Rifqa Bary: Christianity vs. Islam in court?
What a court should do with a girl who says she ran away because her Muslim father will kill her for converting to Christianity
It's not easy for a court to decide how much say parents should have over their children's religious faith, said William McGurn in The Wall Street Journal. Advocates for Fathima Rifqa Bary—an Ohio 17-year-old who ran away to a church in Florida—say that her Muslim father threatened to kill her when he found out she had converted to Christianity. Authorities in Ohio and Florida say they don't think her life will be in danger if she's sent home, but "surely Florida's Judge Daniel Dawson is right not to let himself be rushed into a decision."
Come on, said the Orlando, Fla., Sentinel in an editorial, Rifqa Bary's father denies that he said he'd harm his child, and says he "wants her to come back." Her case would have been sent back to Ohio—where her parents have agreed she could go into a foster home for 30 days—if it hadn't been "exploited by evangelical activists and politicians to promote crude stereotypes of Muslims."
The Orlando Sentinel is doing its "level best" to see that Fathima Rifqa Bary is "murdered or institutionalized," said Robert Spencer in Jihad Watch. It's ludicrous to say that this case is about making Muslims look bad, when the world's newspapers are full of cases in which apostates were killed in the name of Islam.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerous
The Explainer Untraceable, DIY firearms are a growing public health and safety hazard
By David Faris Published
-
The Week contest: Swift stimulus
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'It's hard to resist a sweet deal on a good car'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published