Muslim teachers at a public girls’ school in Punjab, Pakistan regularly discriminate against Christian students, beat them, and pressure them to convert to Islam according to Christians living in the area, Compass Direct News reported.

Muslim teachers at Government Higher Secondary School in village No. 79-NB (Northern Branch), Sargodha, Punjab were so abusive that two of dozens of Christian girls dropped out, CDN said.

A 16-year old student, Sana, told CDN they are teased and mocked all day and made to daily clean school toilets, the compound and classrooms even if there are staff to do the work.

The Christian students were told that such work was handed down to them from their parents and forefathers.

The abusive teachers mentioned were Muzammil, Sumaira (Islamic Education & Arabic Language teacher), Gullnaz (Math teacher and Ferhat Naz (principal).  Naz and Sumaira subject the girls to beatings regularly.

During recess the Christian girls were also made to polish the teachers’ shoes and wash their undergarments and clothes.

When they completed their studies they were denied certificates of completion rendering them inadmissible to other schools and universities.  For this reason many Pakistan Christians are undereducated and unemployed, according to CDN.

The Higher Secondary School in village No. 79-NB is the only government school of higher education for girls in the village and adjoining areas.  The education department officials of Sargodha Region have been asked to investigate, CDN said.

When CDN questioned Principal Naz about the abuses, she said some Christian girls left the school due to domestic problems.  Naz said she would hold an inquiry of the accused (although she is also among them).  Protesting residents gathered outside Naz’ office last week, asking for an independent body to conduct the investigation, CDN reported.

Meanwhile Dr. Nazir Bhatti, president of Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC) decried the fact that Christian schools only admit 0.5 percent Christians, and 99.5 percent Muslims, according to the Pakistan Christian Post (PCP).

Bhatti noted that hundreds of Christian missionary schools and colleges all over Punjab and the rest of Pakistan admit Muslims in favor of Christians.  Reasons cited by Bhatti were:

• The secretary in charge of admissions in some of the schools is a Muslim.
• Missionary schools are run like businesses by the Catholic Church of Pakistan and the Church of Pakistan, hence they cater to wealthy Muslims.
• The clergy takes bribes in the shape of donations from wealthy Muslims in exchange for admission of their children.
• Christians are very poor and unable to make large donations for admission.

Bhatti said if these Christian convents and other English medium missionary schools had given priority to Pakistani Christians after the country was independent in 1947, Christians might today have a 100 percent literacy rate, the PCP reported.

Instead, Christian children must enroll in Muslim dominated public schools and colleges where they are not allowed to drink water from the same glasses nor eat from the same plates as Muslim students because they are viewed as infidels, the PCP said.

Bhatti appealed to the Catholic Church of Pakistan and the Church of Pakistan to give Christian students priority in admissions.  “They deserve it in schools which are established in their name,”  Nazir Bhatti told the PCP.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

A Christian leader in Pakistan called recently for the formation of a separate Christian province in the country, according to the Pakistan Christian Post.

Nazir S. Bhatti, head of the Pakistan Christian Congress  said recently that Pakistan has become a safe haven for Islamic extremist organizations.  As a result, they can wage Jihad against the Pakistan government at any time, the PCP reported.

Because of this, Bhatti recommended dividing the Punjab into four provinces, including a Christian province to preserve the country’s solidarity and integrity.  Christians are the second largest population in Punjab, according to the PCP.

As of now, some 20 million Pakistani Christians are victims of discrimination and denied equal democratic rights in Pakistan, the PCP said.  Nazir Bhatti noted:

• Christians are treated like slaves and untouchables.
• Christians may not dine in Muslim owned restaurants nor drink water in the same glass as Muslims in public places.
• One elected Christian member of the National Assembly of Pakistan was forced to pay for cups, glasses and plates when his delegation ate food from a roadside Muslim vendor.
• Muslim Imams call Christianity a religion of infidels.
• Muslims may force Christian wives to convert, but they may not eat with them.
• If a Christian is found to be eating a Muslim dinner, they will be beaten.
• Christians may not enter the catering business in Pakistan.
• Muslims must not eat food prepared by Christians.

According to Bhatti, the All India Christian Association favored the formation of Pakistan as a separate country upon the assurance that both faiths shall enjoy equal rights.  With this assurance, Christians in the Pakistan Movement played a large role in gaining the country’s independence in 1947.

However after the legislation of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1973 Christians became second class citizens in their own land, according to the PCP.

Bhatti noted that historically, Christians were sons of Pakistan soil, while Muslims were invaders who migrated from Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Bhatti said the Muslims forcibly converted Sindhi, Balochi and indigent Punjabi to Islam, the PCP reported.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

The fastest death rate of churches in America is happening in the Bible belt, said a southern US pastor at a 3-day convention that was held recently, according to Christian Today (CT).

Churches are dying fastest in the so-called Bible Belt/Credit: klsmith77/sxc.hu

At Advance10: Contextualizing the Gospel in the New South, Pastor Tyler Jones of Vintage21 Church in Raleigh, North Carolina said churches are dying rapidly in the Bible belt. He and several other pastors blamed the churches themselves for the decline, CT reported.

According to Jones, churches don’t understand the gospel and how it applies to people’s lives. They are being taught “quaint moralism over the Gospel.” Jones said, adding “Moralism is the greatest form of self worship. It robs us of our need for God,” CT reported.

Jerome Gay, lead pastor of Vision International Church in Raleigh agreed, saying, “Christianity has been presented as a list of don’ts. Don’t go to the club, don’t join the frat, don’t do this, don’t do that.” As a result, people leave the church, disillusioned, without actually knowing Christ as he is presented in the Bible, CT said.

The conference was held by Advance the Church, and co-sponsored by The Summit Church and Vintage21 Church. They seek to help local churches become more responsive to the changing culture without watering down God’s Word, according to the Christian Post (CP).

CP quoted Pastor David Platt of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama, who said many churches need clarity on the Gospel. “A lot of people who [grew] up in the church need to hear the Gospel as it’s presented biblically,” said Platt.

Other scheduled speakers were Matt Carter of The Austin Stone; Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle; J.D. Grear of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area; Johnny Hunt, who heads the Southern Baptist Convention; and Tullian Tchividjian, grandson of evangelist Billy Graham and pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla, according to CP.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

An earthquake two years ago in Sichuan, China led to 430 new Christian churches being set up in the area; and a recent earthquake in Qinghai province caused the atheist Chinese government to appeal to the religious community for help.

On its second year anniversary since the devastating Sichuan earthquake with a death toll of 69,000 (with 18,000 still missing), Brian Rushton, vice president of Partner Relations for WorldServe Ministries said the immediate Christian humanitarian response  opened up amazing ministry opportunities, Mission News Network (MNN) reported recently.

“The first year, 15,000 people came to Christ. The second year, …another 10,000 …But that’s only because we had people on the ground who were willing to go alongside and bring resources, sit and talk with the people, hear their story, and then share with them the hope of Christ,” Rushton told MNN.

With so many new Christians over 430 churches were established which continue to grow.  Missionaries in the area help people rebuild homes and find business opportunities, the MNN reported.

According to MNN, many children were orphaned by the quake, and many seniors lost their entire family, hence were “orphaned” too.  Rushton said the church is caring for the orphaned seniors.

Meanwhile, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs asked the religious community for donations to rebuild the Tibetan Yushu area in Qinghai Province, where a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit on April 14, the Christian Post reported.

The Yushu quake left 2,200 dead, 12,000 injured, and over 100,000 homeless.  Some $12.7 million had already been donated by the religious, but China’s religious affairs department, while expressing appreciation, also asked for more help.

These past years China has been more tolerant of religion although there are still ongoing problems with religious freedom.  A recent article in the state-run China Daily spoke of a 22 year old Christian convert in Beijing who was attending a 700-member house church there.  

However, house churches are illegal in China and citizens can only worship in religious institutions approved by bodies under China’s Religious Affairs Bureau.  For Protestant Christians, this means worshiping in churches affiliated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council.

Human rights groups still regularly report incidents of persecution of house church Christians and other non-registered religious groups, and say China still has a long way to go, according to the Christian Post.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

A Muslim family kidnapped and forcibly converted an 18-year-old Christian woman, then beat her mother twice for trying to get her daughter back in Lahore, Pakistan recently, according to Compass Direct News (CDN).

On April 25 Muhammad Akhter and Muhammad Munir broke into the home of 50-year-old Fazeelat Bibi, the victim’s mother.  They beat her for seeking legal help for her daughter Saira, whom the two Muhammads had kidnapped, the CDN said.

Neighbors’ calls to the police were unheeded during the beating in Bibi’s Lahore home, situated in the predominantly Muslim Bostaan Colony.  One week before, Bibi went to the kidnapper’s house to see her daughter.  The kidnapper’s family beat her with clubs and ripped off her clothes.

The two Mohammeds, Akhter and Munir, claimed the victim had eloped with the latter.  But Saira said she was kidnapped from her home and her jewelry and dowry were stolen.  Then they forced her to convert to Islam.  Saira was engaged to a Christian man, CDN said.

According to Reliefweb Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Shiite (a Muslim minority) women in Pakistan are regular victims of such kidnappings, “weddings” and “conversions” in this Muslim dominated country.

Quoting a report from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Reliefweb cited this pattern where the women usually range in age from 15 to 18.  Reliefweb reported strong suspicions that once “converted,” the girls are trafficked and sold.  This may explain why the families may no longer see their daughters, although the “husbands” return to the village and resume their normal lives.

In the case of Saira, the victim’s mother Bibi  approached Kotlakhpat Police Station Inspector Rana Shafiq, who flatly refused help, and referred her to the local Bostaan Colony Punchayat, a group of elders with equivalent court authority in Pakistan.

Fazeelat Bibi said that several meetings produced no resolution.  However on April 18 Saira called her mother and said she tried to escape three times.  When Bibi again went to Inspector Shafiq, he again refused to help.

Christian Lawyers Foundation (CLF) who are representing Bibi, said Shafiq shows preferred treatment to the Muslims.  The CLF believes the kidnappers had heavily bribed the inspector to keep him from prosecuting them, the CDN said.

Other recent stories of abduction of Pakistani women of minority faith who were  kidnapped, “converted” and “married” are:

• Gajri Ram, 15, a Pakistani Christian who was abducted from her home by a Muslim neighbor.  Her parents later learned she was held captive in a madrassa, had married and converted to Islam.  The madrassa will not allow the parents to see her.  Local government authorities are not helping the family of the victim.  They claimed to receive a letter from the madrassa with an affidavit that Gajri had married and converted.  The letter showed no marriage certificate, according to the Pakistan Christian Post.

• Daya Meghwar, 15, was forcibly married to an influential Muslim man and converted to Islam.  The abductors threatened the entire 71 Dalit Meghwar family against alerting authorities lest more women are kidnapped.  The 71 families left the village and settled in a nearby town.  They are deprived of their source of income, food and access to drinkable water.  Government indifference remains, according to Reliefweb.

• Kastoori, 17, a Hindu girl was kidnapped on March 2010 by three influential Muslim brothers and raped by one of them.  She was forced to wed her rapist and convert to Islam.  The court and police, when called for assistance, instead arrested the victim’s father under a fake case, Reliefweb said.

• Miss Gomti, 15, a Hindu, was abducted by her parents’ landlord and was married to one of the landlord’s peasants after converting to Islam.  The parents only knew of her whereabouts six weeks after, could only see the young girl in the presence of the landlord’s employees, and were shown a wedding certificate that falsely registered her as 19 years old, Reliefweb said.

According to Reliefweb, women of minority faiths and dominations are vulnerable targets in Muslim dominated Pakistan.  They estimate 20-25 Hindu girls are abducted monthly and forcibly converted.  The head of the Madrassa (school) where Daya was converted said they had 40,000 conversions in their school.

The same report bewailed the lack of sufficient mechanisms in their defense.  Such crimes are rarely reported and when they are, they are rarely addressed by law enforcement authorities.

Reliefweb said that even at the highest levels, government response is marginal at most.  In 2009 two laws were set in motion penalizing harassment of women in any public and private workplace; and criminalizing domestic violence.  However, there is little likeliness it will impact on the lives of women of religious minorities.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

New voices, including an ex-Muslim, have come to the defense of Franklin Graham recently, after the Pentagon disinvited him from appearing on the National Day of Prayer.

Franklin Graham at the podium and on the big screen at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash. in 2007. Credit:Flikr-publicjill

According to the Christian Post Sabatina James, the granddaughter of a Mullah and a well-known Pakistani convert to Christianity, said there is a difference between criticizing Islam and Muslims.

“Don’t say that every Muslim is a terrorist and every Muslim is bad because that is just not true. But there are definitely things that need to be changed in Islam or else you can’t live in a democracy,” James said.

James is living under police protection and is constantly on the move because of death threats against her.  She said, “…they are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘beat your wife if she is not obedient.’ They are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘the Christians and Jewish people are evil.’”

James added, “It is written in the Surah Al-Maidah… ‘don’t take Jewish and Christian people as your friend.’  That is what you are taught in the Quran schools.”  James said in the Christian Post story.

Meanwhile, Republican congressman from Georgia Jack Kingston called for a congressional investigation into possible “clerical censorship” involving Graham’s being disinvited to speak at the Pentagon, the Huffington Post reported.

Another publication, The Dallas News, took a poll.  Among the comments they garnered was that of Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.  Bock said, “The way to respond to Graham’s claims is not to wall off who can pray or be asked to do so, but to engage in a discussion of the issues he raises to show whether or not he is correct.”

Another respondent, Lillian Pinkus, executive committee member of the Anti-Defamation League of Dallas said, “…what bothers me is that while members of the Islamic faith are quick to take offense at perceived slights against Islam, in countries where Islam is the law of the land, there is not that same sensibility for others.  How is it that they demand fair treatment and practice of their faith, while in Islamic countries where the Koran is their constitution, there is no freedom of worship for people of other faiths?  You might say that it’s different in America, but I don’t believe there is a Koran for America and one for Islamic countries.”

Franklin Graham was disinvited by the Pentagon last week because after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Graham called Islam a “very evil and wicked religion.”

In a CNN interview Graham said, “True Islam cannot be practiced in this country. You can’t beat your wife. You cannot murder your children if you think they’ve committed adultery or something like that, which they do practice in these other countries.”

Graham said he has Muslim friends and the humanitarian group he heads, Samaritan’s Purse, works in several predominantly Muslim countries.  But he told CNN, “…I certainly disagree with their teaching.”

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

The U.S. Commision on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) noted in its recent 2010 annual report that President Obama has fallen short of doing what he can to lobby for the protection of religious freedom in the world.

The report noted that until now, President Obama has failed to appoint an Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom, a request that was made to him last month in a petition signed by lawmakers, scholars and human rights groups.

The same petition requested that the position be given equal level to other Ambassadors-At-Large who report directly to the Secretary of State, according to The Christian Post.

The USCIRF also noted that under Obama’s watch, no countries have been rated CPC, or “countries of particular concern” for having the worst religious violations.

Such a rating can prompt government action including trade restrictions, sanctions, embargoes, and withholding of military or financial aid, among others, The Christian Post said.

The same report said that the USCIRF, an independent US government commission, made these observations even as it said that with every year the issue becomes less and less important to the White House and the State Department.

The position of Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom, for example, was created in 1998, but it had only been filled in its initial year, and has remained vacant since 1999.

The commission warned Obama that failure to fill the position sent a message to the international community that religious freedom is not an important issue to the American government, the Christian Post said.

The same report noted that USCIRF took issue with the fact that Obama rarely mentioned religious freedom when he visited Ankara and Cairo last year.

Furthermore, Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton replaced the words religious freedom with “freedom of worship.”

The commission said authoritarian governments could skirt the issue by noting that faiths that are okay with them can freely worship.

Credit:svilen001/sxc.hu

They could also permit only token houses of worship for minority faiths.

According to CNN, the USCIRF also reported that:

* Over 24 countries are religious freedom offenders and practice religious persecution.

* Forms of religious persecution may include imprisonment, murder, being fired from jobs, and being kicked out of universities; being forbidden to have bank accounts, driver’s licenses and even birth certificates, among others.

* 13 countries should be rated CPC or “countries of particular concern” because they have the worst religious violations. These countries include Myanmar (Burma), China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Suda, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

* 12 countries on the watch list are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Venezuela.

* The report has five more countries under CPC rating than does the State Department’s 2009 report, which did not include Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan or Vietnam.

* 3 countries, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka, should be closely monitored.

Specific Countries

* Egypt. Members of the Baha’I faith and minority Muslim sects are imprisoned, fired from jobs, kicked out of universities, and barred from having bank accounts, birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

* Nigeria. A decade of violence between Muslims and Christians in the Jos state recently culminated in 500 men, women and children hacked to death with machetes and dumped into wells.

* China. Cracked down on Uyghur Muslims in the west.

* Iran. Labeled domestic political opponents “enemies of God” which is a capital offense and can merit severing of the head.

* Eritrea. Harassment of Orthodox Church members and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

* Vietnam. Imprisonment of Buddhists and Protestants.

The USCIRF report urged the government to double its efforts to protect international religious freedom and to raise issues of abuse to the highest levels of the world community, the Christian Post said.

“Anything less betrays our history and values, and fails to leverage the extraordinary capacity we have as a nation to promote religious freedom and related human rights for all,” the report said.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

A new survey by LifeWay Christian Resources indicates that most Millenials are not religious and are leaving churches, although many consider themselves to be spiritual.

Youth are walking away from Christianity and the Christian church, opting instead for spirituality.

Millenials are defined as those born from 1980 to 1991.  They are aged between 18-29 years old.

Of the total surveyed, 65 percent said they are Christian; 14 percent atheist or agnostic; 14 percent do not favor any religion; and 8 percent mentioned affiliations with other religions.  Seventy-two percent said they are more spiritual than religious, the Christian Post reported.

Among those who said they were Christian were the following findings, the Christian Post reported:

Of those who claimed to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

• 15 percent have deeply committed personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
• 81 percent of those who trust Christ as Savior agreed strongly that Jesus is the way to Heaven.
  • Most of those who trust Christ as Savior described themselves as more spiritual than religious.
  • Half of those who trust Christ as Savior do not go to church every week.

Of those who identified themselves as Christians

• 56 percent rarely or never read the Bible.
• 38 percent rarely or never pray by themselves.
• 44 percent agreed strongly that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
• 26 percent agreed strongly that salvation is through God’s grace alone.
• 25 percent agreed strongly that the Bible is the written word of God and is totally accurate in all that it teaches.
  • Most agree that churches are relevant.
  • 28 percent strongly agree that churches are relevant today.
  • 67 percent do not go to church every week.

Of the total respondents

• One-third said they made a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is still important to them today.
• One-fourth agreed somewhat that their personal relationship with Jesus Christ is important in their life today.
• 30 percent strongly believe Jesus Christ was sinless.
  • Most believe that no one really knows about life after death.
  • 74 percent say they are more spiritual than religious.

The USA Today quoted Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay as saying that should this trend continue, “The millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships.”

The findings correlated with a 2007 LifeWay survey of teenagers who drop out of church, as well as with a February survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which also indicated that Millenials are dropping out of church.

The survey, which was conducted mainly by phone in August 2009, involved 1,200 participants and has a margin of error of +/-2.8, myFOXla.com reported.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Now anyone can be a missionary, including people who can’t afford to travel, and those who are disabled.  Through the Internet, people can lend advice, share the gospel and conduct Bible studies almost everywhere.

Evangelism is now just a click away/Credit: Christian (CLUC)/sxc.hu

Internet evangelism, made popular by organizations such as  Global Media Outreach  has reached an all time high.

This was discussed at Internet Evangelism Day recently.

Walt Wilson, CEO and founder of GMO said by 2015 Wi-Fi will be everywhere on Earth, and by 2020 everyone on Earth may be reached through the gospel.

“We are the first generation in all of human history to hold within our hands the technology to reach every man, woman and child on the earth by 2020,” Wilson said at an iSummit at Biola University.

“Our generation has within its grasp everything that is required to fulfill the Great Commission,” Wilson, a former Apple executive, said to The Christian Post.

GMO is the media arm of Campus Crusade for Christ.  They have more than 100 websites through which anyone in the world can connect with online missionaries who will answer their questions. GMO has more than 4,000 online missionary volunteers who answer e-mails from people.

Still, some like Rev. Tom Schaeffer, pastor of Threshold Church in Toledo, expressed reservations, noting that Internet evangelism does not lead to real-world interaction and community.

Dietrich echoed Schaeffer’s concerns, saying “You cannot visit someone in the hospital. You cannot bring them a covered dish if they are sick. You can’t lay hands on them physically. So there are things certainly that the on-the-ground church does that you can no way do online,” toledoBlade.com reported.

“We really try to offer multiple options for someone once they made a decision to help them grow, whether that is chat Bible studies, self-service online Bible studies, or working through materials with the person they are talking to,” toledoBlade quoted Diedrich as saying.

Diedrich sees online evangelism as a complement, not a replacement of traditional church programs and services.  Still, “More people use the Internet than go to church. New thinking is required for outreach in the post-Christian age.”

Some 1.8 billion people are on the Internet daily, of which 2 million search for spiritual needs, statistics show.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Church leaders complained about Arizona’s newest immigration law recently, which grants greater power to local police to question and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, saying it is ineffective and will promote discrimination.

Because of the passage of Arizona's new "immigration" policy, people who look Hispanic may be subject to racial profiling/Credit: Garrison Photography

Rev. James Flaaten, executive director of Arizona Ecumenical council, issued a statement saying, this law “will demonize anyone who looks suspiciously like an undocumented person, leading to inevitable racial profiling,” according to The Christian Post.

Flaaten added, “Our religious traditions ask us to treat people with dignity and respect, and we look for a more enlightened and hopeful way of working with the undocumented people who live alongside us.”

The law, which was signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, requires immigrants to carry their alien registration documents with them at all times, and gives police the power to question someone’s legal residency and arrest anyone who cannot prove that they are legal residents.

The law also cracks down on those who hire illegal residents or knowingly transport them.

Penalties for illegal immigrants under the law include arrest, jail for up to six months and a $2,500 fine. It includes other provisions for lawsuits against government agencies that hinder enforcement of immigration laws.

Religious leaders are urging federal lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform, denouncing the current federal system as broken and the new Arizona law as “mean-spirited.”

“It is not only mean-spirited – it will be ineffective and will only serve to further divide communities in Arizona, making everyone more fearful and less safe,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners.

“Enforcement without reform of the system is merely cruel. Enforcement without compassion is immoral. Enforcement that breaks up families is unacceptable.”

“This law will make it illegal to love your neighbor in Arizona, and will force us to disobey Jesus and his gospel,” the progressive evangelical leader contended. “We will not comply.”

Critics say the bill fails to address border security concerns and called the bill divisive as it encourages racial profiling.

They note police officers may more frequently suspect Hispanics to be illegal immigrants.

Some support the bill but worry that it may hurt Arizona’s economy which has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants.  Should they leave the state, they would no longer be spending money there.

Prior to the bill’s passage President Obama, said it was misguided and directed the Justice Department to see if it is legal.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. appealed for Obama’s continued support against the bill and called instead for reform.

Gutierrez has loudly called for comprehensive immigration reform creating citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants now in the United States.

Rev. Al Sharpton in New York said he would organize “freedom walkers” to challenge the Arizona bill.

“We will go to Arizona when this bill goes into effect and walk the streets with people who refuse to give identification and force arrest,” Sharpton said, according to the Associated Press.

“It divides our whole community,” said Mary Hoffmann, 54, a landscape architect in Phoenix. “If people are divided they make decisions on fear and anger,” she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Arizona congressman Raul Grijalva, a Democrat, urged the Obama administration not to cooperate when illegal immigrants are picked up by local police.

Under the new law, Arizona officers who arrest undocumented people will turn them over to federal immigration officers.  Opponents said the federal government can block the law by refusing to accept them.

Brewer, in defense of the law, said she wouldn’t tolerate racial profiling.  She called on the state’s law enforcement licensing agency to create a training course so that police can enforce the law without discriminating against any race, color or ethnicity.

Brewer also ordered a reallocation of state National Guard and law enforcement resources, and called on the federal government to deploy National Guard troops.

Brewer, who signed the new law, is facing re-election amid growing anger in the state over illegal immigrants.  She blamed federal lawmakers’ inaction and misguided policy for forcing Arizona to pass the new bill.

The bill, sponsored by state Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, passed the House 35-21 and the Senate 17-11.

Arizona’s border with Mexico is the nation’s busiest stretch for illegal border crossings.

Supporters of the bill blame illegal immigrants as partly responsible for the state’s high crime rate.

Be Sociable, Share!

•