I know I know, I've never done two posts in one day before, but I guess i'm on a role right now. For this story, I need to fill you in on something that's been going on here in Florida for about a week or two. A 17-year-old girl, Fathima, was raised in a Muslim house in Ohio. She ran away from home after converting to Christianity, and is now here in Orlando. The battle is against childcare agents and her family. The family, naturally, wants her back in Ohio. She ran away because she said her father threatened to kill her. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure, so I won't comment on that; this isn't a post about "who's right and who's wrong," so all my Christian readers, take a deep breath.
In the most recent update, John Stemberger is representing the girl--he's her lawyer. For her parents, we have McCarthy as their representative. What got me with this situation was the following portion of the article from the Orlando Sentinel:
In a statement released in the wake of a judge's order to keep 17-year-old Fathima
Rifqa Bary in custody of a foster family in Florida while her family is investigated
by state law enforcement officers, Craig McCarthy accused the governor (Gov. Charlie Crist) of taking
sides before evidence has been submitted.
"The governor's unfortunate decision to make a public statement taking sides in the
Rifqa Bary case before any evidence other than allegations has been presented underscores
the need to return this case to the child's home state of Ohio," McCarthy said in
the statement. "Governor Crist stated that he was 'grateful' that the judge ruled
a specific way and in support of his 'administration's position.'"
I find it absolutely unbelievable that Crist stepped in here, but when it came to the Free Speech Summit, he didn't even blink an eye. Is it just me, or do Muslims seem to be shoved off again? I give our President some benefit of the doubt (regardless of my last post)--he has quite a bit to deal with. However, Crist has no excuse at all. If he could step in so quickly with this case, why was I ignored? This is the Email he sent back to me when I first contacted him through United Voices to stop the summit from taking place.
Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist. The Governor asked
that I respond on his behalf.
Governor Crist wants to know how people feel about the many issues we
face. For assistance with your concerns, you may wish to contact
Representative Hasner's Office directly at the address below:
The Honorable Adam Hasner
Florida House of Representatives
33 Northeast Fourt Avenue
Delray Beach, Florida 33483-4528
Phone: (561) 279-1616
The Governor believes having access to government is among the most
important rights Floridians and Americans possess, no matter which side
of an issue they are on. Please do not hesitate to write again to share
your concerns and ideas about issues that are important to you.
Yes, that's right. He blew me off! And now he's releasing statements saying he's "grateful" this girl got to stay in Florida?
In a previous article (sorry, I don't have the article off-hand,) Rep Adam Hasner also issued a statement to the effect of "people should not be prosecuted for their beliefs." Dear representative, who sponsored the Free Speech Summit? I can't believe you had the guts to say this when you yourself stood up with your GOP party and prosecuted us!
It's this type of foul play we are seeing today in our government. Leaving religion aside, (although I believe religion has a big part to play in the lawmakers' statements,) we see that they're picking and choosing who they like and dislike...and if you're not on their "okay, I may want to respond to that" list, well, tough luck. Forget the last post, I am angrier with Crist now than I am with our President. This man spent $483,000 to go to Europe on a twelve day trip, effectively ignored my letter, and my rebuttal. Also, he didn't care about the people he is supposed to be serving at all (as you can see from the Email he sent me--which, I may add, he didn't even care enough to send on his own! No, of course not. "I can't be bothered...you send it on my behalf.") So much for your GOP party, Crist!
Ma'a sallamah,
Munawar
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