LIFE IN THE BIBLE BELT: WOULD JESUS ABUSE IMMIGRANTS?

By Arthur BriceCNN

(CNN) -- Low-income Latinos are routinely discriminated against in the South, a new report says, but the study's author and others say the problem exists nationwide, with millions of Spanish-speaking immigrants living "beyond the protection of the law."

The report, released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center, documents the experiences of 500 immigrants in the South, finding that Latinos routinely are cheated out of wages, are denied basic health protection and fall victim to racial profiling.

"Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South" details stories such as that of a Tennessee woman who says she was jailed at a cheese factory for asking for pay, a bean picker in Alabama who says his life savings were taken by police at a traffic stop, and a rapist in Georgia who was not arrested because the suspect's victim was an undocumented immigrant.

Forty-one percent of the people surveyed said they had experienced theft of their wages by employers. Forty-seven percent said they know someone who was treated unfairly by police. Seventy-seven percent of women surveyed said they have been sexually harassed by bosses, many saying that bosses used their immigration status as leverage.

"This report documents the human toll of failed policies that relegate millions of people to an underground economy, where they are beyond the protection of the law," said Mary Bauer, author of the report. "Workplace abuses and racial profiling are rampant in the South."

Does it really surprise you?
Until people stand against the abuse of the poor, the minority, the "non-conformist," things will never get better. An era of enlightenment needs to sweep the South and bring people into the 21st century. Clearly, the fault lies at the feet of the leadership in the South, people like Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, J.R. Rogers of Walnut Ridge, Roy Ockert of Jonesboro...the list goes on. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, as I said, the list goes on. Schools are falling down, poverty is out of control, jobs are gone, but their churches sure look good!

When did Jesus say it was okay to hate and abuse people?
It is not surprising that more and more people are rejecting American Christianity, and Southern-style Evangelical churchiness. After all, that's the style of religion Sarah Palin subscribes to: Bible in one hand and gun in the other.

Precisely the reason I have utterly rejected right wing, evangelical, pentecostal, bapticostal religion. It is all full of crap.

What would Jesus do? Ensure people were treated fairly, paid properly, taken care of medically, had a place to live, made to feel as though they were human and worth something, cause they are. Sounds like Jesus was a socialist *gasp.*
Well he certainly was not a capitalist. He told the capitalists to give it all away, and he cleared the temple of profiteers. Much like what needs to transpire in the American Church today.

Doesn't the bible discuss the poor coming to claim what is rightfully theirs eventually? Yes. The right wing likes to pick and choose verses that enable their hate, but conveniently disregard others such as the above reference.

Maybe I'll add the scripture verse later, I remember Kenneth Copeland et al harping on the poor reclaiming their stolen wealth, never realizing that he is one of the ones they're are coming for...
Peace, we need systemic change in the South...