This is the reply of a Muslim American revert to the YouTube video by Nonie Darwish's Women In Islam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nsLPSaTb5g
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Rifqa Bary Case Analysis
Here is an analysis of the Rifqa Bary case by one of our readers:
Pastor Blake Lorenz mentions that Rifqa 'secretly' converted to Christianity four years ago. How old was Rifqa when she switched religions...13 or 14 years old. Her disenchantment with Islam began when she was ...12 ? 11? 10 yrs? So, while other girls of her age were busy skipping rope and giggling at boys, Rifqa was full on investigating comparative religions. Or, that the parents were so cruel to her that she had to find solace in some other outlet ..like Christianity. But, cruel parents do not make the effort to take their daughter to eye doctors and allowing her to join choirs and other typical American activities...which led to Rifqa becoming a a cheer-leader. Rifqa's parents were proud of her!
"Her religion..(implying to her conversion to Christianity) was only discovered recently by her father" said Pastor Blake now, Pastor Blake... what do you mean by recently? How many months, or weeks, or days....because recently would mean...something that has happened lately.. a new development. This means that Rifqa's parents ...more so her father because he is supposed to be the one who has threatened to kill Rifqa, was threatening Rifqa in the last few months, weeks , days...?
She went missing for three weeks. Lets take one week before she went 'missing'. Rifqa's father came to know that she was 'chatting' to a group of pastors..... Global Revolutionary Church on facebook. Her father could have remarked that she was 'dead' to them if she hangs around this church group and follow their ways because after all, she a young Muslim girl, and would be highly susceptible to the machinations of this lot. She was an easy pick for this Global Revolution people. There was every chance that Rifqa did not know much about her own religion. The pastors group can pump up the 'glory of Jesus. The only god of redemption and everlasting love' she would be ideal for showcasing the persuasive powers of this Global Revolution Church (GRC). She can be a 'star'. So, did they exhort her to come to this meeting of these pastors? Did they say "there are wonderful things that Rifqa could learn and she would be among "friends" who would love and protect her.
Lets say that after one week of her father getting to learn about this 'facebook' people, Rifqa left for Orlando... Mohamed Bary reported that their daughter was missing. After three weeks she was found with Global Rev.Ch. Blake Lorenz told police that Rifqa said that her parents would not inform police, but the parents did inform and state wide search was on, and the national centre for missing and EXPLOITED CHILDREN were on to it.. and found.. Rifqa Bary.
What happened next.. was seen by the world at large. Media loves a story like this. Iit makes for great 'ratings'. The more hype.. the better the story. More the controversy. The better the 'watch ability' on TV, the net, etc. They knew that the Christians would lap up this episode and would sharpen their swords to thrust at the 'evil' Muslims.
And they knew that this GRC would love the exposure. The story of a teen Muslim turning to Christ. GRC would be known world wide. Now the media would have been licking their lips, exulting in the moment. You'd be so silly to think that the media's intention is to report truth and fairness.. a 'fair' presentation of the 'Rifqa Bary' story would kill the ratings' for TV, the net etc.
Is it possible that they asked Blake Lorenz to 'coach' Rifqa a bit....can she do a 'sensationalizing' of the whole episode? The media could have said.. "look, this stuff is worth millions of dollars of advertising value for your Global Revolutionary Church. are you going to do "something" about it. To cliché, media 'milks it dry' .. a story,.. that erupts and makes it way to the front pages of the newspapers, lead story for TV, net, etc.
The fire... (the hatred, the prejudice, the jealousy, the envy, the fear of tasting defeat).. is dormant.. re-kindle the smoldering logs and get the flame going. So march on soldiers.. Christian...Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sai Baba.... and keep Islam maligned. Keep the fire of 'hate' against Islam. This is "our" only hope...Let us..( those virulently opposed to Islam) help create organizations like Taliban etc.
So, 'they' are saying... Islam has to be bludgeoned to death...before it overtakes other religions, philosophies, etc. Will media hang on the Rifqa Bary story because there is tremendous ADVERSE feedback on the aspect of "cruel" Islam and their "antiquated" outlook. Yeah! And how about telling a few lies.... remote control through the mouth of Rifqa Bary. Who outside Sri Lanka (because the people living in Sri Lanka can see and find the truth behind false campaigns) would bother to INQUIRE into news reports that say that some young Muslim women are subject to 'honor' killings? A Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, others living outside Sri Lanka would they bother to doubt, if they said..." in the name of Islam, there are HONOR killings every day in Sri Lanka.
So, if someone said.." last month 33 young Muslim women were found dead with their throats cut.. two bodies were found near the Ratmalana Station....there is great chance this would be "talked" about right across the world. A successful..(Cunning, Machiavellian) journalist will write a story .. and mention a fact that is unrelated to the article he/she is writing like the story on Rifqa Bary where they mention.. honor killings in Sri Lanka ...and say that.. " two bodies of young women were found near the Angulana Station".
Yes, two bodies WERE found. But this could have been the bodies of two women of the fishing village, a fisherman spied on his young wife cheating... having sex with another man. So, he killed her in revenge. The husband of the 'killed' woman walked into the other fisherman’s house and killed the fisherman’s wife. So for e.g. Two bodies were found! See how a story can be made up... talk about Rifqa Bary... and end with the' two bodies' story aimed at the 'haters' of Islam. The story would be gobbled up and passed on to all the world.
They would guzzle this story as quickly as they could and would look for more. Yes, and they would get more in the months to come. So the journalist maybe thinking to himself... "thank god.. for Rifqa Bary at last, my career as a journalist is taking off like a formulae 1 racing car. Hallelujah!
Have you noticed that people read and dwell on things THEY LIKE TO READ. They like to believe the things that they like to believe... if YOU like to believe that Islam is evil...you will PICK on the reading materials that say Islam is evil. No amount of statistics and reasoning, and logic and history will move these people to think that Islam is not evil. A journalist working in a non-Muslim environment/country...will have to cater to the LARGE MAJORITY who are inclined to believe ( in their pet prejudices) the things they want to believe!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Fathima Rifqa Bary Trust
This is the latest gimmick by the people who say they are trying to protect Rifqa Bary. They have opened up an account for her and do you really think that the money will be given to her? ALL of it? Who is going to keep a track of what will happen to this money? Only those inside this trust will monitor it and outsiders will not know the result. Everyone will only know that they gave their money to this trust and no one will bother to check it up or follow it. If they really care about Rifqa they should let the Children's Welfare Committe or any such similar organization which is public to set up something like this.
Fathima Rifqa Bary Trust
c/o Michael A. O’Quinn, Trustee
28 West Central Boulevard, Fourth Floor
Orlando, Florida 32801
Checks or money orders should be made payable to “Fathima Rifqa Bary Trust.”
Information about giving by credit card will be posted shortly.
Rifqa Bary's Parents Speak
There are a few points to note in the YouTube video by Mohomad Bary and Aysha Bary.
- Mohomad Bary says he came to America in 2000 for Rifqa's treatments in her eye. They came to New York and had it done. If he could show such concern just for his daughter's eyes then what say about her life? Without say, he values it and treasures it.
- They had moved to New Albany because the colleges there are ranked 10/10, so it wasn't a terrorist connection or movement or influence that had lead him to move into this part of the country but the fact that his children could get the BEST of education.
- He says his daughter is an A/B grade student. He also says she is a 3.5 gpa student. The way he says it shows how proud he is of his daughter and he is not at all ashamed or regretful of the fact that his daughter is good in studies and wants to support her by giving her even better chances. He says he wants her to stand on her own feet. Certainly not on other people's mercy or coaching!
- He says that when Rifqa was 14 years old she mentioned in a form for baby-sitting that she mentioned the religion as Christianity. He just advised her at that time. One year ago his son told him Rifqa was carrying a Bible in school and trying to convince others. He just advised her, it's not something that should be done when in school. 4 months back one his friends told him of Rifqa's facebook account and he confronted her and still he didn't threaten her. He even had given the laptop back to her even though he didn't want to do so, saying it's the biggest mistake he did when he gave the laptop to her. Even at that point he was thinking of his daugher's education. Such a concerned father is termed "radical", "extreme", "violent", "abusive".
- Mohomad Bary says he came in as a family and want to have her back as a family. Does this show intentions of wanting to kill? He has continously said that she is free to practice any religion she wants to at his home. How many families send their daughters for cheerleading in such a dress? But this father allowed his daughter to indulge in every fancy of hers and not only that he proudly frames two photographs of her in the cheerleading outfit and keeps it in his living room where every one can see it! This incident was in 2008, just last year. Does it show a violent radical person? In every way this mother and father were proud of their daughter and her achievements!He says he has not imposed anything on his children and they were free to do as they wished!
- Her mother Aysha Bary says she misses her daughter every single day, every single minute. She doesn't look like a woman who is speaking for the sake of making "a show" out of the whole thing or in the hope of misleading Rifqa back into their house. She says she wants Rifqa back home and that she has only ONE daughter. They HONESTLY want their daughter back!
- Mohomad Bary says The Global Revolution Church USE teenagers and he doens't want Rifqa to be a victim of this group. By the way why can't these Church group like Global Revolution Church and Xenos Christian Fellowship target adults? Why always pick on children and teenagers? Is it because teenagers and children are more gullble and will follow without too much doubt? Where do these organizations get their money to function? Don't you smell a rat here?
- He says that first Rifqa hated her friends and then family. This can happen to anyone. What will you do if your child comes tomorrow and says the church that you go to is not correct and they want to be baptized again and shun you? These groups are encouraging the children to move out of their parents lives, not to keep them with the parents. If such a doctrine is practiced then how could such a theology be right. Which religion says that a family should be broken up and the children torn apart from the family and friends? If this happens to anyone else and their child goes across from one state to another then they might never see their child again and the child can easily say that the father threatened to kill him/her. So this will be the Rifqa Bary way of handling parents!
- The pastor of Colombus, Ohio - Brian Williams was warned by the police about Rifqa's disappearance and that's when pastor Blake Lorenz called and informed the police of her whereabouts. At the same time Brian Williams calls Rifqa's brother and says that he baptized her and then THREATENES by saying that if Rifqa returns to her parents then the parents will be in BIG TROUBLE! Now what about this threat? Who is going to the media about this? Or is it going to be hushed down because this is a muslim speaking and not a christian? Not only that but pastors Brian Williams and Blake Lorenz are facebook friends!
- Every one is shouting about what the law should be doing to protect Rifqa but what about the pastor Lorenz who kept a minor in his home for 2 1/2 weeks without informing the authorities and without legal rights! There has been no case filed agains him till now. Is everyone waiting untill another child is abducted or lured into his system and then say it's too late?
- Some attorneys from Rifqa's side said she made two phone calls to the Child Services but when the court called to check it there was no such call made! So who is telling lies now?
- Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country and only 7% are muslims there. He personally went to a Christian/Catholic School (St.Aloysius College) and in the mornings he says everyone had to say the Christian prayes! His best friend is a Christian: Gary Abbot from Atlanta, Georgia and had known him for more than 20 years. Most of the friends he deals with, his business colleagues are Christians.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Attorney says Crist 'taking sides' in Fathima Rifqa Bary case
By Alan Schmadtke, Sentinel Staff Writer - 1:49 p.m. EDT, August 23, 2009
In a statement released in the wake of a judge's order to keep 17-year-old Fathima Rifqa Bary in custody of a foster family in Florida while her family is investigated by state law enforcement officers, Craig McCarthy accused the governor of taking sides before evidence has been submitted.
"The governor's unfortunate decision to make a public statement taking sides in the Rifqa Bary case before any evidence other than allegations has been presented underscores the need to return this case to the child's home state of Ohio," McCarthy said in the statement. "Governor Crist stated that he was 'grateful' that the judge ruled a specific way and in support of his 'administration's position.'
"The entire Bary family has already been exploited by those who recklessly wish to force this case into a clash of religions, and now by the Governor's statement the Bary family's case has become a political matter as well."
Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson ruled that for at least the next two weeks, Rifqa Bary will stay in Florida. She is living with a Christian foster family that has other children, and she is being home schooled.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating threats to the girl's safety. That includes a probe into her family, which lives outside Columbus, Ohio.
FDLE's investigation is already underway, said George Sheldon, secretary of Florida's Department of Children & Families. DCF is charged with safeguarding Rifqa Bary since it was called in to look at the girl's situation after she arrived in Florida.
The investigation should last about two weeks, Sheldon said.
The judge ordered the girl back to court Sept. 3 for another hearing.
Rifqa Bary disappeared from her home in late July. Later it was learned that she hitch-hiked to a local Greyhound station and boarded a bus to Orlando to meet a husband-and-wife pastor team with whom she became familiar on Facebook.
When Bary got to Orlando, she borrowed a cell phone to call Beverly Lorenz, who with husband Blake Lorenz is a pastor of Global Revolution Church in Orlando.
The Lorenzes have said Bary was a stranger when she showed up -- and that she arrived saying she was afraid for her life. She told them her family would harm her, kill her or send her back to her native Sri Lanka, Beverly Lorenz said.
Rifqa Bary's mother and father, Mohamed Bary, a jeweler, have attended both Florida court hearings involving their daughter.
Since the family's story has hit the news, it has become a national story with both political undertones fanned by religious interest.
Christian and Muslim faithful have expressed views to Crist and to the media about what they believe should happen to the girl.
With Crist's statement, "Now the Barys can only conclude that chances for impartiality and straight-forward dealings with DCF are slipping away," McCarthy said in his statement.
FDLE investigating the Bary family in Ohio
An attorney representing the mother of the 17-year-old girl who ran away from her Muslim family in Ohio and showed up in Orlando as a convert to Christianity said Florida Gov. Charlie Crist issued an "unfortunate" statement that politicized a family issue.
In a statement released in the wake of a judge's order to keep 17-year-old Fathima Rifqa Bary in custody of a foster family in Florida while her family is investigated by state law enforcement officers, Craig McCarthy accused the governor of taking sides before evidence has been submitted.
"The governor's unfortunate decision to make a public statement taking sides in the Rifqa Bary case before any evidence other than allegations has been presented underscores the need to return this case to the child's home state of Ohio," McCarthy said in the statement. "Governor Crist stated that he was 'grateful' that the judge ruled a specific way and in support of his 'administration's position.'
"The entire Bary family has already been exploited by those who recklessly wish to force this case into a clash of religions, and now by the Governor's statement the Bary family's case has become a political matter as well."
Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson ruled that for at least the next two weeks, Rifqa Bary will stay in Florida. She is living with a Christian foster family that has other children, and she is being home schooled.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating threats to the girl's safety. That includes a probe into her family, which lives outside Columbus, Ohio.
FDLE's investigation is already underway, said George Sheldon, secretary of Florida's Department of Children & Families. DCF is charged with safeguarding Rifqa Bary since it was called in to look at the girl's situation after she arrived in Florida.
The investigation should last about two weeks, Sheldon said.
The judge ordered the girl back to court Sept. 3 for another hearing.
Rifqa Bary disappeared from her home in late July. Later it was learned that she hitch-hiked to a local Greyhound station and boarded a bus to Orlando to meet a husband-and-wife pastor team with whom she became familiar on Facebook.
When Bary got to Orlando, she borrowed a cell phone to call Beverly Lorenz, who with husband Blake Lorenz is a pastor of Global Revolution Church in Orlando.
The Lorenzes have said Bary was a stranger when she showed up -- and that she arrived saying she was afraid for her life. She told them her family would harm her, kill her or send her back to her native Sri Lanka, Beverly Lorenz said.
Rifqa Bary's mother and father, Mohamed Bary, a jeweler, have attended both Florida court hearings involving their daughter.
Since the family's story has hit the news, it has become a national story with both political undertones fanned by religious interest.
Christian and Muslim faithful have expressed views to Crist and to the media about what they believe should happen to the girl.
With Crist's statement, "Now the Barys can only conclude that chances for impartiality and straight-forward dealings with DCF are slipping away," McCarthy said in his statement.
Anti-Muslim bias obvious in Fathima Rifqa Bary case
Fathima Rifqa Bary ran away from her Muslim family in Ohio to Florida.
By Mike Thomas, COMMENTARY - August 23, 2009
Fathima Rifqa Bary is playing a familiar role in Florida's latest cultural clash, a symbol who personalizes a much broader conflict.
Claiming her Muslim father is going to kill her for converting to Christianity, Rifqa fled her Ohio home and was taken in initially by Blake and Beverly Lorenz, who head the Global Revolution Church. Blake has been quoted as saying Christians are at war with Islam and that Islam is evil. And those who share that view have embraced this case.
It brings back memories of Elián González, the Cuban boy whose arrival in Miami caused a furor as the exile community tried to block his father from bringing Elián back to the island. And then there was the right-to-life battle over Terri Schiavo, waged between her parents, who wanted to maintain her mindless body on a feeding tube, and her husband, who wanted the tube removed.
Rifqa, 17, is a symbol for those who believe we are fighting Round 2 of the Crusades. For them, the stereotype falls perfectly into place: Conniving Muslim extremist plans to murder his innocent daughter for turning to Jesus.
The case went to court last week. And in a rather surprising twist, rather than send Rifqa back to Ohio, Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson decided to investigate Ohio. And so the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is off to determine her survival chances there.
One assumes this had something to do with the intervention of Gov. Charlie Crist, who faces a conservative challenge from Marco Rubio in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. Not to be left out, Rubio promptly issued a statement in support of Rifqa and spammed it to the media.
Left unanswered is what business Florida has involving itself in this matter. The people best suited to determine the threat level to Rifqa are the cops and social workers in Ohio familiar with the Bary family and the Muslim community. It appeared they had worked out a good compromise plan, allowing Rifqa to go into foster care while they ensured her safety.
If there is evidence that the folks in Ohio are incompetent and need Florida's assistance, I would like to hear it.
I do not know the Bary family's dynamics.
From what I have read, Rifqa's father, Mohamed Bary, brought his family to America from Sri Lanka in 2000, at least in part to seek medical treatment for Rifqa after she lost the sight in one eye.
He sends her to a top high school, where she has excelled and where she is a cheerleader.
Somehow I can't imagine a Muslim extremist allowing his daughter to wear short skirts and shake pompoms in front of a crowd of infidels.
Bary is a middle-class jeweler with no documented history of abuse and no record of radical actions or beliefs. Whatever his disagreements with Rifqa — and what parent of a teen hasn't had his or her share? — he obviously had invested a lot in her care and upbringing.
Yet last month — long after learning she had become a Christian — he suddenly decided to kill her over it.
And Rifqa had to flee for her life to the Lorenz family, whom she first met on Facebook. By coincidence, her flight apparently followed a confrontation with her mother over her coming home late.
Not content to just be rid of their apostate daughter, the parents immediately contacted police to bring her back so Mohamed could carry through with killing her. Mom and dad put on a good act, fooling the investigators, who reported they were like any typical, concerned parents worried about their daughter.
Obviously, this murder wouldn't be a whodunit. So Bary would wind up on death row, leaving behind a wife, sons and life he worked hard to build for his family in America.
Nobody would possibly believe such a scenario if not for the fact Bary is a Muslim.
The anti-Muslim groups that have embraced Rifqa say his faith requires that he kill her, as if he has no say in the matter. As proof, they point to a passage in the Quran mandating death to Muslims who reject Islam. They back this up citing "honor killings" in Muslim countries.
Rifqa's father is not judged as an individual. He is judged by the actions of others and quotes in a religious text.
I could go through the Old Testament and cherry-pick any number of quotes demanding death for nonbelievers, nonvirgin brides and blasphemers. No Christian I know endorses that, yet it seems every Muslim abides by the darker writings in the faith.
Imagine if Rifqa fled a Christian family and wound up in the home of an anti-Christian imam in Florida. And like Blake Lorenz, he delayed notifying authorities about her arrival. She would be on the next flight back to Ohio.
Fortunately, we have a rule of law to protect individuals from the political passions and religious doctrine of others. It is what separates us from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The rule of law blocked Gov. Jeb Bush from imposing his personal beliefs in the Terri Schiavo case.
The rule of law sent Elián González back to his father.
And ultimately, the rule of law will send Rifqa back to Ohio.
By Mike Thomas, COMMENTARY - August 23, 2009
Fathima Rifqa Bary is playing a familiar role in Florida's latest cultural clash, a symbol who personalizes a much broader conflict.
Claiming her Muslim father is going to kill her for converting to Christianity, Rifqa fled her Ohio home and was taken in initially by Blake and Beverly Lorenz, who head the Global Revolution Church. Blake has been quoted as saying Christians are at war with Islam and that Islam is evil. And those who share that view have embraced this case.
It brings back memories of Elián González, the Cuban boy whose arrival in Miami caused a furor as the exile community tried to block his father from bringing Elián back to the island. And then there was the right-to-life battle over Terri Schiavo, waged between her parents, who wanted to maintain her mindless body on a feeding tube, and her husband, who wanted the tube removed.
Rifqa, 17, is a symbol for those who believe we are fighting Round 2 of the Crusades. For them, the stereotype falls perfectly into place: Conniving Muslim extremist plans to murder his innocent daughter for turning to Jesus.
The case went to court last week. And in a rather surprising twist, rather than send Rifqa back to Ohio, Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson decided to investigate Ohio. And so the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is off to determine her survival chances there.
One assumes this had something to do with the intervention of Gov. Charlie Crist, who faces a conservative challenge from Marco Rubio in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. Not to be left out, Rubio promptly issued a statement in support of Rifqa and spammed it to the media.
Left unanswered is what business Florida has involving itself in this matter. The people best suited to determine the threat level to Rifqa are the cops and social workers in Ohio familiar with the Bary family and the Muslim community. It appeared they had worked out a good compromise plan, allowing Rifqa to go into foster care while they ensured her safety.
If there is evidence that the folks in Ohio are incompetent and need Florida's assistance, I would like to hear it.
I do not know the Bary family's dynamics.
From what I have read, Rifqa's father, Mohamed Bary, brought his family to America from Sri Lanka in 2000, at least in part to seek medical treatment for Rifqa after she lost the sight in one eye.
He sends her to a top high school, where she has excelled and where she is a cheerleader.
Somehow I can't imagine a Muslim extremist allowing his daughter to wear short skirts and shake pompoms in front of a crowd of infidels.
Bary is a middle-class jeweler with no documented history of abuse and no record of radical actions or beliefs. Whatever his disagreements with Rifqa — and what parent of a teen hasn't had his or her share? — he obviously had invested a lot in her care and upbringing.
Yet last month — long after learning she had become a Christian — he suddenly decided to kill her over it.
And Rifqa had to flee for her life to the Lorenz family, whom she first met on Facebook. By coincidence, her flight apparently followed a confrontation with her mother over her coming home late.
Not content to just be rid of their apostate daughter, the parents immediately contacted police to bring her back so Mohamed could carry through with killing her. Mom and dad put on a good act, fooling the investigators, who reported they were like any typical, concerned parents worried about their daughter.
Obviously, this murder wouldn't be a whodunit. So Bary would wind up on death row, leaving behind a wife, sons and life he worked hard to build for his family in America.
Nobody would possibly believe such a scenario if not for the fact Bary is a Muslim.
The anti-Muslim groups that have embraced Rifqa say his faith requires that he kill her, as if he has no say in the matter. As proof, they point to a passage in the Quran mandating death to Muslims who reject Islam. They back this up citing "honor killings" in Muslim countries.
Rifqa's father is not judged as an individual. He is judged by the actions of others and quotes in a religious text.
I could go through the Old Testament and cherry-pick any number of quotes demanding death for nonbelievers, nonvirgin brides and blasphemers. No Christian I know endorses that, yet it seems every Muslim abides by the darker writings in the faith.
Imagine if Rifqa fled a Christian family and wound up in the home of an anti-Christian imam in Florida. And like Blake Lorenz, he delayed notifying authorities about her arrival. She would be on the next flight back to Ohio.
Fortunately, we have a rule of law to protect individuals from the political passions and religious doctrine of others. It is what separates us from Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The rule of law blocked Gov. Jeb Bush from imposing his personal beliefs in the Terri Schiavo case.
The rule of law sent Elián González back to his father.
And ultimately, the rule of law will send Rifqa back to Ohio.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Muslim family: Problems with Rifqa Bary began with laptop gift...
By Rene Stutzman - Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer - August 30, 2009
Rifqa Bary (center) with her mother Aysha, father Mohamed and 2 brothers in 2005. The family moved to the U.S. in 2000. (COURTESY OF BARY FAMILY / August 28, 2009)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Mohamed Bary is a doting Muslim father, intent on giving his daughter the best education he can. But he says he made a terrible mistake last October: He bought her a laptop computer.
Because of that laptop and access to the Internet, he says he lost his daughter to Christian extremists.
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, is 800 miles away, living with a Christian foster family in the Orlando area. She is a runaway who has become a cause célèbre among evangelical Christians. She fled Ohio last month, saying her father had threatened to kill her because she had converted to Christianity.
Not true, Mohamed Bary said. "I still cannot believe she would think that," he said.
But somebody planted that idea in her head, and he is convinced it was someone she met on the Internet.
Facebook, an online social network in which users select "friends" from anywhere and everywhere, is where Rifqa met Blake and Beverly Lorenz, the Orlando husband-and-wife minister team who took her in after she ran away.
In the weeks before she fled, her parents noticed she would sleep all day and stay up all night exploring the Internet.
Until this spring, Rifqa was a model student, an obedient daughter. She earned good grades, worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant and called home even if she were running just 10 minutes late.
But about the time school ended in May, she began all-night Facebook sessions. She started withdrawing from family members and longtime friends, her parents said.
Many of her chats were with evangelical Christians, her father said. They turned her against him, he said.
Friends back family
People who know the Barys say Rifqa's allegations are crazy.
"There is no way this man would hurt his daughter," said Neil Javery, 52, a Hindu and family friend in Westerville, the Columbus suburb where the Barys live.
Mohamed Bary, 47, is a kind, gentle man who loves his daughter, takes great pride in Rifqa's school accomplishments.
He sells jewelry and Amway products, friends say.
Aysha Bary is a stay-at-home mom who speaks little English but breaks into tears over what has happened.
"My heart goes out to them," said Holly Easton of Plain City, Ohio, who owns a wedding gown business and pays Rifqa's mother to stitch beads onto gowns. "It's horrible. ... I hope they're able to reconcile, and she comes home and they can be a family again."
The Barys are not radical Muslims, friends and associates say. Their household is as normal as any other.
"It's just typical," Easton said. "Kid comes in, looks at parents, rolls her eyes and goes upstairs."
It became atypical on July 19. That's the day Rifqa, a popular high-school cheerleader, sneaked away and fled to Orlando on a Greyhound bus.
Two weeks later, the Florida Department of Children and Families placed her in a foster home. Her parents, through a pair of court-appointed attorneys, are fighting to have her returned to Ohio, where they've agreed to let her live with a foster family for at least 30 days.
John Stemberger, a conservative Christian activist and leader of the Florida Family Policy Council, has taken on Rifqa as a client and cause. He told Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson at an Aug. 21 hearing in Orlando that until she turns 18 next August, she wants to stay with her Florida foster family and be free to worship Jesus.
Rifqa told the judge she'd been a Christian for four years. Her parents learned of her conversion a year ago — and that she had kept her new faith a secret from them. She proclaimed herself a Christian on her Facebook page in 2007.
Away from home, though, Rifqa was open about her faith. She gathered with other students for "See you at the Pole," an annual prayer service held at schools around the country. Until about three months ago, she attended a youth group at the tiny Korean United Methodist Church in Columbus.
She carried a Bible to class. That upset her parents, who told her they were afraid — not that she had converted to another faith but that she'd get in trouble for violating the separation of church and state.
Her father said when he discovered her reading a Bible months ago, "We didn't go crazy and nuts."
He encouraged her to learn more about Islam, he said, and once she'd done that, she would be free to worship as she chose.
Her love for Jesus is heartfelt, he said, but he remains baffled at how that got twisted into her fear that he would kill her.
"It's so sad," he said. "After everything she has said about us, she's still our daughter, and we want her back."
Born in Sri Lanka
When Rifqa was born, her family was wealthy and lived in Galle, Sri Lanka. They owned a large house and enjoyed the benefits of a driver, a cook and a maid.
Rifqa was a tiny newborn, just 5 pounds, and very quiet, Aysha Bary said. When Rifqa was 5, she fell onto a toy airplane. It left her blind in the right eye.
Her father insisted she get medical care in the United States. He feared her care would mean a long separation from his wife and son, so he moved the family to Queens, N.Y., in 2000.
In 2004, he moved them to the Columbus area because of its excellent public schools.
By the time the Barys moved here, though, they were no longer wealthy. Two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mohamed Bary was on a business trip, flying with a bag of gems, as he often did. This time, the airline ordered him to check the bag. It was lost. It contained nearly $400,000 worth of jewels, said David Leung, 48, of Worthington, Ohio, a close family friend. Financially, the family has not recovered, he said.
The Barys live in a small, two-bedroom apartment and own one car, an 11-year-old Honda station wagon that has 225,000 miles on it.
A week ago, Rifqa's parents and brothers, ages 5 and 18, climbed into that car and drove 16 hours to Orlando for a court hearing. They had hoped the judge would order Rifqa back to Ohio.
But by then thousands of people had seen Rifqa on YouTube, crying and saying that her father, because he is a Muslim, has no option but to kill her for abandoning Islam. Gov. Charlie Crist's office received hundreds of e-mails — much of it anti-Muslim — urging him block her return to Ohio.
He did not, but he sent his general counsel, Rob Wheeler, and DCF Secretary George Sheldon to the Aug. 21 hearing. While they sat watching, a DCF lawyer asked the judge to put off a decision on returning Rifqa to Ohio until Sept. 3. He did.
DCF also asked the judge to let the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigate whether Rifqa's father and other Muslims in Columbus are a threat to her. The judge said yes to that, as well.
FDLE agents and child welfare workers inspected the family's home and questioned Rifqa's parents last week.
"I'm happy they came," her father said. "We have nothing to hide."
He and his wife are modern Muslims, he said. Now, during the holy month of Ramadan, a time of prayer, they eat nothing between sunrise and sunset. Until this year Rifqa fasted with them.
Their prayers this year, her father said, are that Rifqa will come back to them.
"We want our daughter back home," he said. "She can practice whatever religion she wants."
Rene Stutzman can be reached at rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6394.
Rifqa Bary (center) with her mother Aysha, father Mohamed and 2 brothers in 2005. The family moved to the U.S. in 2000. (COURTESY OF BARY FAMILY / August 28, 2009)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Mohamed Bary is a doting Muslim father, intent on giving his daughter the best education he can. But he says he made a terrible mistake last October: He bought her a laptop computer.
Because of that laptop and access to the Internet, he says he lost his daughter to Christian extremists.
Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, is 800 miles away, living with a Christian foster family in the Orlando area. She is a runaway who has become a cause célèbre among evangelical Christians. She fled Ohio last month, saying her father had threatened to kill her because she had converted to Christianity.
Not true, Mohamed Bary said. "I still cannot believe she would think that," he said.
But somebody planted that idea in her head, and he is convinced it was someone she met on the Internet.
Facebook, an online social network in which users select "friends" from anywhere and everywhere, is where Rifqa met Blake and Beverly Lorenz, the Orlando husband-and-wife minister team who took her in after she ran away.
In the weeks before she fled, her parents noticed she would sleep all day and stay up all night exploring the Internet.
Until this spring, Rifqa was a model student, an obedient daughter. She earned good grades, worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant and called home even if she were running just 10 minutes late.
But about the time school ended in May, she began all-night Facebook sessions. She started withdrawing from family members and longtime friends, her parents said.
Many of her chats were with evangelical Christians, her father said. They turned her against him, he said.
Friends back family
People who know the Barys say Rifqa's allegations are crazy.
"There is no way this man would hurt his daughter," said Neil Javery, 52, a Hindu and family friend in Westerville, the Columbus suburb where the Barys live.
Mohamed Bary, 47, is a kind, gentle man who loves his daughter, takes great pride in Rifqa's school accomplishments.
He sells jewelry and Amway products, friends say.
Aysha Bary is a stay-at-home mom who speaks little English but breaks into tears over what has happened.
"My heart goes out to them," said Holly Easton of Plain City, Ohio, who owns a wedding gown business and pays Rifqa's mother to stitch beads onto gowns. "It's horrible. ... I hope they're able to reconcile, and she comes home and they can be a family again."
The Barys are not radical Muslims, friends and associates say. Their household is as normal as any other.
"It's just typical," Easton said. "Kid comes in, looks at parents, rolls her eyes and goes upstairs."
It became atypical on July 19. That's the day Rifqa, a popular high-school cheerleader, sneaked away and fled to Orlando on a Greyhound bus.
Two weeks later, the Florida Department of Children and Families placed her in a foster home. Her parents, through a pair of court-appointed attorneys, are fighting to have her returned to Ohio, where they've agreed to let her live with a foster family for at least 30 days.
John Stemberger, a conservative Christian activist and leader of the Florida Family Policy Council, has taken on Rifqa as a client and cause. He told Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson at an Aug. 21 hearing in Orlando that until she turns 18 next August, she wants to stay with her Florida foster family and be free to worship Jesus.
Rifqa told the judge she'd been a Christian for four years. Her parents learned of her conversion a year ago — and that she had kept her new faith a secret from them. She proclaimed herself a Christian on her Facebook page in 2007.
Away from home, though, Rifqa was open about her faith. She gathered with other students for "See you at the Pole," an annual prayer service held at schools around the country. Until about three months ago, she attended a youth group at the tiny Korean United Methodist Church in Columbus.
She carried a Bible to class. That upset her parents, who told her they were afraid — not that she had converted to another faith but that she'd get in trouble for violating the separation of church and state.
Her father said when he discovered her reading a Bible months ago, "We didn't go crazy and nuts."
He encouraged her to learn more about Islam, he said, and once she'd done that, she would be free to worship as she chose.
Her love for Jesus is heartfelt, he said, but he remains baffled at how that got twisted into her fear that he would kill her.
"It's so sad," he said. "After everything she has said about us, she's still our daughter, and we want her back."
Born in Sri Lanka
When Rifqa was born, her family was wealthy and lived in Galle, Sri Lanka. They owned a large house and enjoyed the benefits of a driver, a cook and a maid.
Rifqa was a tiny newborn, just 5 pounds, and very quiet, Aysha Bary said. When Rifqa was 5, she fell onto a toy airplane. It left her blind in the right eye.
Her father insisted she get medical care in the United States. He feared her care would mean a long separation from his wife and son, so he moved the family to Queens, N.Y., in 2000.
In 2004, he moved them to the Columbus area because of its excellent public schools.
By the time the Barys moved here, though, they were no longer wealthy. Two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mohamed Bary was on a business trip, flying with a bag of gems, as he often did. This time, the airline ordered him to check the bag. It was lost. It contained nearly $400,000 worth of jewels, said David Leung, 48, of Worthington, Ohio, a close family friend. Financially, the family has not recovered, he said.
The Barys live in a small, two-bedroom apartment and own one car, an 11-year-old Honda station wagon that has 225,000 miles on it.
A week ago, Rifqa's parents and brothers, ages 5 and 18, climbed into that car and drove 16 hours to Orlando for a court hearing. They had hoped the judge would order Rifqa back to Ohio.
But by then thousands of people had seen Rifqa on YouTube, crying and saying that her father, because he is a Muslim, has no option but to kill her for abandoning Islam. Gov. Charlie Crist's office received hundreds of e-mails — much of it anti-Muslim — urging him block her return to Ohio.
He did not, but he sent his general counsel, Rob Wheeler, and DCF Secretary George Sheldon to the Aug. 21 hearing. While they sat watching, a DCF lawyer asked the judge to put off a decision on returning Rifqa to Ohio until Sept. 3. He did.
DCF also asked the judge to let the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigate whether Rifqa's father and other Muslims in Columbus are a threat to her. The judge said yes to that, as well.
FDLE agents and child welfare workers inspected the family's home and questioned Rifqa's parents last week.
"I'm happy they came," her father said. "We have nothing to hide."
He and his wife are modern Muslims, he said. Now, during the holy month of Ramadan, a time of prayer, they eat nothing between sunrise and sunset. Until this year Rifqa fasted with them.
Their prayers this year, her father said, are that Rifqa will come back to them.
"We want our daughter back home," he said. "She can practice whatever religion she wants."
Rene Stutzman can be reached at rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6394.
Murdered for Practicing Christianity By Dr. Wendy Walsh
Friday, August 28, 2009
Or is this rebelling teen being coerced into using the American legal system?
Dr. Wendy Walsh: The court video of testimony from 17-year-old Rifqa Bary shows a young girl tearful and fearful that a Florida judge will return her to her Ohio parents, whom she says will kill her in a Muslim "honor" killing.
The backstory is this: The family, who practices the Muslim faith, immigrated to America from Sri Lanka in 2000 when their then 8-year-old daughter incurred an eye injury. They had the means to bring their daughter halfway around the world for expensive eye surgery to restore her vision. Now she says her views could make them murder her.
A few years ago, Rifqa, an honor student and cheerleader, secretly converted to Christianity. Then, on July 19th, she disappeared in Ohio. She took a bus to Florida, and stayed for nearly three weeks in the Orlando home of evangelical pastor Blake Lorenz from the Global Revolution Church, whom she met through a Facebook prayer group. That pastor and his wife harbored the runaway minor for two-and-a-half weeks without reporting it, and then decided to put her on TV on August 10.
The relieved parents flew to Florida, but the teen had already been assigned to a foster family there. Both her parents openly stated that they are modern people, and that they would allow their daughter to practice Christianity in their home. However, a Florida judge would not let the trial be moved to Ohio, even though the parents said they would consent to her being in a foster home closer to their home in Ohio.
According to Michael Kruse, a reporter with the St. Petersburg Times who has been following the case extensively, at last week's hearing Rifqa's mother tearfully said, "I love my daughter," adding, "I need my daughter back."
Her father, a jeweler, reiterated what he's said for the last couple of weeks: "She's free to come and practice whatever religion she likes."
Rifqa also spoke at the hearing. "I just want to say I love my family, I love them so much," she said, "but I'm still in fear for my life."
During the hearing, Aysha Bary kept looking over at her daughter, again and again, hoping to make eye contact. But the girl seldom looked up, keeping her head down, reading her Bible.
There are concerns that Rifqa has been influenced by the Lorenz family and those at the evangelical Global Revolution Church to make the "honor killing" accusations, and, as Time magazine reports, she may have been lured to Orlando via the Internet. Earlier this month, Lorenz made a statement to reporters outlining his belief that this is part of Christianity's holy struggle against Islam: "These are the last days, these are the end times," he said, "and this conflict between Islam and Christianity is going to grow greater. This conflict between good and evil is going to grow greater."
Rifqa can have supervised visits, the judge decided. However, the girl wanted to visit with only her brothers, and not with her parents. That won't happen until mediation. Another court date is tentatively set for September 3.
NB:
Dr. Wendy Walsh holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her area of interest is Attachment Theory, a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings. As a psychological assistant registered with the California Board of Psychology, Dr. Walsh has treated individuals, couples and families for a variety of mental health concerns including personality disorders, anger management, eating and substance disorders, and depression
Or is this rebelling teen being coerced into using the American legal system?
Dr. Wendy Walsh: The court video of testimony from 17-year-old Rifqa Bary shows a young girl tearful and fearful that a Florida judge will return her to her Ohio parents, whom she says will kill her in a Muslim "honor" killing.
The backstory is this: The family, who practices the Muslim faith, immigrated to America from Sri Lanka in 2000 when their then 8-year-old daughter incurred an eye injury. They had the means to bring their daughter halfway around the world for expensive eye surgery to restore her vision. Now she says her views could make them murder her.
A few years ago, Rifqa, an honor student and cheerleader, secretly converted to Christianity. Then, on July 19th, she disappeared in Ohio. She took a bus to Florida, and stayed for nearly three weeks in the Orlando home of evangelical pastor Blake Lorenz from the Global Revolution Church, whom she met through a Facebook prayer group. That pastor and his wife harbored the runaway minor for two-and-a-half weeks without reporting it, and then decided to put her on TV on August 10.
The relieved parents flew to Florida, but the teen had already been assigned to a foster family there. Both her parents openly stated that they are modern people, and that they would allow their daughter to practice Christianity in their home. However, a Florida judge would not let the trial be moved to Ohio, even though the parents said they would consent to her being in a foster home closer to their home in Ohio.
According to Michael Kruse, a reporter with the St. Petersburg Times who has been following the case extensively, at last week's hearing Rifqa's mother tearfully said, "I love my daughter," adding, "I need my daughter back."
Her father, a jeweler, reiterated what he's said for the last couple of weeks: "She's free to come and practice whatever religion she likes."
Rifqa also spoke at the hearing. "I just want to say I love my family, I love them so much," she said, "but I'm still in fear for my life."
During the hearing, Aysha Bary kept looking over at her daughter, again and again, hoping to make eye contact. But the girl seldom looked up, keeping her head down, reading her Bible.
There are concerns that Rifqa has been influenced by the Lorenz family and those at the evangelical Global Revolution Church to make the "honor killing" accusations, and, as Time magazine reports, she may have been lured to Orlando via the Internet. Earlier this month, Lorenz made a statement to reporters outlining his belief that this is part of Christianity's holy struggle against Islam: "These are the last days, these are the end times," he said, "and this conflict between Islam and Christianity is going to grow greater. This conflict between good and evil is going to grow greater."
Rifqa can have supervised visits, the judge decided. However, the girl wanted to visit with only her brothers, and not with her parents. That won't happen until mediation. Another court date is tentatively set for September 3.
NB:
Dr. Wendy Walsh holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her area of interest is Attachment Theory, a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings. As a psychological assistant registered with the California Board of Psychology, Dr. Walsh has treated individuals, couples and families for a variety of mental health concerns including personality disorders, anger management, eating and substance disorders, and depression
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
