On the 9 February the Christian Legal Centre published this story.  It tells the story of a foster carer in the North of England who was struck off because a Muslim girl in her care converted to Christianity.  The council claim that the girls carer failed in her duty as a foster carer by allowing the 16 year old girl to be baptised.

The carer said that she put no pressure on the girl to convert to Christianity and even tried to find ways of discouraging the girls initial interest.  The Qur’an strongly condemns the repudiation of Islam and the act is considered taboo in many Muslim communities.

The woman has said that the council were fully aware that the girl was attending church, but only objected when they learned of the fact that the girl had been baptised.  The Christian Legal Centre reports that:  “social services officials then advised the girl to reconsider her decision and urged her to stop attending Christian meetings, ruling last April that the girl should stay away from church for six months.”.

The Woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was struck of their register in November.  She had been responsible for caring for over 80 children in the last ten years.  The Woman, with the help of a solicitor, is seeking judicial review of the council’s decision.

The girl, now 17, is back at home with her parents and is giving her full support to her former carer.

This story is really quite ridiculous.  The girl made a choice of her own to convert from Islam to Christianity.  She was not forced to convert and attended a Christian Church off her own back.  Her carer actively tried to discourage her interest and offered to help her find places where she could practice Islam.  To me there is not much more that a foster carer can do to stop a 16 year old from making up their own mind.

I wish the carer every success with her Judicial review and hope that the court expose the council for being the idiots that they are.

• Civil Law
• English Law