Teenage Muslim Convert fears Honor Killing

This story has been making national headlines.  What a tough issue for a judge to decide who hasn't experience with the cultural and religious issues involved.  I only hope the Christian communities do the right thing and reach out to this family instead of victimize them.  This is a huge opportunity for the Christians in Ohio and Florida to step up and represent Jesus well. I hope Christian leaders in those cities right now are on their way to the mosque to assure Muslim leaders that Christians are not in the business of stealing children away from their parents. 

The pastor who allowed her to come live with them in Florida did the wrong thing.  He should have talked with the family and been up front, instead of secretly doing things behind backs.  How would any of us parents feel if someone from another religion was communicating with our kids that way?  It is one thing when adults make decisions of faith secretly, but something completely different with children.   

Christians involved have painted the family as terrorists, and the entire Ohio Muslim population as out to kill this teenager.  Though honor killings are a real issue, such generalization and inflammatory comments have polarized two communities to a flash point.

Though it is true Honor Killings are a problem and an issue within Islamic societies, aren't people under American jurisdiction to be given the benefit of the doubt... to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise? A loving conversation with the father and mother by a sensitive pastor or other Christian friend of Rifqa's would have been the better move, and may have even opened up an opportunity to talk with them about spiritual truths as well.  As it stands, Christians have surely lost their moral ground to speak about spiritual matters.

Claudia Schippert, associate professor of humanities at the University of Central Florida. made an interesting comment in the article "What is shameful in this entire ordeal is the way in which those who should know better, and who profess quite different values otherwise, are willing to repeat stereotypes and fuel fires of ignorance and violence," she said of the Christians at the center of this controversy (emphasis mine).

Isn't is true!  If it were Hispanics, Jews, blacks or American Indians involved in a similar situation, would we be perpetuating such awful stereotypes?    Aren't the values of patience, proper conflict resolution, and non-discrimination (favoritism) things we otherwise uphold as Christians?  Why didn't those involved seek to understand and listen first? Instead they passed judgment based on their incredibly negative stereotypes of Muslims, and furthered the stereotype of Christians as judgmental, arrogant know-it-alls.  The barriers to the Outer Court continue...