Death for conversion

[Jenn! 918]

Was this the only reason she thought he wanted to kill her for converting?

"They have to kill me because I'm a Christian. It's an honor [killing]. If they love me more than God, then they have to kill me," she explained.

Forgive me if this is an ignorant question, but aren't you not supposed to love anyone more than God?

I checked out the website of this Global Revolution Church, and it seems a little iffy to me. But I will admit I have my own biases.

[Sandrila 1]

was it meant to read "if they love GOD more than me" ?

cuz if what GOD says is true than they would have to kill her because she goes against what "their" GOD says.

[CnT4ever 1]

BTW....saying your dead to me is more than likely saying you have hurt me so bad I have washed my hands with you. It doesn't always deem you want the other person dead or will kill them.

A teenager runs away from home and strangers from the internet take her in, but somehow her parents are villains.

If these people were not Christians, people would probably be calling them predators.

THANK YOU!

Sheesh, its all in the first line: The Muslim parents of an Ohio teenager who fled to Florida fearing an "honor killing" for converting to Christianity today blamed their daughter's fears on the husband and wife pastors who took their daughter in and didn't report her presence for more than two weeks

and "global revolution" is in the name of the church..sounds crazy/culty to me, sorry if that offends anyone.

I wonder if the parents can charge those people with kidnapping? If a parent kidnaps a child they don't have full custody of (which we hear about all the time) and they can be charged with kidnapping, why not these strangers?

I kind of have this certain attitude lately where parents aren't even entitled to their title as PARENTS...whenever you try to put your foot down, discipline or establish rules you end up having your kids smear your name or try to get you in trouble for what is inherently OUR RIGHT.

Yep!

[Sandrila 1]

I can tell you something about not having knowledge and/or giving consent for my child to do something or be with someone and I have tried to take care of it thru the police or reports or what have you.....I feel defeated, like I said the kids have more rights than we do and at about age 14 the police tend to think it is typical rebellion and unless the kids are taken against their will or being hurt THEY WON'T DO ANYTHING!

I can attest to how mad a child would make a parent.

I can attest to wanting to have control over a child who is at an age (like 17) where they begin to make their own choices and I don't like it BUT I am not stupid enough to even use the word dead or kill in my vocabulary when we fuss and fight....next thing you know I will have the cops at my house for a death threat.....after all I have been deemed a bad parent for far far less. Just telling a child "no" is enough to throw them in a tizzy and make them hate you.

Some kids hate their parents so much for discipling them or asserting their authority that the children turn against their parents or even worse, kill them.

[HLM 1]

I'm so tired today and not feeling well So I want to tell you I have seen and known numerous cases where a christian converts to Islam and they face same horrible things! There are quite a few of them on youtube as well....may be when I have the strength to do so I will...so plz all those who have prejudices or stereotyping, back off plz

[HLM 1]

I'm not saying anyone here did....I'm just saying for the sake of those who read and start judging just based on what they read only without facts or further look into the issue!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Wow. I am sure god disapproves of His/Her name being used to kill and mistreat human beings in any fashion. Otherwise. He/She is not a god worth believing in. Not flaming anyone, that is MY belief.

I hope the girl and the parents find peace in their respective faiths.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Wow. I am sure god disapproves of His/Her name being used to kill and mistreat human beings in any fashion.

WORD

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

If you watch the video and read the article further it gives the facts of how everything went down.

Facts:

The family is from Sri Lanka.

The girl is a minor and not a US citizen.

Rafiqa converted 4 years ago.

Her faith was discovered by the family recently.

Her friend at the Mosque read her posts on facebook and told the father at the Mosque and he confronted her and threatened to kill her.

Then her Mother found a Christian book while the father was away and threatened to tell him.

The Mother was the one who told the daughter, "You are dead to me," if she didn't renounce her Christian faith.

Rafiqa then sought out the Christian refuge.

The parents reported her missing two weeks after she was gone.

The pastor and his wife that Rafiqa was staying with had already contacted attorney's prior to her arrival and immediately reported where she was when the parents filed the missing persons report.

Of course the parents are going to deny serious accusations.

Now she is in foster care in Florida.

Since she is a minor the adults are doing most of the talking on her behalf which because of who they are put more emphasis on a religious conflict then a domestic situation inside the family.

The lead into the article:

The Muslim parents of an Ohio teenager who fled to Florida fearing an "honor killing" for converting to Christianity today blamed their daughter's fears on the husband and wife pastors who took their daughter in and didn't report her presence for more than two weeks.

Is misleading for those just coming into the story because this is what we consider in journalism an update article or a follow up story. We generally put the latest information first and then fill in the background details.

My personal opinion is I believe the girls fears are legitimate based on the chronology of events and her statements and her actions that support those statements. I do not believe this girl is an Abigail Williams from the Salem Witch Trials. I sincerely hope that she stays in Florida foster care until the age of 18 and is not returned to her parents custody.

[ddartt1 2]

[amal 4]

wow, just wow.

[aisha kandisha 0]

If you watch the video and read the article further it gives the facts of how everything went down.

Facts:

The family is from Sri Lanka.

The girl is a minor and not a US citizen.

Rafiqa converted 4 years ago.

Her faith was discovered by the family recently.

Her friend at the Mosque read her posts on facebook and told the father at the Mosque and he confronted her and threatened to kill her.

Then her Mother found a Christian book while the father was away and threatened to tell him.

The Mother was the one who told the daughter, "You are dead to me," if she didn't renounce her Christian faith.

Rafiqa then sought out the Christian refuge.

The parents reported her missing two weeks after she was gone.

The pastor and his wife that Rafiqa was staying with had already contacted attorney's prior to her arrival and immediately reported where she was when the parents filed the missing persons report.

Of course the parents are going to deny serious accusations.

Now she is in foster care in Florida.

Since she is a minor the adults are doing most of the talking on her behalf which because of who they are put more emphasis on a religious conflict then a domestic situation inside the family.

The lead into the article:

The Muslim parents of an Ohio teenager who fled to Florida fearing an "honor killing" for converting to Christianity today blamed their daughter's fears on the husband and wife pastors who took their daughter in and didn't report her presence for more than two weeks.

Is misleading for those just coming into the story because this is what we consider in journalism an update article or a follow up story. We generally put the latest information first and then fill in the background details.

My personal opinion is I believe the girls fears are legitimate based on the chronology of events and her statements and her actions that support those statements. I do not believe this girl is an Abigail Williams from the Salem Witch Trials. I sincerely hope that she stays in Florida foster care until the age of 18 and is not returned to her parents custody.

Are you kidding? These are not facts. They are accusations. You are presenting the word of a man who harbored a runaway he knew only from he internet and presenting it as fact, giving no weight to the parents' side. That is about as fair and balanced as FOX.

Also, it doesn't say it took the family 2 weeks to report her missing. It says it took 2 weeks for the people harboring her to realize she had been reported missing.

And as far as "Of course the parents are going to deny serious accusations" it could very well be because they are untrue. Who knows?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

If you watch the video and read the article further it gives the facts of how everything went down.

Facts:

The family is from Sri Lanka.

The girl is a minor and not a US citizen.

Rafiqa converted 4 years ago.

Her faith was discovered by the family recently.

Her friend at the Mosque read her posts on facebook and told the father at the Mosque and he confronted her and threatened to kill her.

Then her Mother found a Christian book while the father was away and threatened to tell him.

The Mother was the one who told the daughter, "You are dead to me," if she didn't renounce her Christian faith.

Rafiqa then sought out the Christian refuge.

The parents reported her missing two weeks after she was gone.

The pastor and his wife that Rafiqa was staying with had already contacted attorney's prior to her arrival and immediately reported where she was when the parents filed the missing persons report.

Of course the parents are going to deny serious accusations.

Now she is in foster care in Florida.

Since she is a minor the adults are doing most of the talking on her behalf which because of who they are put more emphasis on a religious conflict then a domestic situation inside the family.

The lead into the article:

The Muslim parents of an Ohio teenager who fled to Florida fearing an "honor killing" for converting to Christianity today blamed their daughter's fears on the husband and wife pastors who took their daughter in and didn't report her presence for more than two weeks.

Is misleading for those just coming into the story because this is what we consider in journalism an update article or a follow up story. We generally put the latest information first and then fill in the background details.

My personal opinion is I believe the girls fears are legitimate based on the chronology of events and her statements and her actions that support those statements. I do not believe this girl is an Abigail Williams from the Salem Witch Trials. I sincerely hope that she stays in Florida foster care until the age of 18 and is not returned to her parents custody.

Are you kidding? These are not facts. They are accusations. You are presenting the word of a man who harbored a runaway he knew only from he internet and presenting it as fact, giving no weight to the parents' side. That is about as fair and balanced as FOX.

Also, it doesn't say it took the family 2 weeks to report her missing. It says it took 2 weeks for the people harboring her to realize she had been reported missing.

And as far as "Of course the parents are going to deny serious accusations" it could very well be because they are untrue. Who knows?

Read the article the attributions are to the daughter's words not the pastor. Those are her words and her truth of what happened. The pastor does say he contacted lawyers when he knew she was coming and immediately revealed she was with them when he knew the parents came looking for her two weeks later. Actual accusations in this article are made by the parents in the lead towards the pastor that it was all his doing as they don't have facts to say it's the truth. The daughter's words back up the pastor and vice versa. The daughter does not back up the family. Those are the facts presented in the article.

[aisha kandisha 0]

Read the article the attributions are to the daughter's words not the pastor. Those are her words and her truth of what happened. The pastor does say he contacted lawyers when he knew she was coming and immediately revealed she was with them when he knew the parents came looking for her two weeks later. Actual accusations in this article are made by the parents in the lead towards the pastor that it was all his doing as they don't have facts to say it's the truth. The daughter's words back up the pastor and vice versa. The daughter does not back up the family. Those are the facts presented in the article.

The article writes "Lorenz says Rifqa said". That is he said/she said and hardly constitutes a fact. On the flip side, you have the attorney for the parents saying no threats were ever made. By your standards, that is a fact.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Ok I will reread the article and walk through it again.

Yes I agree that the parents attorney does defense talking for them by saying,

"Neither Mr. or Mrs. Bary have ever threatened the life of their daughter, and patiently await their daughter's safe return," Craig McCarthy, a lawyer for Mohamed Bary and his wife, said in a statement issued today to "Good Morning America."

Lorenz does tell the story on Rafiqa's behalf and says:

The couple have become the 17-year-old girl's biggest allies, saying she has told them that her father threatened to kill her when he found out she had secretly become a Christian.

Rafiqa backs them up with this statement.

Rifqa confirmed to ABC's Orlando affiliate WFTV that she believed her father would kill her. "They have to kill me because I'm a Christian. It's an honor [killing]. If they love me more than God, then they have to kill me," she explained. Terrifed and fearing she would be the victim of an honor killing, she got on a bus and borrowed a cell phone to contact Beverly Lorenz who she had been communicating with after finding the Lorenzes' church on Facebook.

Then this fact is stated:

The pastors' first move was to call an attorney, several of them, actually.

I did misread this part. I thought it was the parents that reported her missing two weeks later.

The next morning, the couple called police for advice, but did not tell them Rifqa's name. They did report Rifqa's presence two weeks later, he said, when the couple realized the teen's parents had reported her missing.

Then the report presents that she fears for her life in a statment again Lorenz speaks on her behalf:

"When she saw her dad yesterday, she was scared to death," Blake Lorenz told ABCNews.com on Tuesday. "She literally believes she's going to be killed."

This statement is backed up by video evidence of the girl curled in a fetal position crying.

And the article ends with the statement by Rafiqa that again backs up the pastor and supports her actions and belief.

"I don't want to see my father," she told WFTV.

Edited August 13, 2009 by ~Flower~