The Christian Runaway

[closeupready]

Source: Newsweek

Brian Williams wasn't sure what to make of his young friend's stories. He'd met Rifqa Bary, a high-school student from Gahanna, Ohio, at a prayer house at Ohio State University late last year. Intensely devout and deeply inquisitive, she recounted that she came from a Muslim family but had converted to Christianity. This had enraged her parents, who threatened her with violence, she said. She had to hide her faith, conceal her Bible, and sneak away to attend church. According to Williams, a nondenominational minister, she researched the persecution of Christians around the world obsessively and lived in constant fear that her parents would kill her for apostasy. At first "I didn't believe her, to be honest," says Williams. "Maybe she's just young and overemotional," he thought.

But Bary spoke with such conviction that she eventually convinced Williams. And when she ran away from home and fled to Orlando in July, claiming she was in danger of falling victim to an "honor killing," it seemed like all the more reason to trust that she was telling the truth. Why else would she uproot her life that way? Nevertheless, three separate investigations—two by authorities in Ohio and one by law enforcement in Florida—have found no reason to believe that her allegations are true or her life is imperiled. Her parents vehemently deny all the accusations she has made against them and say they have no issue with her being a Christian. Yet Bary continues to maintain that if she's returned to Ohio, she'll be murdered.

The dispute is now the subject of a rancorous legal battle in Florida family court. It's up to a judge to sort through the facts and determine what's best for Bary, 17, who's living with a foster family in Orlando. But that won't be easy. Her case has spilled far beyond the courtroom walls and escalated into a virulent religious clash. She's being represented by John Stemberger, a conservative Christian lawyer who was involved in the battle over Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman kept alive with a feeding tube until it was disconnected in 2005. He and various right-wing groups have unleashed a barrage of allegations against Bary's parents and a mosque they attend in Columbus, Ohio. Yet as Krista Bartholomew, Bary's guardian ad litem (appointed by the court to offer guidance on the girl's best interests), said in a hearing last Thursday, "This is not a holy war. This is a case about a frightened little girl and a broken family."

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/id/215100

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Wow! I don't get the opportunity to do this very often, so I'm going all-out!

Popcorn for everybody!

[closeupready]

3. Excuse me!

Aren't you forgetting something?



:rofl:

[Jkid]

29. What's that?

[Soylent Brice]

8. bwahahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!

that's fucking awesome.

[Craftsman]

2. She should have come to TX and settled this.

In TX a 17 year can legally leave her parents.

[closeupready]

4. That actually reminds me - on 60 Minutes last night, Drew Barrymore apparently divorced

her parents at age 15 - couldn't this girl do that, too?

[Analyticalist]

35. it's called emancipation

and probably so, but only if you can convince a judge that it's in your best interest to do so. But now the religious right has accorded itself their own version of the middle-east divorce stereotype.

Instead of saying "I divorce you" three times, however, you now have to say "You're a muslamo-facist threatening an honor killing" three times.

[Dorian Gray]

40. They made a documentary about that...

Irreconciable Differences!

(A joke.... )

[mrcheerful]

5. Maybe she should have ran away to a state where at 17 parents can't do a thing about

the kid moving out of the parents house. Last year my SO's son at 17 decided that he could no longer abide by the house rules, particularly stay in school and get your diploma. He moved out and the only thing the cops said was SO could not refuse him a roof until he was 18.

[ingac70]

6. The "Christians" that girl hung out with....

have put shit in her head.

[naaman fletcher]

7. True, but probably cleaner shit than what her own parents put in.

That's what makes a case like this tough.

[Flaneur]

9. Her parents appear to be moderate Muslims.

Is that the shit you're referring to?

[snagglepuss]

The religious angle could be a side issue. I moved out when I was 17

and was regarded by extended family as a heartless, cold, self serving ingrate. By all appearances my parents seemed the epitome of good people so I was hated for putting my parents through hell.No one ever knew my side of the story. I was so terrified of my father I never even told anyone what life was like - though I doubt they would have believed me and had I actually ever said anything it would have been used against me.

So many people are utterly wedded to the notion of the supposed sanctity of family that they willfully remain blind that families can be emotional hellholes despite appearances to the contra. People seem equally unable to accept the fact that facades can be managed, that appearances can lie.

People should keep their noses out of this situation. People who are intent as framing this as a religious make me puke.:puke:

[get the red out]

24. The parents aren't always the ones to believe

I don't care what religion they are. Sometimes a kid is better off out of the household regardless of religion, race, whatever. We can't be blinded by the religious angle the right would want to paint this in.

[snagglepuss]

27. Exactly and this is a case involving one young woman.

Its not like the family is rounding up Muslim kids. Its one person. If she had run away and was living on the streets instead have been taken in by a Christian family this wouldn't be an issue and I say this as somone who is rabidly anti any type of religious fundie.

[CBGLuthier]

12. What do you mean by that statement

Is christianity inherently "cleaner" than islam?

That is a new kind of "progressive" thinking for me.

[naaman fletcher]

30. I am a different sort of liberal..

Some liberals are value-less. That is, are unwilling to stand on a set of moral principles. Now, while I believe both religions are crap, yes I am happy to say that as practiced today is much less evil than Islam.

[Dorian Gray]

41. That is an

extraordinarily unfair statement. And a value judgement that is totally unable to be made. You have to judge each and every individual independently. How they practice their religion is part of that evaluation.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Judge not lest ye be judged

Since we don't know that much about the family, your remarks appear a little premature, don't you think?

[naaman fletcher]

31. It might be premature yes,

but note I was responding to the person who said the Christian family was filling her with shit, and nobody had a problem with that.

[ingac70]

25. Her parents let her be a cheer leader.

What Muslim fanatics would do that? She has been duped by a cult.

[naaman fletcher]

32. I missed that..

I probably spoke too soon.

[Seldona]

33. "Cleaner shit?"

It's still shit. Though I do wonder how one can 'clean' shit, even metaphorical shit.

[mackerel]

10. I hope she gets the outcome she wants and I do hope

that there is no retaliation. It is quite possible that her parents only want the best for her and don't wish her any harm. That may not be true of all her relatives. Have there been any honor killings in the U.S?

I know there was an attempt here in the Bay Area about 10 years ago but the woman lived and her husband is serving time for attempted murder.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. First of all, "honor killings"

are NOT Islam, they are cultural, and can be found in Christian countries as well as Islamic ones. They deal with chastity rather than changing one's religion. Qur'an says that Christians are "people of the Book" and should not be persecuted. Moderate and liberal Muslims would not have a problem with what this girl did.

[WriteDown]

15. Of course....

Can't have your teenage daughters dating infidels

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011008dnmetteenskilled.7ba7cc6.html

[CBGLuthier]

19. Good thing no christians ever murdered their families for religious reasons

Wouldn't you look stupid if that were true.

[WriteDown]

20. Aw, the old "they do it too!" defense.

Predictable. :eyes:

[dugaresa]

11. it would be a better story if she got to Florida in a big silver balloon

[struggle4progress]

16. Runaway teen Christian convert must return to Ohio, judge rules (CNN | 14 October)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/14/florida.muslim.convert/

[struggle4progress]

17. Ohio Judge: State to Take Custody of Christian Convert Runaway (17 Oct)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio can take custody of a girl who ran away to Florida, saying she feared she'd be killed for converting to Christianity from Islam, a judge ruled Thursday in a decision clarifying the girl's legal status once she returns.

The Franklin County Children's Services agency will take custody of Rifqa Bary pending the confirmation of her immigration status or her return to Ohio, according to the order by Franklin County Juvenile Court Magistrate Mary Goodrich ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,566842,00.html

[struggle4progress]

18. Rifqa could face deportation; seek asylum (WDBO | 14 Oct)

By Joe Ruble
@ October 14, 2009 2:14 PM

Teenage Christian convert Rifqa Bary's legal status in this country is still unclear, even after a judge decided to move her dependency case back to Ohio ...

Dawson moved jurisdiction of her dependency case to Franklin County, Ohio, but also demanded to know what her immigration status is.

WDBO talked with local immigration attorney Carlos Colombo about the possibility that the teen could be deported.

Colombo said it could happen and that her being a minor makes no difference, if she's in the country illegally ...

http://wdbo.com/localnews/2009/10/rifqa-could-face-deportation-s.html

[struggle4progress]

21. ... They're here because of her. The Barys are from Galle on the southern coast of Sri Lanka in the

Indian Ocean. When Rifqa was 5 she fell on a toy airplane that pierced the cornea of her right eye. Scar tissue built up over the next couple of years. Doctors told the Barys they might have to remove the eye. So they went to New York in 2000 for medical treatment. Four years later they moved here in large part because of the schools. The school district of suburban New Albany is considered one of Ohio's best. It's 80 percent white, 9 percent Asian, 6 percent black. The campus with its red-brick buildings and tall white columns feels almost collegiate. Average income in the district: $185,000 a year ...

The life Rifqa Bary ran away from
By Michael Kruse, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, October 11, 2009
http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/the-life-rifqa-bary-ran-away-from/1042759

[burning rain]

22. Not gonna find much sympathy for this girl on the left.

Plenty of airheads dote on Islam as a nice religion because it's non-Western and most Muslims tend to have dark skin, while Christianity is nasty, because it's Western and the white man's religion.

[bowens43]

23. all diety based religions are equally vile

but Christianity is a much greater threat to our freedom then Islam. We won't allow Islamic fundis to take over our country but we'll open the door and invite the christian fundies in......

[BennyD]

26. Yea, I know what you mean...

Christianity is taking over in Europe and seeking to have its own form of law called "Sharia" installed in place of the laws which govern everyone else. (sarc)

[Mariana]

34. Of course, Christianity never did any such thing

as taking over Europe and having its own form of law installed which governed everyone else.

[The Stranger]

37. Well struck.

Looks like that is going to leave a mark.

[ingac70]

38. Christianity IS NOT Western....

It's a Middle Eastern cult just like Islam.

[proReality]

28. Sounds like this girl

really could use some psychiatric sessions. She sounds paranoid delusional.

[1monster]

36. She sounds like the victim of a cult-type brainwashing. She needs deprograming.

On the other hand, no one knows what goes on in any family.

The whole shootin' match may have little to do with religion. It could be that the Islam vs Christian conversion is just the proxy battleground.

Whatever the problem, this girl has latched on to Christianity with a ferocity that seems unstable.

[Dorian Gray]

39. Wow....

to feel that way as a teenage girl, whether it's true of her family or not, is sad. She felt the need to run away from her family. While I believe that she is fearful, I also suspect that her conversion and fear could possibly be being used by those who are "supporting" her in her conversion. The pastors/lawyers/and other conservative Christians who are her current support system.