Posted by Tina
By now most of you have probably heard about the young girl that ran away from her parents home after they discovered that she had converted to Christianity. Her case brings the issue of honor killing and Sharia Law into the mainstream conversation in America. How will American courts cope with honor killings and the possible threat of honor killing in this country? For those who believed these issues would not come to our shores…too late to wonder now…it has.
The following story tells of this girl’s fears, the position expressed by her parents, the views of others involved in her case and some information about how Europe is handling these problems:
“I don’t know if you know about honor killings? But this faith–you guys don’t understand, Islam is very different than you guys think.” So avows runaway apostate Rifqa Bary, the focus of a so-called dependency battle that is expanding into a national debate on the conflict between Islamic mores and American freedom. ** The 17-year-old had been practicing Christianity in secret for four years when she fled her home in central Ohio in July, fearing for her life after her parents discovered her defection. The Sri Lankan Bary family has been in the U.S. since 2000. ** The girl, describing her parents as “devout Muslims,” can be seen on WFTV’s website telling her story to one of the station’s reporters. She speaks from the Florida home of Blake and Beverly Lorenz, a pastor couple with the Global Revolution Church who took her in. ** “They have to kill me,” Miss Bary says. “My blood is now halal, which means that because I’m now a Christian–I’m from a Muslim background–it’s an honor. If they love God more than me, they have to do this. I’m fighting for my life, you guys don’t understand.” The juxtaposition of American teen lingo with medieval precepts is a chilling confirmation that a long-understood reality in Europe is only now dawning on American minds. “You guys talk about religious freedom? No–I don’t have that…I don’t want to die.” ** At Thursday’s hearing before a packed Orlando courtroom, Judge Daniel Dawson rejected pleas from Mohamed and Aysha Bary to send their daughter back to Ohio, confirming she will remain in Florida pending investigation, with another hearing scheduled for Sept. 29.