Pamela Geller reports in The American Thinker about how Rifqa Bary, America's most visible and threatened apostate from Islam, continues to be railroaded by Ohio authorities and victimized by the mainstream media:
A new government case plan directs Rifqa Bary, the girl who fled from her family in fear for her life after converting to Christianity from Islam, to talk about religion with her Muslim parents, and work toward Rifqa returning home.According to reporter Meredith Heagney of the Columbus Dispatch, who wore a hijab when she visited a Columbus mosque and has consistently filed slanted, anti-Rifqa stories on this case, the goal of this case plan is reunification of the Bary family. [...]
Hussein Wario, a native of Kenya and, like Rifqa, an apostate from Islam, tells the truth that Heagney ignores: "I am very concerned for Rifqa. If the judge reunites her with her family, you know that she will either be severely persecuted or killed here in the United States or elsewhere. An ardent Muslim father would rather kill his child in order to preserve his family from ridicule (from fellow Muslims) than see him or her alive. Mr. Mohamed Bary would be hailed as a hero to Muslims if he were to carryout-God forbid-Islamic judgment on Rifqa because she refuses to revert to Islam."
Rifqa's close friend and another convert from Islam to Christianity, Jamal Jivanjee, adds: "As Meredith Heagney is the main reporter assigned to the Rifqa Bary story, I have read several articles that Ms. Heagney has written about the case previously. Each time I read her account of Rifqa's situation, I come away amazed at her 'selective' use of pertinent information that she includes in her articles. I am beginning to wonder if this is more than just simple oversight. I am convinced that Meredith's oversight reveals at best, a hidden bias against Rifqa Bary, and at worst, a deliberate attempt to deceive the public in Central Ohio. This latest article was unfortunately no exception."
The media is against her. Child Services is against her. Her own family is against her - and eagerly awaiting her return to their clutches.
Who will stand for Rifqa Bary?
We will, on December 22. Be there. Oh, and be sure to read it all.
"Mohamed Bary would be hailed as a hero to Muslims if he were to carryout-God forbid-Islamic judgment on Rifqa because she refuses to revert to Islam."
This is true! Why would he be hailed a hero in fellow Muslim's eyes?
Because Abraham sacrificed his own son at the altar and would have killed him had God not intervened.
In the eyes of Muslims, the killing of a child, in the name of Allah and for the unhindered advancement of the ideology, is the ultimate sacrifice.
This ideology must be stopped dead in its tracks...NOW!
Rifqa Bary must be released.
When is her eighteenth birthday?
She can leave under her own will at that point, am I not right?
Her 18th birthday isn't until next August 10.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
Yes, as far as I can ascertain, she will be legally free of the clutches of Ohio children's services at that point and can choose her own friends, accept their help, decide where to live, etc.
If she is still in the U.S. and can be located. The greatest danger is that she will have already been taken to Sri Lanka long before that.
If you believe in praying, pray for this girl. Because there is no one in control of her right now who is letting her supporters help her, no way, no how. Her lawyers are court-appointed, and because of the gag order and the secrecy of proceedings thus far, we can get no clear idea as to whether they are on her side at all. So far they haven't accepted some pro bono help that has been offered, and they gave the runaround to a Christian pastor friend who was trying to get permission to visit Rifqa in her solitary confinement, and that doesn't look good.
The disinformation being shoveled around by pro-Islam propagandists is astounding regarding the Rifqa case. Reading the comments on the Columbus Dispatch articles on the internet one begins to notice a well orchestrated program to make this look like it's nothing and the rest of us are blowing it out of proportion. But you can drive these guys nuts if you continue a relentless campaign of exposing the facts. One guy who calls himself Reader is constantly on the Rifqa blogs and people believe him as he pontificates on and on. Another guy named Sri Lankan is not so calm and cool. I've been busting his chops and he does the usual Muslim thang of attack and accuse. But he is easily upset and that's his downfall. It's also interesting to note the reaction of some people who try to act like midwesterners when it is obvious they are Muslims defending their beliefs. I mean, how many people suggest "beating the ass" of a 17 year old? She's not four, but she is of marriageable age under Islamic law and subject to that verse about wife beating. It is a fun exercise to pick these guys out. Go here to see what's being said:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/columbus-dispatch/TQO5DQ7SCPJKTVF49
I think it is important to correct the lies that these guys are spreading about Rifqa.
Bottom line, why is she so afraid of her dad?
Just a thought.
Has anyone attempted to bring Rifqa's case to the attention of Magdi Cristiano Allam at the Italian paper Corriere della Sera, with the request that he personally draw it to the attention of Benedict XVI?
This may sound strange, since Rifqa has joined an Evangelical Protestant church.
But I think it just might make a bit of a dent, if President Obama, no less, and the Governor of Ohio, were known to have received sharply-worded inquiries from the Pope himself, re the little matter of a test case that is revealing that the USA authorities appear to be - frighteningly - unable or unwilling to protect a young apostate from Islam who has declared herself to be in danger from her former co-religionists, namely, her Muslim family.
We know that Italy and the Vatican offered asylum to the Afghan apostate from Islam to Christianity, Abdul Rahman.
What if Pope Benedict XVI were to identify Rifqa Bary as a prisoner of conscience, and publicly offer her asylum in Italy?
A Risky Prediction about Rifqa
Apparently the State of Ohio is going to enforce conversations between child and parents. I expect the conversations will take place only with Rifqa's state-appointed guardian present, and that guardian will observe what goes on between Rifqa and parents. I find it hard to believe that the authorities will risk a scene in which the 17-year old Rifqa, while being physically forced into her parents grip, screams and cries in terror for her life. I find it hard to believe the State, with all the public attention on this case, will now risk being responsible for the honor killing of Rifqa, even if that should take place back in Rifqa's home country. The bureaucrats in charge would not want to risk a news story coming out some day about how they were personally responsible for the custody decision that led to the murder or institutionalization of Rifqa. I'll here make the risky prediction that the State will not force Rifqa back into her parents' custody. Nor will they resolve the matter in her favor. They will stall till she is 18. They will do their best to create reconciliation between Rifqa and parents, but only in supervised settings where a state guardian is present with Rifqa, or via telephone or other forms of indirect communication. After trying for reconciliation for another eight months or so, the State, faced with a Rifqa then turned 18, will express condolences to the parents and explain there is no longer anything that can be done, Rifqa having reached her majority. Rifqa will be set loose, will apply for asylum from the religious persecution should would face should she be compelled to leave the U.S. and return to her country of origin. The U.S. will grant her asylum. She will be taken in by her Christian friends, who will help her make her way in life. She will do brilliantly.
I hope the above is not all a misconceived fantasy.
"should would face" above should read "she would face"
Is there enough of us who care to pettition the Alliance Defense Fund or some organization like them to defend her?
Rafiqa has become a symbol for something larger, and both sides have political agendas. One side wishes to potentially sacrifice the life of a young woman to further their goals, the other wishes freedom of conscious and life for this young woman. It really has become a microcosm of a larger societal whole. There is no freedom of conscious for Muslims in regards to religion, because Muslims have to kill apostates due to Mohammeds command. You can not deny that Woman from Muslim families are killed for "honor" quite often, to deny it it is just plain silly. If Rafiqa were not a political issue this would be a simple matter. If the authorities preserve Rafiqas life and freedom of conscious they officially admit things about Islamic tradition, which will be difficult to control politically. What is most important at this point is the safety of Rafiqa, but for most Americans understanding this issue on a larger scale is important as well, and will be the beginning for an official means of protection for Muslim women seeking protection. An underground railroad if you will. She needs to be given asylum, and her family deported. Asylum for protection against Islamic tradition, and her family deported under immigration laws. It is the only rational way to proceed.
dumbledoresarmy sez: "Has anyone attempted to bring Rifqa's case to the attention of Magdi Cristiano Allam at the Italian paper Corriere della Sera, with the request that he personally draw it to the attention of Benedict XVI?"
Interesting thought indeed. Or, closer to home, perhaps Mr. Jeremiah Wright might be induced to provide sanctuary for Rifqa in Trinity Church of Christ in Chicago.
Rico, to answer your question, I don't know about ADF specifically, but pro bono legal help _has_ been offered in Rifqa's case. Here's the problem: She is a minor and cannot hire lawyers for herself. At least, that's how I understand it. If the State of Ohio won't let someone be her lawyer, that someone isn't her lawyer, whether he's working pro bono or not. Doesn't matter. She's totally in the control of the State of Ohio. Which is better than being in the control of her parents, but is nevertheless very precarious.
One of the things I think the Ohio children's services is hoping to do is simply to pressure Rifqa to agree to return to her parents. I don't think they will succeed, but they are certainly going about it the right way. They have isolated her from all psychological support from friends who understand her danger and support her Christianity. They are enforcing orders of isolating her from her friends that her parents want, thus making her feel that the State of Ohio is on the side of her parents. They are telling her that she doesn't "understand" her parents' religion. They are making it clear to her that she is totally in their power. Isn't that one of the ways that interrogators get people to crack? One of the most important psychological aspects is making it clear to the person that he has no outside recourse, that you can do anything you want to him. In one sense, that is what they are doing to Rifqa--driving home to her the fact that she has no legal rights or power that are not willingly granted to her by the state. Then keep her in uncertainty, trying to carry out her virtual schooling classes and have some kind of life in near solitary confinement while wondering all the time where she will be this time next month, what is going to happen to her.
By keeping that up over a period of months, I think the hope is that she will just agree to "go home" and save everybody trouble, will come to feel that she is just a silly, deluded kid who has been brainwashed by the fundamentalists and is exaggerating things, blah, blah. At one point even in Florida (where she was treated relatively well by comparison) there was even a suggestion of medicating her, because she's under so much stress. Her guardian ad litem said she didn't want that, and the judge dropped it. But could she be receiving medication in Ohio, to help her with her "stress"? Plausibly so.
I think many an adult would be swayed under those circumstances. The real brainwashing, of course, is being attempted on the other side. But it would save them the embarrassment of sending her back crying and resisting. Then no matter what happened to her, they could say, "But she agreed."
Again, I don't _think_ they will succeed in this, but I think that's what they're hoping for.
I must confess that I experienced a bit of what may well be false hope when I read the summation of the Dispatch article on this case. We are a long way from any kind of victory and must continue to do anything we can.
The idea of appealing to the Pope just might work. I also thought that at before or after the rally on Dec.22 we could do some Christmas caroling around the confines of the Court House and/or the detention center.
Well, she's not in the detention center. She's in a foster home somewhere undisclosed. That's part of why her isolation is so bizarre. She hasn't even been convicted of anything but is being isolated far more strictly than she would be if she were in prison. House arrest, in essence, but without any conviction.
The Pope? I'm a Protestant, but I think we have to look at this coolly: The Vatican has dhimmi advisers. It's not good. I read a very disappointing article in, of all things, the magazine _Touchstone_ a few months back written by some woman who advises the Vatican on Christian-Muslim relations. If this woman had anything to do with Rifqa's case, she'd be just as bad as the Ohio authorities. It was a dreadful article. It suggested that converts to Christianity should be "sensitive" to their Muslim families and should make gestures like continuing to wear the hijab and taking off their shoes when they pray. That this would help the families to "accept" their decision. Completely clueless dhimmitude. I can just picture it:
Daughter: Hey, Dad, I've just been baptized a Christian. I worship Jesus as God, now.
Father: I'm going to kill you. You have disgraced our family. (Picks up the phone to call her uncles to plan a date for it.)
Daughter: But Dad, I'm still going to wear the hijab, and I'll take my shoes off when I pray to the Christian God.
Father: (Puts down the phone) Oh, okay then, that's all right.
Anyway, any faith I might have had in the Vatican as a useful place to go to try to protect Christian converts died as a result of reading that article.
Christmas carolling is a good idea.
But not just Christmas carols...
Maybe Simon Deng and a whole team of Sudanese Christian refugees might like to try their hand at a Negro spiritual:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5EfwBWgg0&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz0sQDhx1rE&feature=related
All they'd have to do is change one line in the song...from "Let my people go" to "Let our sister go", or 'Let my daughter go".
Hi Lydia; Thanks for commenting on my message. You have brought up some good points. I was thinking of a challenge to the Pope that would bypass Vatican dhimmi advisors as much as possible. I'm a lapsed Catholic. I also wonder if we couldn't set up anything on the ground in Columbus to keep tabs on the family and/or protect Rifqa if she is living alone.
Hi dumbledoresarmy; Thanks for your suggestion of having Sudanese Christian Refugees singing "Let my sister go.". Sounds like a good idea.
Simon Deng is unusual. I doubt he could muster up even a small choir of Sudanese refugees. Political correctness and denial thrive in even the most incongruous communities, such as those of refugees tormented and driven out by Islam.