Tolerance and Teaching Homosexuality in the Public schools and the Christian Response
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Saudi Child Bride Turned Back Over to 80-Year-Old Husband
Neiswonger says: "How do all of you anti-Natural Law extremists deal with something like this? I know how. You don't."
Saudi Child Bride Turned Back Over to 80-Year-Old Husband
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.
The young girl's husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.
"My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.
A member of the National Society for Human Rights said there are no regulations in place to stop the marriage of young girls, which is seen as harmful to their wellbeing.
“Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” Maatouq Al-Abdullah told Arab News.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543060,00.html
Saudi Child Bride Turned Back Over to 80-Year-Old Husband
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.
The young girl's husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.
"My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.
A member of the National Society for Human Rights said there are no regulations in place to stop the marriage of young girls, which is seen as harmful to their wellbeing.
“Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” Maatouq Al-Abdullah told Arab News.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543060,00.html
Friday, August 21, 2009
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"
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.
The teenager disappeared last month and police used phone and computer records to track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church, who she had met through an online Facebook prayer group.
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 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. FOXNews.com's calls to Lorenz were not returned.
In an emotional six-minute interview with WFTV in Florida, Rifqa, who met Lorenz through an online Facebook group, said she expects to be killed if she is forced to return to Ohio.
"If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn't be alive," she said. "In 150 generations in family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first — imagine the honor in killing me."
"There is great honor in that, because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It's in the Koran," said in the interview, which has been posted on YouTube.
Rifqa, who is seen wearing a large diamond cross during the interview, said she had to hide her Bible "for years," and she repeatedly "snuck out" to attend Christian prayer meetings. She referred to previous victims of so-called honor killings, in which young Muslim women were murdered for bringing dishonor to their families.
"They love God more than me, they have to do this," Bary told WFTV. "I'm fighting for my life. You guys don't understand. … I want to worship Jesus freely, that's what I want. I don't want to die."
Contacted by FOXNews.com, Rifqa'a father Mohamed Bary said he has no intentions of harming his daughter.
"I love my daughter and I want her to come back to the family," he said, declining further comment.If sent back to Ohio, Rifqa would not be allowed to live on her own, since the state does not have an emancipation statute.
The Barys reportedly emigrated from Sri Lanka in 2000 to seek medical treatment for Rifqa, who lost the sight in her right eye following an accident at home.
Barbra Joyner, Mohamed Bary's lawyer, declined to comment on Rifqa's interview with WFTV but said transferring the case back to Ohio will be in the "best interest" of the girl.
Craig McCarthy, an attorney for Aysha Bary, agreed that the case should be moved back to Ohio and added that the girl's mother is afraid for her safety.
"[Aysha Bary] has shifted to downright frightened, scared of what might confront her publicly on Friday," McCarthy told FOXNews.com. "She is scared for her family, of losing her daughter, of never knowing the truth of what happened and for her own safety."
McCarthy said Rifqa's account of how she traveled to Florida has "holes in it," but declined to elaborate. He also declined to respond to allegations that Bary's father abused the girl when he learned of her conversion to Christianity.
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."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,541540,00.html
Monday, August 17, 2009
School administrators face prison for praying in school
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/17/Florida.school.prayer/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
(CNN) -- Two Florida school administrators face contempt charges and possible prison time for saying a prayer at a school luncheon.
Pace High School enacted a decree in January banning officials from promoting religion at school events.
Frank Lay, principal of Pace High School, and Athletic Director Robert Freeman are accused of violating a consent decree banning employees of Santa Rosa County schools from endorsing religion.
They face a non-jury trial September 17 before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The statute under which they are charged carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison, subject to sentencing guidelines.
Attorneys defending Lay and Freeman call it outrageous that the two are being prosecuted for "a simple prayer." But the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit led to the consent decree, maintains that students have a right to be free from administrators foisting their religious beliefs on them.
Still, an ACLU representative said the organization never suggested that people should go to jail for violating the decree.
The ACLU filed suit last year against the district on behalf of two Pace students who alleged that "school officials regularly promoted and led prayers at school events," according to an ACLU statement.
Both parties approved the consent decree put in place January 9, under which district and school officials are "permanently prohibited from promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in or causing prayers during or in conjunction with school events," the ACLU said.
Lay was a party in the initial lawsuit, and his attorney was among those approving the consent decree, according to the organization. In addition, the court required that all district employees receive a copy.
On January 28, "Lay asked Freeman to offer a prayer of blessing during a school-day luncheon for the dedication of a new fieldhouse at Pace High School," according to court documents. "Freeman complied with the request and offered the prayer at the event. It appears this was a school-sponsored event attended by students, faculty and community members."
Attorneys from Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group helping defend Lay and Freeman, said in a written statement that attendees included booster club members and other adults who helped the field house project, all "consenting adults."
In a February 4 letter to district Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick in which Lay acknowledged the incident, he said that although past football booster club members "and other adults associated with the school system" were at the luncheon, culinary class students were in charge of food preparation and serving.
Lay wrote that he asked Freeman to bless the food "for the adults. ... I take full responsibility for this action. My actions were overt and not meant to circumvent any court order or constitutional mandate."
In response, Wyrosdick noted in a letter to Lay that in a meeting, the principal had admitted that "you are, and were at the date of this incident, aware of the court injunction and aware that this type of action is not permissible under the injunction."
Wyrosdick recounted telling Lay that the prayer was not appropriate.
"This note is to share with you written instructions to avoid this type of action," the superintendent said. Both letters are in the public court file.
"It is a sad day in America when school officials are criminally prosecuted for a prayer over a meal," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the law school at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. "It is outrageous and an offense to the First Amendment to punish a school official for a simple prayer."
Liberty Counsel said it is challenging the consent decree, maintaining that it "unconstitutionally infringes on the rights of teachers, administrators and students."
The ACLU, according to the Liberty Counsel statement, has begun "to go against individual employees." The organization said that neither man "willfully violated any orders of the court."
"We're not going after individuals," said Glenn Katon, director of the Religious Freedom Project for the ACLU of Florida. "We're just trying to make sure that school employees comply with the court order."
The ACLU did not request the criminal contempt charges against Lay and Freeman, he said; the judge initiated them after seeing a reference to the incident in a motion. And the ACLU is not involved in the criminal proceedings, he said.
"We certainly never suggested that anyone go to jail," Katon said.
Lay is not facing jail time for praying, he said, but for violating a court order.
"The moral of this story is, for us, this is about the students' right to be free from teachers and school administrators thrusting upon the students their religious beliefs," Katon said. "They keep talking about the religious rights of the administrators, but the administrators and the principals don't have any right to trumpet their religious beliefs in a school setting."
Neither Lay nor Freeman has been placed on leave, according to the school district.
Pace is about 10 miles north of Pensacola, Florida.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/17/Florida.school.prayer/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
(CNN) -- Two Florida school administrators face contempt charges and possible prison time for saying a prayer at a school luncheon.
Pace High School enacted a decree in January banning officials from promoting religion at school events.
Frank Lay, principal of Pace High School, and Athletic Director Robert Freeman are accused of violating a consent decree banning employees of Santa Rosa County schools from endorsing religion.
They face a non-jury trial September 17 before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The statute under which they are charged carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison, subject to sentencing guidelines.
Attorneys defending Lay and Freeman call it outrageous that the two are being prosecuted for "a simple prayer." But the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit led to the consent decree, maintains that students have a right to be free from administrators foisting their religious beliefs on them.
Still, an ACLU representative said the organization never suggested that people should go to jail for violating the decree.
The ACLU filed suit last year against the district on behalf of two Pace students who alleged that "school officials regularly promoted and led prayers at school events," according to an ACLU statement.
Both parties approved the consent decree put in place January 9, under which district and school officials are "permanently prohibited from promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in or causing prayers during or in conjunction with school events," the ACLU said.
Lay was a party in the initial lawsuit, and his attorney was among those approving the consent decree, according to the organization. In addition, the court required that all district employees receive a copy.
On January 28, "Lay asked Freeman to offer a prayer of blessing during a school-day luncheon for the dedication of a new fieldhouse at Pace High School," according to court documents. "Freeman complied with the request and offered the prayer at the event. It appears this was a school-sponsored event attended by students, faculty and community members."
Attorneys from Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group helping defend Lay and Freeman, said in a written statement that attendees included booster club members and other adults who helped the field house project, all "consenting adults."
In a February 4 letter to district Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick in which Lay acknowledged the incident, he said that although past football booster club members "and other adults associated with the school system" were at the luncheon, culinary class students were in charge of food preparation and serving.
Lay wrote that he asked Freeman to bless the food "for the adults. ... I take full responsibility for this action. My actions were overt and not meant to circumvent any court order or constitutional mandate."
In response, Wyrosdick noted in a letter to Lay that in a meeting, the principal had admitted that "you are, and were at the date of this incident, aware of the court injunction and aware that this type of action is not permissible under the injunction."
Wyrosdick recounted telling Lay that the prayer was not appropriate.
"This note is to share with you written instructions to avoid this type of action," the superintendent said. Both letters are in the public court file.
"It is a sad day in America when school officials are criminally prosecuted for a prayer over a meal," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the law school at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. "It is outrageous and an offense to the First Amendment to punish a school official for a simple prayer."
Liberty Counsel said it is challenging the consent decree, maintaining that it "unconstitutionally infringes on the rights of teachers, administrators and students."
The ACLU, according to the Liberty Counsel statement, has begun "to go against individual employees." The organization said that neither man "willfully violated any orders of the court."
"We're not going after individuals," said Glenn Katon, director of the Religious Freedom Project for the ACLU of Florida. "We're just trying to make sure that school employees comply with the court order."
The ACLU did not request the criminal contempt charges against Lay and Freeman, he said; the judge initiated them after seeing a reference to the incident in a motion. And the ACLU is not involved in the criminal proceedings, he said.
"We certainly never suggested that anyone go to jail," Katon said.
Lay is not facing jail time for praying, he said, but for violating a court order.
"The moral of this story is, for us, this is about the students' right to be free from teachers and school administrators thrusting upon the students their religious beliefs," Katon said. "They keep talking about the religious rights of the administrators, but the administrators and the principals don't have any right to trumpet their religious beliefs in a school setting."
Neither Lay nor Freeman has been placed on leave, according to the school district.
Pace is about 10 miles north of Pensacola, Florida.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/17/Florida.school.prayer/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
Monday, August 10, 2009
Still thinking
Remember, my usual hub is at http://www.apologetics.com/. This is where you can find the radio shows under the "radio" tab at the top of the page. You can always send private emails to chris@apologetics.com . The most complete blog site will be at http://christiantheology.wordpress.com/ where, with a few good friends, we wax semi-eloquent on every theological issue under the sun. At the top left of this page you can find my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/neiswonger. Just send me an "add friend" but if you just want to argue with or tell me how wrong I am about everything (which I guess could be true but I will demand meaty arguments to that effect :) the facebook account is not for that. Just go to one of the blogs and there you can lambaste me to your hearts content.
All the best,
Christopher
All the best,
Christopher
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