Below is a message from www.illuminate-us.com on the status of Rifqa Bary.
To all concerned,
In less than 4 days, Rifqa Bary will be eighteen years of age. Many people have been praying for her and following her situation closely throughout her entire ordeal for a little over one year now. About two years ago, and act of divine providence caused Rifqa’s path to cross with my family’s, and it is sufficient to say that my life has not been the same because of this. As many of us know, we found out very quickly that Rifqa is a very special young lady who is full of the life and love of Jesus. The depth of her faith deeply impacted me. The more we got to know her, the more I realized that there was a very special purpose for her life. Little did I know that in about a year’s time from when we first met, her story would impact a nation. When this case first developed, myself (and I know many others), felt compelled to serve and support Rifqa throughout her ordeal. This was not a choice for me, but a calling that I questioned at first, but eventually embraced. As a result of this, the last year of my life has been consumed with her situation and I have found myself in situations that I would never have imagined. This has also been a very difficult year for many reasons. From the beginning, I have been aware that Rifqa’s case is not about Rifqa, but is much bigger indeed. I have struggled throughout this last year to attempt to keep the focus on the central issues at hand. What does Rifqa’s life stand for, and what does her case mean for the broader American public? These are questions that we should all be asking, because I strongly believe that one way or another, we will all be affected by the implications of her case. Yesterday (Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010) FoxNews.com released an article entitled: What Rifqa Bary’s Case Tells Us. It was a great article, one of the best I have seen, yet it was incomplete. Rifqa’s case tells us a few more vital truths that need to be uncovered, and it was for this reason that I believe I was ‘called’ to be apart of this case. I am compelled to share these things with you now. Rifqa’s situation is just the beginning, and because of the suffering that she went through, it is essential that we learn 4 vital hidden truths that I strongly believe Rifqa Bary’s case illuminated to our nation. I would like to strongly urge you not to ignore this article. Knowing these truths could mean life or death for the next ‘Rifqa Bary.’
1. The majority of the American public is still vastly ignorant of Islam, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing religions.
I have been amazed that one of the fastest growing and largest religions in the world still remains a mystery to so many Americans. Because of this ignorance of Islam & Muslim peoples, I have seen many Americans either become hateful and bigoted toward Muslim people (incorrectly believing that most Muslim people are evil and violent), or they have bought into the lie that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’, and that those who do violence only represent an ‘extremist’ minority opinion of Islamic ideology. The fact is, both are lies. I know and am related to many Muslims who are nice people who would never hurt anyone. While not all Muslim people are violent however, Islamic ideology is clearly always violent. There are numerous texts from Islamic scriptures that teach violence and death to unbelievers & apostates. Rifqa’s case shows us that there is an information war occurring at the highest levels of our society regarding Islamic ideology. Numerous Muslim groups, scholars, and U.S. government officials at the highest levels possible, including CAIR (Counsel on American Islamic Relations), are actively engaging in propaganda with the attempt to convince the American people that Islam is a peaceful & tolerant religion just like any other. Rifqa’s life dispels this false belief as it may cause some to actually investigate the ideology behind the death threats that she, and many others around the globe face as a result of their conversion from Islam to Christianity. While not all Muslim converts to Christ face these threats to their lives, many do. On the other hand, there are many converts from Christendom to Islam as well, and their fates are much different as they face no threats from the Christian community. The West would do well to look at any nation in the world that is dominated by Islamic ideology. These nations are the most brutal and repressive we will find on the earth. If you really want to know the ‘fruit’ of Islam, travel to the capital of the Islamic world. There you will find no thriving Jewish community, an underground & very fearful Christian community, and a long line of murdered apostates. Islam has been established in Saudi Arabia for the last 1500 years. Make no mistake; that society has Islamic ideology figured out, and that nation is the opposite of peace and tolerance.
2. Rifqa Bary’s situation reveals deep flaws within the institutional church system.
When this case first developed and received significant media attention, I was expecting numerous institutional churches to begin to come to her aid. After all, many churches encourage their people to give up their lives for Jesus. When a teenage girl actually decided to do this, there was silence. I was shocked when the majority of the churches that had heard about Rifqa refused to even mention her name publicly during their church services simply for prayer when they knew about her, or in some way were closely connected to her situation through mutual contacts. Many of these same institutions that refused to pray or support Rifqa in any way also send missionaries to Muslim nations hoping that others will do exactly what Rifqa did. Because Rifqa had to live a secret Christian life in Central Ohio before she fled her home however, she could not join a specific institutional church on a regular basis. Because Rifqa was not a member of a specific congregation, these institutions ignored her when they became aware of her situation. According to the Bible however, she was actually apart of the church in Central Ohio because of her faith in Jesus Christ. If these institutions had viewed the church correctly, they would have seen her as a sister in Christ, and fellow church member. While several individuals and a few institutional churches in Central Ohio did support Rifqa (you know who you are), the majority did not. I sincerely hope that we can learn from this, and this never happens again by the church in any city of this nation.
3. Rifqa Bary’s case reveals the need for a more careful & deliberate selection of attorneys to represent former Muslims.
I know that what I’m about to say will anger and offend many people, but it must be said. While we are all celebrating yesterday’s adjudication by the Franklin county juvenile court to declare that reunification between Rifqa & her parents is not possible, this is a decision that we were expecting almost 8 months ago. It was needed 8 months ago because Rifqa’s immigration process (SIJS) is very lengthy. Evidence has to be compiled & presented regarding the nature of the threat that Rifqa faces should she be returned to Sri Lanka, and it is not clear if this has actually been done (hopefully it has). By declaring that Rifqa is not able to be reunified to her parents 5 days before her 18’th birthday, is almost a moot and laughable point. The reality is that the SIJS process is only now beginning when it should have actually begun 8 months ago. According to other attorneys that I have spoken with, Rifqa’s attorneys made a huge mistake when they convinced Rifqa to voluntary sign on to a case plan that called for eventual reunification with her family instead of going for a trial for dependency. If this case was simply a family dispute, that course of action would have been fine, but remember, this case was about so much more. The potential for Rifqa’s case was monumental. By bringing out the evidence that would have substantiated Rifqa’s threat, (and there were mountains of evidence), Islamic ideology and the plight of apostates would have literally been put on trial. This is exactly why a national Muslim organization like CAIR supplied legal advice for Rifqa’s parents. They knew what was at stake because their goal was to defend the ideology. While yesterday’s FoxNews.com article states that Rifqa’s case teaches us many things about the plight of apostates, Rifqa’s legal case itself did not, but could have. Rifqa’s life certainly does shed light on the plight of apostates however, and for that I’m grateful.
So why did this occur, and why did Rifqa’s attorneys refuse to go to trial 8 months ago to ask the court to declare (by trial) that reunification is not possible? There was one reason for this;
Ideological ignorance.
While Rifqa’s attorneys (Kort Gatterdam & Angela Lloyd) are probably very nice people, it is clear that they are not what many Christians would consider ‘born again’ believers in Jesus Christ. I spoke to both of these attorneys on the phone when they first took the case, and met them personally in December to discuss the case. I was also strongly convinced after that meeting that they had no idea of the significance of the case they were involved with. They did not seem to understand or share the belief that Islamic ideology was a dangerous and evil ideology, and they were trying to get a feel for what was really ‘true’ in regards to Rifqa’s situation. The juvenile court did not want Islam to be made an issue, so Rifqa’s attorneys simply capitulated and formulated a strategy of working out a way to agree to the Franklin County Children’s services case plan without a trial. This was done to gain temporary dependency. Permanent dependency was actually what was needed to move forward with SIJS and that just happened yesterday 8-9 months later. By keeping the court in the dark regarding the nature of the threat that Rifqa faced for the last 8-9 months, injustice was allowed to go unchallenged and important legal precedent was not set for future people in Rifqa’s legal situation. While many do not know this, in the state of Ohio, Rifqa would have been granted temporary dependency status and kept in foster care anyway simply by refusing to go home. She needed shrewd and aggressive legal maneuvering from the beginning for the court to have declared that reunification was not possible 8 months ago.
Rifqa’s former attorney from Florida, John Stemberger, recommended these attorneys to Rifqa for some particular reason which I am still in the dark about. Kort Gatterdam is a criminal attorney, yet this was not a criminal case. There were many highly qualified nationally known Christian attorneys who had experience with these kinds of cases who offered to help advise and represent Rifqa in Ohio and yet their offers were rejected every time. While many highly qualified Christian attorneys were offering to help pro-bono, there were several attempts made to collect money to pay for Rifqa’s legal expenses for these less qualified attorneys. It continues to baffle me.
For those of us who are Christians, we must take what scripture says seriously regarding unequal partnerships of this kind. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” While this might sound like a harsh assessment, it is unthinkable that a Christian case of this magnitude could have ignored this fundamental principle. In the future, we must learn that there MUST be ideological unity between the client and attorney. The Muslim side completely understood this, and that is why the Barys hired Muslim activist attorneys to represent them. The Christian side could have learned a thing or two here. In no way do I blame Rifqa for this at all. Rifqa was a young 17 year old girl in need of sound counsel regarding these decisions, and she did not receive it. Let this be a lesson learned for all of us.
4. Former Muslims who leave Islam need to be protected from being exploited from the corrupt ‘underbelly’ of the Right Wing political movement.
Several months ago, I was asked to look into some potential unethical behavior going on behind the scenes regarding Rifqa’s situation. Without getting into details at this point, I discovered some things that were absolutely unethical and needed to be addressed. (Note: I am not talking about what I perceived as bad motives, I am talking about clear and specific unethical behavior). I confronted the parties involved and nothing was settled. I did not speak openly about the specifics of these things, but I was clear to Rifqa’s inner circle what I found. Understandably, Rifqa was told not to speak to me anymore because I did not understand the case and was causing problems. What Rifqa’s case revealed in this situation however is the need for people in her situation to be protected from a highly charged political culture in which the specific types of unethical behavior that I discovered is unfortunately a way of life.
People who leave Islam to follow Jesus are enigmas in our western culture, and it is easy for them to be corrupted or used for personal gain in unethical ways. These allegations that I have made have been hurtful to many people and have caused much division. It has cost me relationally as well, and I’m sure will continue to do so. There may even be some legal ramifications for myself because of some of the things that I am asserting. At this point, I am prepared to stand behind what I am implying if need be. I am convinced that Rifqa’s life and her case have been used to reveal many hidden things, and this is certainly one of them. While there is nothing in me that takes pleasure in saying these things, I have learned that when the truth is silenced for the sake of keeping ‘peace’, lies prevail. For my own personal conscious sake, I am not able to pretend that I do not know what I know. When these things were exposed, Rifqa needed an inner circle to stand against these things. This is a lesson that must be learned in the future. Again, these are not issues that I blame Rifqa for; rather I contend that those in her inner circle who had the knowledge and opportunity to act should have acted to advise her correctly. We must learn this lesson for the future.
There is no doubt that God’s hand is on Rifqa, and He has protected her thus far. I am truly grateful for this. I know that she will be used to impact many lives in the future, and her life will tell the story that she was put on earth to tell. Many people have been impacted, and no doubt, many more people will be impacted by her genuine love for God and for people. In a few short days, the parties involved will be able to speak. This will be a good thing. I am sure that some of the things I have said here will also be challenged. This, however, is my honest heartfelt assessment that I am compelled to share after spending the last year involved in the depths of this situation. I trust and pray that these uncovered truths from Rifqa’s situation will help many more ‘Rifqa Barys’ that no doubt will arise in the future because of her courageous stand.
May God bless you all for your faithful concern and consistent prayers,
Jamal Jivanjee
www.illuminate-us.com
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