Tag Archives: Convert

Update on Christian teen Rifqa Bary

Story from Fox News.

Excerpt:

A 17-year-old runaway who claims she fled her Muslim family’s home in Ohio because she feared becoming the victim of an “honor killing” will stay in Florida — temporarily — a judge ruled Friday.

Rifqa Bary, a Christian convert whose parents are Muslim immigrants from Sri Lanka, will remain in foster care in Florida until another hearing is held Sept. 3.

Rifqa fled to Florida after her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, learned that she was baptized earlier this year without their knowledge. The parents reported her missing to Columbus, Ohio, Police on July 19. Weeks later, using cell phone and computer records, police tracked the girl to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of the Orlando-based Global Revolution Church.

This part of the article is scary:

Dr. Phyllis Chesler, an author and professor of psychology at the Richmond College of the City University of New York, said she believes Bary will be in danger if she is sent back to her parents.

“Anyone who converts from Islam is considered an apostate, and apostasy is a capital crime,” Chesler wrote FOXNews.com. “If she is returned to her family, if she is lucky, they will isolate her, beat her, threaten her, and if she is not ‘persuaded’ to return to Islam, they will kill her. They have no choice.”

Chesler, who wrote “Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence?” for Middle East Quarterly, said the tradition of such slayings is not fully understood by most Americans, including those in law enforcement.

“She escaped from her family’s brutal tyranny and shamed her family further through public exposure,” Chesler said. “Muslim girls and women are killed for far less.”

I have been praying for Rifqa and the two Iranian Christian women now being help in an Iranian prison. I hope you have been praying, too!

Audio debate: Muslim and Christian converts debate their former religions

This is one heck of a good debate. I really liked the Christian guy, who is a former Muslim from Pakistan. He speaks as though he had a lot of experience debating this topic, and he is a medical doctor, too. I like it when people have the calm, experienced tone that comes from having had lots of debates and being very confident about what you believe. If only we Christians all sounded like Nabeel.

Description of the debate:

Unbelievable? 11 Jul 2009 – Islamic & Christian converts debate – 11 July 2009

Nabeel Qureshi converted to Christianity from Islam after being convinced that the weight of evidence was in favour of Christian faith.
Yahya Seymour’s story is the opposite – he became a Muslim after having a Christian upbringing.

They discuss the issues in advance of debates coming up in London.

For more information on the debates from Sun 12 Jul 09 to Sat 18 Jul 09.
See http://www.thedebateinitiative.com or http://www.answeringmuslims.com

The MP3 file is here.

Turkish TV show offers prizes for convincing atheists to convert

I would be very happy if everyone could comment on the following story from CNN.

Excerpt:

A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the “biggest prize ever” — the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world’s major religions.

The show, called “Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor,” or “Penitents Compete,” features a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk attempting to persuade 10 atheists of the merits of their religion, according to CNN Turk.

…Ahmet Ozdemir, deputy director of Turkish channel Kanal T, which will air the show from September, said the program aimed to “turn disbelievers on to God.”

“People are free to believe anything they want. Our program does not have a say,” he said, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

But the Muslims don’t approve:

But the show has been condemned by Turkish religious leaders. The head of the country’s supreme council of religious affairs, Hamza Aktan, told CNN Turk that it was “disrespectful” to place different faiths in competition with each other and accused Kanal T of using religion to boost ratings.

Wow, the Muslim theologian doesn’t like to debate! I wonder why?

My take is that this is a very positive thing, and we need a lot more of it.