Runaway Ohio girl to remain free of Muslim parents (17-year-old converted to Christianity)

Journal Standard ^ | 1/20/10

[Libloather]

Runaway Ohio girl to remain free of Muslim parents
By The Associated Press
Wed Jan 20, 2010, 02:31 PM CST

Columbus, Ohio - A runaway teenage girl from Ohio who converted from Islam to Christianity has reached a court settlement that allows her to remain free of her Muslim parents.

The agreement Tuesday says that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary will stay in a foster home under state custody in Columbus until she turns 18 in August 2010. After that, she'll be an adult and free to live where she chooses.

Bary's attorney read a statement in Franklin County Juvenile Court, saying that the girl and her parents love and respect each other and will try to resolve their differences through counseling.

Bary ran away to Florida last summer, saying she feared her father would harm or kill her for leaving Islam.

Her father denied the claim, and a law enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

[Libloather]

...a court settlement that allows her to remain free of her parents.

HEY! I never got that option. Poor girl, sorta. A FREE Christian - in the US? Miracles do happen.

FILE - This Sept. 3, 2009 photo shows Rifqa Bary in the courtroom at the Thomas S. Kirk Juvenile Justice Center in Orlando, Fla. A former colleague says a Florida pastor ignored warnings that he was breaking the law when he housed a teen who had fled Ohio after converting to Christianity. In an affidavit filed in Franklin County juvenile court Tuesday, former church administrator Brian Smith says he was told at a July staff meeting that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary feared her suburban Columbus parents would kill her for leaving Islam. (AP Photo/Pool, Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda)

[OldDeckHand]

A couple months ago I told people to relax because there was NO WAY that an Ohio domestic court was going to return this minor back to the custody of her parents. I was called every name in the book.

I’m as spiritual as the next guy, but this wasn’t miraculous, it was just the competent application of Ohio law in a domestic court system - a system that is better in Ohio than it is in many other states. Almost always - to the dismay of parents some times - the court will do what is in the interest of the minor child.

[Man50D]

Does this mean the state of Ohio recognizes Christianity and Islam cannot coexist in a society?

[Stepan12]

If she goes back to her parents they will kill her for apostasy.

That Pamela Geller and a few others recognize that is a disgrace upon the drive by media -- including Fox News -- that doesn't.

[rdl6989]

bttt

[pctech]

She's a beautiful lady and I admire her courage for standing up for what she believes.

However, I still fear for her because now that she is an "apostate" to Islam her life will now be in jeopardy. She may have to move out of the state when she turns 18, change her name and appearance, and hide for a while.

Islam never forgets.

How if that poor lady and her daughter from Virginia can get the courts to see the truth of what's going on in that case maybe I'll start to have more confidence in our judicial system.

Nah, I don't so think so either...................

[jongaltsr]

They will just hunt her down and slit her throat or run over her with a car or something of that nature. Their laws are what they follow regardless of the law of the land which they chose to live in.

[jazminerose]

That’s exactly what I’m afraid of for her, too.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Exactly. And the notion that she would somehow have been safer in the Florida foster care system was really preposterous. Returning her to Ohio was a simple matter of respecting state sovereignty. Florida should be concentrating on dealing with the “pastor” who harbored a minor (who he met while trolling the internet) for two weeks without notifying authorities, while Ohio law enforcement had a national alert out for her.

[agrace]

Whew, that is fantastic news, and just look at her face! She should still watch her back though.

[thecodont]

God bless and protect this brave, brave girl.

[Quix]

Glad for that.

For a good while, it sounded like Saudi money had infected the whole court etc. system there horribly.

[Quix]

INDEED.

Islam seems to nurse grudges, bitterness and resentment for centuries.

[1951Boomer]

Islam and Christianity are mutually exclusive. While lunching with a friend yesterday here in the southern U.S., an obviously a subservient-appearing, burka-clad woman and her Arab boyfriend? husband? walked by. Afterwards, I whispered to my friend, “It’s not a religion. It’s an oppressive death cult that needs to be identified for what it is and not allowed to flourish in this country as it has in Europe.”

[Pontiac]

a law enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

I would be interested to know how that investigation was conducted and what organization conducted it.

Just a guess, but is suspect the investigation comprised a complaint records search on the girls parents.

No domestic violence records on the parents since they moved to the West; no credible threat to the girl.

The investigation would not be permitted to consider the cultural norms of the parents. That would be profiling.

[Quix]

INDEED.

[Paved Paradise]

I can’t imagine who was calling you “every name in the book.” I am sure many people were praying and are continuing to pray for this beautiful girl and I hope that she will stay safe once she turns 18 since I don’t think her father will be forgetting this insult very soon.

I think courts often do terrible things to parents and they are biased against homeschooling parents and Christian parents. However, the Court got it right here. Amen and praise God for that.

[Paved Paradise]

Good for you. You described it rather well.