fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died. Little did Stephen know that Saul, his chief persecutor was at the door of repentance when he said this prayer. What would have happened to Saul then suppose he prays for fire to come and consume his enemies, some of the type of prayers we use to hear today?
Be praying for your father and the likes. You may be a point of contact for their repentance.
I wish to have her e-mail address
Keep on the good fight.
Pator Joshua jerome Iliya
Church Of the Brethren
Jos
Nigeria.

Posted By: Anonymous | December 16, 2009 9:08 PM

I have heard Rifqa express her faith on a youtube video and my thought was that she was born again in her family for a purpose.
In Acts 17:26 it says that God determines the exact times and places that we should live with the hope that those people would seek Him. How can Rifqa's family hope to know about Christ when all they know is our Christian hostility?
How I pray for her family, and how sad it is to me to see our Christian community so full of anger and hostility against Muslims, instead of compassion for them.
How will they hear without a preacher? How will they hear the Gospel when all the Christians are so mad at them?
Something very wrong seems to be taking place here, where are the people with a heart to reach out to Rifqa's family in Christian love? If there is even any hope of this now?
With God, there is always hope.
Rifqa has hope of heaven, but what about them?

Posted By: Mary | January 3, 2010 11:29 PM

Of course, I understand the need to pray for the Muslims and not show hostility. But this is a totally different matter. Rifqa's life is in danger, and we need to rally around her and pray that she'll be delivered from her parents and the Muslim community that is so intent on bringing her down. She's a mouthpiece for all the secret Christians around the world that are afraid of speaking out, and she has spoken out, refusing to deny Jesus in the face of death.

Posted By: Beth | January 12, 2010 4:32 PM

Beth--the threat of death here is elusive at best, and has been so since the earliest beginnings of this case. It is also deeply troubling that so much right wing support has been exaggeration at best, unsubstantiated frequently and outright fabrication at least some of the time.

I deeply appreciate Mr. McCarthy's eloquent reminder that God does not need us to dabble in false witness to carry out His will.

Posted By: Ohioan | January 13, 2010 2:07 PM

A friend of mine brought this story to my attention a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have immersed myself in any and everything having to do with Rifqa and her "story". My conclusion is that Rifqa's story is just that, a "story". I have also noticed that the Evangelical Christian adults in this modern farce clearly see Rifqa as nothing more than a prop in their cosmic war with Islam. How else could supposedly thinking people be so completely duped by a story that in many ways is so easily and has been so easily debunked in many ways..

1) Rifqa claims that either her father didn't know about her cheer-leading or didn't quite know what cheer-leading entails. However, there are pictures in her house, at least from 2008 of her in her cheer-leading. At some her dad must have found out at least that cheer-leading involves the wearing of short skirts.

2) Rifqa claims that she had to hide her faith for years. In fact nearly everyone at her school knew she had become a Christian for years because well frankly she would not shut up about it. In fact many students in her school said she became known for carrying around her little blue Bible. For her story to be believable - that converting to Christianity and hid it from her parents for the better of four years - it would mean that her parents probably never went to her school and never spoke to anyone at her school. At least a year before she ran away, there is tangible evidence that her parents knew she had become a Christian in the form of the babysitting flier she made stating she was a Christian. I am focus on the claim that her parents didn't know for years because its central to Rifqa's story and seems to be specifically crafted to make the story that much emotionally jarring; a poor beleaguered Christian having to pray in secret for fear her Muslims parents would off her. Its the stuff good made for tv movies are made of.

3) Rifqa claims her father is fundamentalist Muslim control freak. The reality is that from the evidence is that while the Barys themselves are fairly devout, their teenage children, Rifqa and her older brother Rilvan, seem decidedly less so and have been that way it seems since they moved to Ohio. Again these are easily verifiable facts; Rifqa was involved in cheer-leading, jumping up and down in short skirts. It is obvious that her parents didn't put many restrictions on her. Hello people I point to exhibit B - the fact that she was allowed to have nearly free reign on the internet. She was able to meet the Lorenz and other Christian evangelicals on the net. She had access to the net constantly. Wouldn't a fundamentalist controlling father want to keep is daughter away from such things.

4) Rifqa claims that she was forced to attend classes on Islam and pray five times a day. In reality to those of us who know anything about Islam, it is clear that Rifqa is largely ignorant about the faith. You would think that in all these years of being forrced to learn about Islam she would at least know much more than the obviously spoon fed anti-Muslim propaganda that is clearly coming from people like Gellar and the Lorenz.

Posted By: YattaKen | January 17, 2010 10:44 AM

Yattaken,
You obviously do not know facts about teen behavior. Or perhaps you are biased by your own religion...probably islam from the tone of your post.
Kids have access to the Internet at most public libraries and at school. They may have email accounts unknown to their families. Some schools offer lap tops to their students as well as Internet connection. There are ways to access. Many parents may not be aware of using parental controls and neglect supervision. When a person experiences crisis and feels isolated, chat rooms are a handy tool to find company. I know from personal experience and found solace from friends there once upon a time.

As you mentioned, Rifqa's parents seem progressive. In order to prosper and achieve the American dream, they assimilated to Amercan culture...to a limited extent as Mrs. Bary retains wearing the headscarf, a religious not cultural symbol.
Although seeming a modern family the news reported the mosque the Barys attend has entertained radical speakers and may be in process of radicalization. Who knows how the process occurs? Maybe it is through extortion, intimidation, or even insider terrorism, the cult of personality. If Rifqa experienced the message, she may have internalized fear rightly so. Perhaps she saw her family redirecting their values as parents watched their kids assimilate.

How dare you demean the faith of "Evangelical Christians." You seem to oppose the message of freedom...no strings attached by a loving God, but you indirectly support the belief in a medieval despot, child rapist. Talk about propaganda. I perceive it is ignorance. Perhaps you are part of the islamic propaganda machine.

BTW, Where did you obtain your information about the baby sitting brochures? Or carrying the her Bible in school? I have scoured every source online and never read those facts. Can you site your sources?

I sure would like to interview her teachers and friends. They would know more than we ever will. I taught high school and know well the drama of teens.

PS Other people killing their kids FOR WHATEVER REASON does not absolve the phenomenon know as honor killing or killing apostates sanctioned by the religion of over a billion people on the face of the earth. WAKE UP AMERICA.

Posted By: jojosatx | January 29, 2010 1:02 AM

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