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Parents Want Teen Convert Back Home

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
,
AP
posted: 9 HOURS 39 MINUTES AGO
comments: 2098
filed under: National News
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Aug. 13) - A 17-year-old girl who ran away from her Ohio home to Florida says she fears her parents will harm her for converting from Islam to Christianity, but her parents dismiss her claim and say she was brainwashed.
Her parents also question how the girl ended up in the home of a Florida family she met through an online prayer group. Authorities are trying to determine whether the girl, Rifqa Bary, should stay in state custody or be returned to her family in Ohio.
"We love her, we want her back, she is free to practice her religion, whatever she believes in, that's OK," her father, Mohamed Bary, told The Associated Press on Thursday.
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'We Want Her Back'
Rifqa Bary, 17, is at the center of a dispute that stretches from Ohio to Florida. She ran away from her Ohio home in July, fearing her parents would harm her for converting to Christianity. She was raised in the Islam faith. Her parent say they love their daughter and would never hurt her.
Columbus Police Dept
Columbus Police Dept
"What these people are trying to do is not right — I don't think any religion will teach to separate the kids from their parents," he said.
Columbus police also question the girl's claim of being in danger.
Mohamed Bary "comes across to me as a loving, caring, worried father about the whereabouts and the health of his daughter," said Sgt. Jerry Cupp, chief of the Columbus police missing persons bureau.
Police investigating the girl's July 19 disappearance used phone and computer records to track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church, who called authorities Aug. 6 to say she was staying with them.
With Lorenz holding his arm tightly around her, Rifqa told WFTV in Florida on Monday that she would be killed if she came home.
"They love God more than me; they have to do this," she said. "I'm fighting for my life. You guys don't understand."
Lorenz did not return a phone call to the AP seeking comment.
An Orlando judge on Monday ordered the girl into the custody of Florida's Department of Children and Families until another hearing next week.
The family is originally from Sri Lanka and emigrated in 2000 to seek medical help for Rifqa, who had lost sight in her right eye when she fell and struck a toy airplane on a couch at home.
Rifqa, a high school junior in well-off suburban New Albany, had been questioning her faith for several months, her father said. She attended church with friends from school and later attended services at another church, Xenos Christian Fellowship, a megachurch that emphasizes small groups meeting at home.
The church has no record of her being a member but says it's possible given the size of the church — nearly 5,000 members, said spokesman Jay Reilly.
After Rifqa proselytized with a Bible at school, Mohamed Bary said, the family asked her to stop because it wasn't an appropriate activity in school. They also told her she had an obligation to study her original faith first, before choosing another.
But Mohamed Bary says they never threatened to kill or harm the girl. "She is still my daughter," said Bary, 47, a jeweler.
The family says Rifqa was baptized a Christian without their knowledge this year in Columbus. Around the same time, the girl met Lorenz through an online Facebook prayer group.
Rifqa's 18-year-old brother, Rilvan, said the family has its own worries about her well-being.
"We don't think the safest person is the pastor she met two weeks ago on Facebook," Rilvan Bary said.
Rifqa ran away without explanation or a note. She told WFTV that she hitchhiked to the Columbus bus station, then took a bus to Orlando. Her parents dispute that and say she must have had help, because hitchhiking from her suburban home would be nearly impossible and she didn't have enough money for the trip.
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Eye on the News
Young devotees, wearing masks as a preventive measure against swine flu, watch a human pyramid during celebrations marking Janmashtami, the birthday of Hindu god Krishna, in Mumbai, India, Aug. 14. Schools in Mumbai were ordered closed, and people suffering aches flooded hospitals across the country as India confronted dueling outbreaks of swine flu and swine flu panic.
Rajanish Kakade, AP

Eye on the News

    Young devotees, wearing masks as a preventive measure against swine flu, watch a human pyramid during celebrations marking Janmashtami, the birthday of Hindu fod Krishna, in Mumbai, India, Aug. 14. Schools in Mumbai were ordered closed, and people suffering aches flooded hospitals across the country as India confronted dueling outbreaks of swine flu and swine flu panic.

    Rajanish Kakade, AP

    Girls celebrate Pakistan's independence iay in Karachi, Pakistan, Aug. 14. Pakistan celebrated the 62nd anniversary of its independence from the British Raj in 1947.

    Fareed Khan, AP

    Taiwanese soldiers rescue a villager using a cable strung across the Ba Si Lan river in Sinfa, Taiwan, Aug. 13, five days after flooding from Typhoon Morakot took the lives of 32 people there. The storm killed hundreds in Taiwan.

    Wally Santana, AP

    Security personnel survey smoke in a tent after a speaker caught on fire during a campaign rally Aug. 13 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai is considered to be the front runner in the Aug. 20 presidential elections despite claims of corruption and complaints about ineffectual government.

    Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images

    Maria Shriver, right, puts her arm around Special Olympics medalist Loretta Claiborne, of York, Pa., as they stand in front of the casket of Shriver's mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, during a wake at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in Barnstable, Mass., Aug. 13. Eunice Shriver, the sister of former President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., died Aug. 11 at 88.

    Stephan Savoia, Pool / Getty Images

    A supporter of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya passes a mural during a protest in Tegucigalpa, Aug. 13. Zelaya was overthrown in a coup June 28.

    Esteban Felix, AP

    A firefighter hoses down a structure in Santa Cruz County, Calif., as fire approaches on Aug. 13.

    Noah Berger, AP

    A 34-floor apartment building is demolished in Zhongshan, China, Aug. 13. The 341-foot building, which was last occupied in 1995, is the tallest structure to be demolished in Asia.

    AFP / Getty Images

    Riot police clash with demonstrators in front of the Parliament House in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, on Aug. 13, as lawmakers considered a new education law.

    Thomas Coex, AFP / Getty Images

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    Markus Schreiber, AP

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-08-13 20:03:24
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Soflyfashions1

08:50 PMAug 15 2009

YOUR RIGHT PERSONAL, AND THANKS FOR THE ADVICE

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(0)

Haja 2000

08:48 PMAug 15 2009

SOFTLYFASHIONS,Sorry ya akhi,Jazaak Allah Khair for what you are doing, but this is exactly their aim. The did much worse to our Nabi, (saw). And you know what he did. He repaid them for every nasty incident, with kindness and that's how they came into Islam, by his EXAMPLE. I know that they get under your skin sometimes and you wish to smack the hell out of them, but try and leave it up to Allah to TAKE CARE OF THEM....INSHA'ALLAH. Just say, HASBI-ALLAH 3ALAYHI TAWAKAT, WA HUWA RABUL 3ARSHUL-ATHEEM.SALAAMU ALAYKUM BROTHER.

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SergueiBel

08:48 PMAug 15 2009

R LOG JAMR is just typical brain washed person. As any religion person he does not want to think about others as a human been. He has programmed to quote his religion believe thinking his doing right. His comments are provocative maniac manifestation...

AVG RATING:
(1)

Alexlexy88

08:48 PMAug 15 2009

And I agree with you Nahedstg religion is so distorted by so many ppl that they truly believe any religion let alone christianity and islam are bad and would rather be a nonbeliever but if only ppl knew

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(0)

Personall3

08:46 PMAug 15 2009

Soflyfashions1M, TRUST ME I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE UPSET BY SOME (NOT ALL) OF THE COMMENTS AND OPINIONS IN THIS BLOGG ..... WHAT I AM SAYING I KNOW FOR A FACT MUSLIM WOMEN CARRY THEMSELVES VERY HIGH. DON'T PUT YOURSELF ON THE LEVEL TO THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS BEING MADE. LIKE CATMA SAID R LOG JAMR IS A COMPLETE RETARD ..... I'M SURE HE'S A TEENAGER LOOKING FOR LAUGHS .... DON'T GIVE IN TO THAT ......

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(0)

CrazyJ600

08:45 PMAug 15 2009

Soflyfashions1..Um..yeah, totally fine with your religion and all, but uh, here's a tip: When making a point and trying to prove why your religion is the true religion, don't get to threat tactics. It only makes the people ignorant to your religion dislike your religion even more.

AVG RATING:
(1)

bagged1969f250

08:45 PMAug 15 2009

I believe you are correct in saying anything out of context is a problem. However i find that Most middle eastern MOSLIMS use out of text versus to complete there man made desires whatever it may be. Some do not even know of these teachings. However I find some pastors and christians do the same that is why it is impotant for us to read GODS word for ourselves. I would liek to ask you however if moslims do not believe that Jesus died for our sins and deny the trinity than why does the Koran say Jesus is the word of god and he has the Holy spirit of god... thats the trinity right there. Also it says he will return to judge the world... and that Moslims should not have anything to do with those how were given the scriptures and follow truth??? i can give you the versus if you want!!!

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(0)

Oneonlyone333

08:44 PMAug 15 2009

THERE IS ONE GOD, JESUS CHRIST, WHO CAME INTO HIS CREATION, AS AN ISRAELITE---A DESCENDANT OF SHEM.JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT A DESCENDANT OF JAPHETH, AS THE JEWS (REVELATION 2 & 3:9) ARE. JEWS ARE PRIMARILY ASHKENAZIC, TODAY.GO TO GENESIS 10:3 TO SEE, FROM WHOM JEWS ARE DESCENDED (ASHKENAZ, AS SAY ADOLF ROTHSCHILD "HITLER", WHO FOUNDED THE ashkeNAZI PARTY)."AND YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE."IN CHRIST, AMEN!!!

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R LOG JAMR

08:44 PMAug 15 2009

AINT NO STOPPEN US NOW

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Nahedstg

08:43 PMAug 15 2009

Well, Alexlexy88:Maybe now you know how 99.99% of muslims feel. A "real muslim" doesn't distort the Quran for personal justification of evil, just as a "real Christian" does not do that either.

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(1)

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A 17-year-old girl who ran away from her Ohio home to Florida says she fears her parents will harm her for converting from Islam to Christianity, but her parents dismiss her claim and say she was brainwashed.