A look at Rifqa Bary from a respected religion editor.."Teen Convert Creates Battle"

[madfloridian]

The religion editor for the Lakeland Ledger has gained respect for being a sensible moderate voice among all the harsh religious rhetoric. This is a column he wrote today about the situation of Rifqa Bary. She has caused an uproar in Central Florida, so I was glad to see him address this.

Teen Convert Creates Battle

Family relations are usually complicated enough without outside interference. Imagine what would happen if every argument between you and your teenager were subject to scrutiny by an advocacy group that would take your daughter's side in court.

Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, smiles at supporters in the crowd in the courtroom of circuit judge Daniel Dawson for her hearing at the Thomas S. Kirk Juvenile Justice Center, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009 in Orlando, Fla. Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda | AP

Conservative Protestant advocacy groups entered the fray, claiming Bary as one of their own and making dire predictions about what would happen if the teen were returned home. These predictions are based primarily on two points: the claim of a runaway teenager that her father had threatened her and an assumption that the family's Muslim faith inevitably demands the blood of their daughter for converting.

On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Dawson unsealed an investigative report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The report said "... FDLE's inquiry to date has failed to reveal any evidence of a conspiracy to commit, solicitation to commit, attempt or other efforts to commit any such action or other violence against (Bary).....The FDLE and the Franklin County (Ohio) Department of Children Services found no evidence of abuse, and Bary's school district had no record of allegations of abuse.

Some other pertinent statements made by Cary McMullen, the religion editor are pretty courageous given the atmosphere in this area of Florida about the situation.

It's hard to avoid the conclusion that conservative Protestant advocacy groups are using Bary's case as a battleground in their culture war against Islam, and the Bary family are caught in their crosshairs. As attorney David Middlebrook of the Church Law Group told Charisma News Online, "These parents have rights and responsibilities. … The belief (that Bary is in danger) has to be reasonable."

The relationship between Rifqa Bary and her parents may be irretrievably broken, and she may well be better off under another roof for now. But Westerville, Ohio, is not a Pashtun village, and the claim that she would be the victim of an "honor killing" is simply anti-Muslim hysteria. Mohamed Bary, her father, told FDLE his daughter "would be permitted to study Christianity," and as an adult "she would be free to worship as she pleased."

Here is more from the FDLE report which has not gotten much publicity yet.

Florida authorities' investigation into a teenager's claims that her life is in danger for converting from Islam to Christianity found no credible threats to 17-year-old Rifqa Bary, according to a newly unsealed report.

The 7-page summary of the probe into the Bary case by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was unsealed on Monday.

" . . . FDLE's inquiry to date has failed to reveal any evidence of a conspiracy to commit, solicitation to commit, attempt or other efforts to commit any such action or other violence against her," the report said.

FDLE report

One other thing to be considered...the minister leading the effort to keep Bary in Florida and away from her parents is the President of Jerry Falwell's Liberty Theological Seminary.

.."According to Ergun Mehmet Caner, the FDLE report is an example of “political correctness” that may endanger Rifqa’s life.

“Her blood, which is almost certain to be shed if returned, is on their hands. The police and judicial branch in Florida were her last hope,” Caner said in a Sept. 15 interview with Florida Baptist Witness.

Caner, who converted to Christianity as a 16-year-old in Columbus, Ohio, grew-up in the mosque, the Islamic Foundation of Central Ohio, out of which the Bary family mosque was started and remains connected. Caner’s father, the family mosque’s architect, disowned his son – and two others – for converting to Christianity. Now a Baptist minister and president of Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Va., Caner is a well-known apologist for the Christian faith – activity for which a fatwa, an Islamic religious ruling calling for his death, was issued last year.

Thanks to Cary McMullen for a calm and well-reasoned column.

[madfloridian]

1. A Christian attorney for Bary speaks out in concern for the religious community.

A Christian attorney for Bary speaks out in concern for the religious community.

This article should be read in full. He is pretty right wing, and was one who worked on saving Terry Schaivo. His warnings should be taken seriously.

Christian attorney: Why I think Rifqa Bary's mother is in the right

I am writing now because a report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been released addressing the claims of Rifqa Bary that her parents would allegedly kill her because she has converted from Islam to Christianity. The report provides additional documentation of things I have known for some weeks but have not until now been at liberty to say.

It will astonish many fellow conservatives as well as many on the left to learn that I, an evangelical Christian, have vigorously defended Rifqa Bary's mother in court. And I believe that my former client's cause is just.

From the beginning of this case until earlier this month, I was the attorney for Aysha Risana Bary, Rifqa's mother. I hope it comes across as nothing but a simple fact when I say this to you: I know more about what is really going on in this case than you do — and those of us who are Christians and conservatives ought to be interested in the facts behind controversial stories.

..." When the attorney who had at first entered an appearance on behalf of Pastor Blake Lorenz later changed her position and declared that she in fact represented the child Rifqa, however, I was given the task of representing one of the parents in the case. It's inside baseball for most readers, but I was immediately struck by the strangeness of Lorenz's attorney spontaneously declaring an attorney-client relationship with the child in open court that hadn't existed the moment before.

That sense of strangeness remains relevant given a recent motion to clarify the roles of Rifqa's four attorneys filed by DCF. In any event, I took the case on behalf of Rifqa's mom and started digging, knowing from the beginning that the case had implications for people of my Christian faith and being determined to get it right.

[madfloridian]

2. Website of the group that calls the FDLE report nonsense.

http://www.floridasecuritycouncil.org/index.html

Fear and terror there.

Here is one of Trento's statements. He can be found on the About page of the above website.

"Tom Trento with the Florida Security Council calls a seven page report of investigative findings from Florida Department of Law Enforcement "complete nonsense" even though agents interviewed Rifqa Bary and then sought out to confirm or deny the allegations she made."

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/9/14/documents_in_runaway_teen_case_to_be_released.html

[madfloridian]

3. Hearing held this afternoon seeking dismissal

Parents are on video conference from Ohio. The Florida Security Council is rallying against the father outside the courtroom..

[madfloridian]

4. Judge rules, her father files a complaint

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-rifqa-bary-092109,0,2039847.story

"Rifqa, a 17-year-old runaway from Ohio, will remain with her foster family in Florida until an Orlando judge talks to a judge in Ohio about the status of a case there.

Meanwhile, the attorney for Bary's father, Mohamed Bary, said Monday that Bary has filed a complaint with Orlando Police about Orlando pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz and asked the state to prevent the Lorenzes from visiting his daughter in foster care. The complaint came to light during Monday's hearing.

During the hearing, Judge Daniel Dawson, set Oct. 9 date for a mediation hearing and Oct. 13 for a pre-trial hearing.

Dawson, however, said he wanted to talk to an Ohio judge to find out if there is a legitimate custody action in that state. If so, Dawson, wants to know how long Florida's emergency jurisdiction remains open before Dawson returns the case to Ohio, Dawson said.

There is an Oct. 27 court date set for Ohio."

[BolivarianHero]

5. I would actually be quite amenable to a fatwa against the right person...

"One other thing to be considered...the minister leading the effort to keep Bary in Florida and away from her parents is the President of Jerry Falwell's Liberty Theological Seminary."

Maybe all of those wackos who are ruining Salman Rushdie's live ought to focus their energy on doing something productive.

[bertman]

6. Here's a rec and a kick for the update.

[madfloridian]

7. Appreciated.

It's amazing how much sway the religious groups hold on issues before people start asking questions and thinking. By the time people start considering there are two sides to an issue....the religious right has already defined it loudly.