We start with the first paragraph of a post at Christianity Today’s blog:
Fathima Rifqa Bary’s story is quickly circulating on blogs and Christian media as proof of Islam’s violent roots and the cost of following Christ. While the latter is true no matter who’s doing the following, the former is disputable in the case of the Ohio teen who fled her home two weeks ago to meet up with Blake and Beverly Lorenz, Florida pastors she had met on Facebook.
If you want to read the full post, of course you’ll have to click the link above. (As I recall, the writer is not entirely sympathetic toward Rifqa.)
The above post is referenced over at Barth’s Notes:
A blog at Christianity Today sounds a note of caution over the case of Fathima Rifqa Bary, a Sir Lankan teenager living in Ohio who recently fled to Orlando claiming that her parents planned to kill her for converting to Christianity….
Frankly, I’ve been wondering about this whole deal, but not to the point of believing Rifqa is lying.
Whatever the case may be, this case raises (yet again) the issue of when the State may intervene in family affairs.
When??!! Did I just say that?
That accepts the premise that the State has such moral authority.
Better to substitute if for when.
If one of my children goes to CSD and says I’m being abusive, is that sufficient cause for the State to take all my children?
So, putting myself in Rifqa’s father’s shoes, well…never mind.
What do you have to say?
If the State comes for a conservative Anabaptist Mennonite’s children, that’s wrong?
But if the States takes a Muslim’s child, not only is that understandable, it’s also justifiable?
Oh, wait…here’s a piece from the Pakistan Daily:
A very disconcerting video is being shown by the Christan church. A minor Sri Lankan girl belonging to well to do parents has been kidnapped by a church in Ohio and being kept away from the legal guardians and parents of the girl. The family maintains that the girls was into drugs, promiscuous behaviour and raunchy messages on facebook. She was discussing sex with multiple older married men. When the parents tried to control her behaviour she refused to do so. On her return to the home she conjured up a story of conversion to Christianity. There are serious accusations against the church on holding a minor girl in custody against the will of her guardians and parents. How many more girls will the church kidnap?
Media reports indicate that the Muslim father denies his daughter’s charge that he plans to take her life in an “honor killing” because of her conversion to Christianity. And certainly he could have no intention of committing such a heinous act.
😯
Now what shall we believe?!
