# So are this kid's parents going to kill her, or what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636 "2009-08-25T15:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/21 "2009-08-25T16:26:28Z")
When’s the last time anybody got killed for converting from Islam to Christianity in the US? This is just wild-eyed, boogeyman, Islamophobic bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/22 "2009-08-25T16:29:45Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > When’s the last time anybody got killed for converting from Islam to Christianity in the US? This is just wild-eyed, boogeyman, Islamophobic bullshit. It’s absurd to dismiss it as just “Islamophobic bullshit”. I have no opinions on this case other then that we should keep an open mind to it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/23 "2009-08-25T16:34:56Z")
I’d actually worry more about the safety of this girl’s parents than the ludicrous allegation that they’re going to murder their daughter. It wouldn’t be hard for Fox News and wingnut radio to whip up enough hysteria and rage to cause a mob of Cletuses with shotguns and gas cans to show up at this poor family’s house. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/24 "2009-08-25T16:35:57Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > It’s absurd to dismiss it as just “Islamophobic bullshit”. I have no opinions on this case other then that we should keep an open mind to it. I’ll be open to any actual evidence. Until then, it’s baseless, Islamophobic bullshit. Certainly no reason has been shown why the Newlins and their Light of Day cult should be able to prevent her from going home to her parents. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/25 "2009-08-25T16:37:10Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Why? The girl claims that her parents threatened her. If it were just the people who took her in I’d be inclined to doubt but it’s the teen herself. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/26 "2009-08-25T16:40:11Z")
The girl’s claims are unconvincing and insufficient, particularly since she’s under the control of an Islamophobic church. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/27 "2009-08-25T16:49:31Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > The girl claims that her parents threatened her. If it were just the people who took her in I’d be inclined to doubt but it’s the teen herself. This is the only thing that might have a little bit of traction. When I first heard the story, I didn’t immediately dismiss it as BS. I mean, it could happen. Hell, it happens. But Fox has been covering this story so rabidly that Saturday I accidentally heard something about this all emanating from a blog she wrote on Facebook where she says she’s scared, and then with the “Imagine the brownie Muslim points they’d get if they killed me!” :dubious: All right, kiddo, so are these threats real or imagined? Did your daddy _actually_ say he’s going to kill you because of your tainted, Christian blood, or is this something you learned from those nice folks in Florida? I couldn’t find much else about it until just now, and then found that she says her parents threatened to kill her… or send her to Sri Lanka, whichever is cheaper. And she says this after being harboured by a bunch of grown ups who refused to cooperate with the authorities in the name of some crazy religious war. Seriously, this is what the guy who [del]kidnapped[/del] saved this girl’s life said: [QUOTE=Christian Dude in Florida] Blake Lorenz, who insists that Rifqa will be killed if she goes home, earlier this month made clear to reporters his Crusades-era belief that this is part of Christianity’s holy struggle against Islam: “These are the last days; these are the end times,” he said, “and this conflict between Islam and Christianity is going to grow greater. This conflict between good and evil is going to grow greater.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/28 "2009-08-25T16:52:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > When’s the last time anybody got killed for converting from Islam to Christianity in the US? This is just wild-eyed, boogeyman, Islamophobic bullshit. So you are saying that the girl who is afraid of her parents is islamophobic huh? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/29 "2009-08-25T16:53:56Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > When’s the last time anybody got killed for converting from Islam to Christianity in the US? This is just wild-eyed, boogeyman, Islamophobic bullshit. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The girl’s claims are unconvincing and insufficient, particularly since she’s under the control of an Islamophobic church. It’s funny how you are so uncritical of your own viewpoint that you never stop to question why this girl might follow a Christian cult to Florida. I guess it’s just their evil Christian mind-control magicks right? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/30 "2009-08-25T16:57:38Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So you are saying that the girl who is afraid of her parents is islamophobic huh? Yep. What’s so astonishing about that? She’s been brainwashed by an Islamophobic cult. Just so you know, there’s nothing at all unusal about cults brainwashing their converts into believing that their families will hurt them. She’s probably retrievable, though, once she gets away from the nutters and goes back to the family that actually cares about her. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/31 "2009-08-25T16:59:31Z")
I think the only answer is to remove her to a neutral foster situation and forbid contact with both families for a week or so. she seems to be highly hysterical, so might be influenced in any direction. But returning her to her family wihtout further investigation and protection would be a stupid risk. It’s pathetic, but parents hurt their children all the time. I’ve seen children beaten with a leather strap just for not finishing dinner - is it really so difficult to believe that an honor killing might occur? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/32 "2009-08-25T17:00:43Z")
This is bullshit. There is no threat from her parents. The church that has control of her now, OTOH… Islamaphobic garbage, and this is me, one of the original islamaphobes talking. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/33 "2009-08-25T17:01:47Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Yep. What’s so astonishing about that? Nothing is astonishing about it it just renders the word islamophobic inert. It means your use of it is a meaningless slogan devoid of content, a mere epithet. > [@](#): > > She’s been brainwashed by an Islamophobic cult. Just so you know, there’s nothing at all unusal about cults brainwashing their converts into believing that their families will hurt them. She’s probably retrievable, though, once she gets away from the nutters and goes back to the family that actually cares about her. Right, and I am sure this all occurs in a vacuum because normal healthy people who love their parents are immediately susceptible to such brainwashing. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/34 "2009-08-25T17:02:41Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It’s funny how you are so uncritical of your own viewpoint that you never stop to question why this girl might follow a Christian cult to Florida. Why does _anybody_ follow a cult? > [@](#): > > I guess it’s just their evil Christian mind-control magicks right? Just routine cult manipulation. This preacher guy apparently goes out trolling for teenaged girls on facebook, and that’s how he found her. Popping kids loose from troubled family situations is SOP. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/35 "2009-08-25T17:03:36Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I’ve seen children beaten with a leather strap just for not finishing dinner - is it really so difficult to believe that an honor killing might occur? Yup, this very thing has happened to me. I like how **silenus** is so certain, and how he invokes his former islamophobia as though it makes him some kind of expert witness to their emotional states from across the internets. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/36 "2009-08-25T17:04:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Does Jesus really want people to divide and destroy families like that? Yes. [QUOTE=Jesus] For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother; and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. [/QUOTE] It’s always been a part of Christianity that the Faith matters more than anything else, including your family. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/37 "2009-08-25T17:05:12Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It’s funny how you are so uncritical of your own viewpoint that you never stop to question why this girl might follow a Christian cult to Florida. > > I guess it’s just their evil Christian mind-control magicks right? This sounds pretty accurate to me, except the “magick” part. And I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make by saying that she couldn’t have been “normal and healthy” if she was susceptible to cult recruitment tactics. If she _was_ having family problems or feeling depressed or whatnot – as many teens do – then it makes the cult even shittier for taking advantage of her and turning her against her family. The more I hear about this story, the less it seems like a Muslims vs. Christians issue and the more it seems like a brainwashing cult issue. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/38 "2009-08-25T17:05:25Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I think the only answer is to remove her to a neutral foster situation and forbid contact with both families for a week or so. she seems to be highly hysterical, so might be influenced in any direction. > > But returning her to her family wihtout further investigation and protection would be a stupid risk. It’s pathetic, but parents hurt their children all the time. Then we should take all kids away from all parents. You never know. > [@](#): > > I’ve seen children beaten with a leather strap just for not finishing dinner - is it really so difficult to believe that an honor killing might occur? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/39 "2009-08-25T17:06:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Why does _anybody_ follow a cult? Usually there is a personal reason. People don’t just join cults in a vacuum. > [@](#): > > Just routine cult manipulation. This preacher guy apparently goes out trolling for teenaged girls on facebook, and that’s how he found her. Popping kids loose from troubled family situations is SOP. Oh so now you admit the family situation might be troubled. How troubled do you think it is exactly? I mean troubled as in maybe they don’t pay enough attention to her, troubled as in they beat her with a leather strap for not finishing dinner or troubled as in the Father might kill his daughter for Apostasy? Is there some sort of sliding scale that we can use so that we can understand your particular insight into just how troubled the family is so that we can determine from the comfort of our computer desks just how troubled this family might be so that we can know that the evil Christians are really evil whereas the evil Muslims aren’t really evil at all they are just ‘troubled’? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636/40 "2009-08-25T17:06:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It’s funny how you are so uncritical of your own viewpoint that you never stop to question why this girl might follow a Christian cult to Florida. > > I guess it’s just their evil Christian mind-control magicks right? Could be teenage rebellion stoked by outside influences though, couldn’t it? Teenagers do crazy shit to piss off Mommy and Daddy all the time. This “concern for her safety” bit is romantic and dramatic and makes her into a hero/potential martyr. She may not be Islamophobic, but she may well have an axe to grind against her parents, and this Christian cult gives her the perfect way to do it, with a cover story that will make her look like the good guy in the eyes of many. I feel sorry for her parents, who are probably just folks with a bratty daughter who is very much humiliating them in a public and possibly dangerous way. ETA: A “troubled” family situation could be that her parents enforce a curfew, or want her to get better grades and took away her Blackberry, or whatever. It doesn’t mean they beat her with a belt, necessarily. Teenagers can be very histrionic and extreme when they are lashing out at their parents for perceived slights. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-this-kids-parents-going-to-kill-her-or-what/507636.md?page=3)