John Robson: ‘They mean what they say’

An excellent post by Mr. Robson:  “They mean what they say”.

It is not just disrespectful to dismiss what people say they believe and what they will do – it is dangerous.  And arrogant.

John Robson is, yet again, right.

Will we be complicit in the ‘honour killing’ of Rifqa Bary?

Are we about to hand Fathima Rifqa Bary to the custity of people who swore to murder her?

It would not be unprecedented…

14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone escaped from Jeffrey Dahmer, but  the police officers handed the unfortunate boy back to the sadistic murderer, even while smelling the decomposing body of a previous victim…  The cops even laughed about the whole thing!

Have we not learned anything?

Rifqa Bary is a 17-year-old, all-American girl, an honour student, a cheerleader, and a battered child.  Perhaps it was her father’s violence towards her, perhaps it was something else.  The fact remains that Rifqa converted from Islam to Christianity….and, following phone calls and emails to the family from  their local Mosque, her father told her he must kill her to cleanse the family honour of her apostasy.

Fearing for her life, Rifqa fled from her home in Columbus, Ohio, to Florida. She did all the ‘right’ things:  she removed herself from the most immediate danger and directly asked us – the society – to protect her.  The Florida authorities took charge of Rifqa and her ‘case’.

Is she being taken seriously?  Or…

Is she ‘just another rebellious teenager’ – as far as the very people who are supposed to protect her are concerned?

Is she ‘yet another teen run-away’ who ‘ought to be returned home, into the custody of  her parents?

Is she simply an ‘attention-seeking teen’ who ought to learn some respect and obey her parents’ rules?

May be, may be not!

With her life at stake, the ‘authorities’ ought to take great care to find out. That, however, does not seem likely…

If you have not heard Rifqa’s story, it is documented here.  Here is a ‘short version‘ from ‘Atlas Shrugs‘ (her version has MANY links with deeper info).

In a nutshell, in July 2009, the 17-year-old Rifqa got on a bus and fled to Florida.  Now, she is in foster care supervised by the Department of Children and Family in Florida   Juvenile Court Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson, who is presiding over Rifqa’s case, had ordered a report to assess just how much this 17-year-old apostate is in from her family and Mosque, before he decides  Rifqa’s fate.

So far, not that bad.

Except that…

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has just released their report – the one which assesses the threat to Rifqa. And, the report is, to say the least, a curious piece of work which could actually endanger this young woman’s life!

The FDLE report is, in my eyes, unexplicable.  Not only did they not interview most of the witnesses and people most close to Rifqa (whom they interrogated for hours, without her lawyer or any other representative present) and then concluded that there were no people who corroborated her story, not only did they disregard the facebook group which bears her name, and whose over a hundred members are openly calling for her death because she is an apostate…they did not even consider an incident which her father ADMITS TO!  They never asked about the incidents her mother admitted to!

But, they respectfully interviewed CAIR (an Islamist organization with known ties to terrorist groups – and which is facing many charges of intimidation against moderate Muslims).  The FDLE even allowed CAIR to control their ‘investigation,’ ‘helping them choose’ whom to interview, and how!

These *#$)(#%$ people actually refused to consider the tradition ‘honour killing’ or how it might relate to Rifqa and her current situation… as in, do her parents and their friends (and co-religionists, along with the prevailing views at the Mosque they take their guidance from) subscribe to the belief that they must kill Rifqa for rejecting Islam and becoming a Christian.

Why?

Quoting the report:

“An investigation into any person, religious or social organization without a specific identifiable criminal predicate is inappropriate.”

Pardon me?

Is this what our society has been reduced to?

Here is ‘Center for Security Policy’s’ review of the FDLE report – the FDLE report is included.

Now, please, excuse me – I have to go shopping for a burka…