Faith

Update: Pakistan Leader May Free Condemned Christian Woman

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani officials say the country’s president may pardon a Christian woman facing a death sentence under laws on blasphemy against Islam.

The case of Asia Bibi has drawn appeals from Pope Benedict XVI and human rights groups to free her. Bibi, a mother of five, was sentenced earlier this month to death.

She told reporters at the prison Saturday that she is innocent and the case was merely a personal dispute.

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minority affairs, said Saturday that President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for a report on the case and has the power to pardon the woman.

Gov. Salman Taseer of Punjab province, where Bibi is held, told reporters in a televised conference he believes Zardari will soon pardon her.

Comments (42)

  • JesusLovesYou
    Posted on November 22, 2010 at 9:54pm

    Phl 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.21 For to me, to live is Christ and die is gain.

    Report Post » JesusLovesYou  
  • mermaid7
    Posted on November 22, 2010 at 9:03pm

    Yes, we are told continuously that Islam is a peaceful nation. Yet, story after story tells us differently. They are VERY intolerable when it comes to other relgions especially christianity.

    Their founder killed multiple times, overtook innocent villages with covert or die, had several wives and foamed at the mouth, one has to question his motives. Having people blow themselves up to get Alah’s notice is not a great religion. This isn’t a religion, but a military cult leading gullible people away from the true God and his son.

    This type of story is the most under reported story of the century with the killing of christians by these radicals in multiple countries. The mainstream media would rather have a story about a catholic priest or jewish settlements.

    The TRUE GOD is with this woman and hopefully, those people in that village will see Christ the way she does.

    Report Post »  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on November 22, 2010 at 10:48am

    A death sentence for blasphemy and being Christian? Wow the religion of peace and acceptance of others makes another in road at teaching us about what it means to be a muslim. It should not take a Pope to pardon her but a Imam or other religious leader or statesman. She has five kids to take care of.

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • Country
    Posted on November 22, 2010 at 9:57am

    To understand what a peaceful religion Islam is is to know that there is only peace when the whole world is Islam. Have you heard of any Muslim group fight for this Christian woman in this Muslim country? Nope.

    Report Post »  
  • JRJSRJ
    Posted on November 22, 2010 at 6:11am

    @thegreypiper The butcher and people who think like him are the reason I posted what I did. If you dont like it you dont have to read it. That is theology not preaching. I didnt tell anyone how to live their life that would have been preaching. So know what your talking about before you criticize something.
    @mrbutcher you had best study before you try to raise questions that are going to blow your stance apart. You cannot have things both ways. You cannot point at events in the bible and say that or this is cruel and turn around and say christianity is not true. There is a problem inherent with that line of thinking. If christinaity is not true, which Islam is a bastard version of (it came along over 630 years after Christ’s death), then there is no God. If there is no God then who did the things you claim are cruel? Man? If man created God then man is the one thats cruel and your entire argument loses its relevance doesnt it? What you try to pass off as enlightened thought has already been blown apart by far greater thinkers than me. The argument that the God of the OT is cruel is not valid due to the inherent character traits of God himself. Justice, Vengence, Wrath, are as much a part of God’s nature as Love, Mercy, and Faithfulness. God cannot deny any part of His nature. He cannot lie. If He destroys something there was a reason. You have to look at it in context and stop trying to snip it one line at a time. But that probably doesnt get you to your objective does it?

    Report Post » JRJSRJ  
  • fastash
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 11:13pm

    1) If she is Christian how can she be blasphemous against another religion? Especially if she and they believe differently about the Christ? I view blasphemy as someone who is purposely teaching or harboring false doctrine and lies about one’s own church.
    2) This is the separation of church and state Thomas Jefferson wrote about! He didn’t mean praying in school but a theocracy; state church; etc.

    Report Post »  
  • chasbronson
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 8:38pm

    One can easily deny religion without a doubt,but one can not so easily deny the truth.Reject it yes ,but deny it no.The very undeniable inner man, or soul of mankind bears witnes to this truth.Their exists more than the flesh and blood of mankind.To deny it , denies your very life itself. To deny there is a God herein goes against the same principle.Reject Him yes .Deny Him no.You are decieving only yourselves.There are many infallible proofs which can also be rejected.

    Report Post »  
  • TheGreyPiper
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 7:01pm

    Funny how jerks like butcher are always ready to accept what Scripture says when it suits their own agenda, huh? Even funnier that they lay Old Testament material at Christianity‘s feet but not the Jews’.

    Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
  • Bernard
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:36pm

    The pardon of this Christian woman has less to do with compassion than a feeble attempt to placate Pakistan’s needed ally, the basically Christian nation of the USA. If this woman was Islamic or Hindu she would have faced the death penalty.

    Report Post »  
  • Bernard
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:33pm

    Radical Islamic nations like Pakistan would surely have punished this woman if her faith was Islamic. I believe it has more to do with political issues since Pakistan’s major ally, the US is a a Christian nation. Seldom does such language go unpunished in most Islamic nations. Pakistan’s pardon for this woman amounts to no more than a feeble attempt to placate a Christian nation like the US

    Report Post »  
  • ronmorgen
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 11:51am

    Not much difference between Christianity and Islam, Mr Butcher? Christianity is the reliogion which teaches love, mercy, and forgiveness. Which is what we are praying for concerning Asia Bibi and her family. Please stay on topic and don’t use every post to attack Christianity.

    Report Post » ronmorgen  
    • MrButcher
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 5:23pm

      you haven’t read you bible very well, Sir.

      comeback to class after you have. that website I posted is a great start.

      PS. I derive great joy by showing, what I like to call, the “light of infinite uncertainty and unlimited prossibility” to those who haven’t seen it yet. Surely, if I was praising your faith and exalting it (like so many blindly do here often and with maniacial confidence) you wouldn’t have the same reaction. Be fair, Sir. A belief system that seeks to explain everything invariable explains nothing and is the enemy of free men the world over.

      But I do try to limit my religious critiques to the stories with religious elements in them (there are alot of them). I’m sure on the more politically themed threads that I post on you and I would have much we agree on.

      cheers

      Report Post » MrButcher  
  • pastorjazz
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 11:49am

    Asia Bibi will be in no less danger if she is pardoned.

    Latif Masih was released on Nov 3rd after being imprisoned since June on “blasphemy” charges. On Nov 18th, two men knocked on his mothers door, asked to speak to Masih, as they walked toward the street, the two men shot Masih 5 times. They fled on motorcycles as police stood by, no one made any attempt to stop them.

    Report Post » pastorjazz  
  • Gas137
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 10:44am

    Asia Bibi’s words in casual conversation illustrate the negative results of religious teaching based on exclusivity.

    Report Post » Gas137  
  • Dunce_Biden
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 8:36am

    Here’s a great site by people who have escaped from Islam http://www.faithfreedom.org/

    Worth a look – what an eye opener!

    Report Post »  
  • JRJSRJ
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 7:57am

    @snowleopard
    The gift of eternal life is granted at the moment of repentence unto salvation. It is not something Christ gives later. The firs resurection is not when it is given. That is when the glorified and final form of your self is given. When a person is born again, confesses with the mouth believes with the heart, then the gift of the Holy Spirit is given and the person is indwelt by God through the Holy Spirit at that point. Not some future point to come. Jesus said in the gospel of John chapter 11, “he that believes in ME will NEVER die.” That means your soul will NOT perish or sleep to be awakened at a later time. This means exactly what it says. That is only true if the believer is made immortal at the time of conversion. The human form perishes as the bible commands, Hebrews- “man must die once then the judgement” but the soul does not. As the apostle John points out in 1John, “we do not know what we shall be (meaning between the time we die and His return) but we know that when we see Him we shall be like HIm.

    Report Post » JRJSRJ  
    • TheGreyPiper
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 6:59pm

      Yeah OK, I don’t think we need sectarian preaching around here, huh? Let’s just agree the Pakistani government needs some severe crusading on its @$$ and leave it at that.

      Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
  • NursingNerd2012
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 7:50am

    Just an extra side note: Asia Bibi has is not only charged with blasphemy under the blasphemy 295C penal code, and therefore sentenced to be hanged. She is also a mother of five, and they family had to pay 2 1/2 years worth of her wages in fines, plus she’s been in prison for over a year! All for saying that Jesus Christ died on the cross for her and asking the women what Mohamed has ever done for them. INSANE

    Report Post »  
  • green_manalishi
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 2:08am

    Don’t let a few peaceful muslims give the religion of terror a bad name.

    Report Post »  
  • Exrepublisheep
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 1:09am

    Recently, Pastor Youcef Nardarkhani was reportedly sentenced to death for apostasy. VOM contacts confirm that the pastor’s trial was held in recent weeks in the 11th Chamber of The Assize Court of the province of Gilan.

    Pastor Youcef is one of several members of his church who have been imprisoned. In the past, the Iranian government has also imprisoned and released his wife. Pastor Youcef was arrested in October 2009 after protesting a decision by the government requiring that his son study the Quran.
    Media reports suggest that Pastor Youcef was transferred to Lakan prison, which is supervised by the Political Police of the Islamic Republic. If a death sentence is officially handed down by the court and Pastor Youcef is executed, his would be the first judicial execution of a Christian in Iran in two decades.
    Pastor Youcef is a leader in the Full Gospel “Church of Iran” network, a group that stands apart from most house church groups in Iran.
    A “House church” is usually government sanctioned. Which means the leaders are required to turn in any members that “overreach” what the govt allows. In other words, anyone that prays too hard, attends too much, doesn’t give money to Islamic charities etc… The above was cut/pasted from V.O.M.

    Report Post » Exrepublisheep  
  • BurntHills
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:51am

    oh, it is overseas? we thought it was happening here in muslim-inundated Dearborn Michigan, USA …. AGAIN. what news was it in, 4 or 5 kids got arrested for being Christians IN AMERICA…. you can’t be a Christian AMERICAN in muslim-infested Dearborn anymore.

    Report Post » BurntHills  
    • Exrepublisheep
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:57am

      Arrested for being Christian? Please leave more info so I can Google it, I won;t beleive thats the whole story until I fact check it for myself.

      Report Post » Exrepublisheep  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 3:18am

      More info. as requested;

      Asia Bibi, a 37-year-old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested by police on Friday, June 19, and faces possible blasphemy charges. Asia is the wife of 50-year-old Ashiq Masih, and their family is one of only three Christian families in a village of more than 1,500 families.

      Many of the local women work on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees, including Asia. During their work many of the Muslim women have pressured Asia to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. In June, the pressure became especially strong.

      On Friday, June 19, there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith, with the Muslim women telling Asia about Islam. Asia responded by telling them about her faith in Christ. Asia told the Muslim women Christ had died on the cross for our sins, then asked them what Mohammed had done for them, according to VOM sources. She told them Jesus is alive, but Mohammed is dead. “Our Christ is the true prophet of God,” she reportedly told them, “and yours is not true.”

      Upon hearing this response the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia Bibi. Then some men came and took her and locked her in a room. They announced from mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey. Local Christians informed the police, who took Asia into custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. She is currently being held at the police station in Nankana city. Christians there urged the police not to file blasphemy charges, but police claimed that they must go forward due to pressure from local Muslim leaders.

      The Voice of the Martyrs urges Christians around the world to pray for Asia Bibi and her family. Further, we call on the Pakistani government to insure that the rights of Christians like Asia are protected.

      http://www.prisoneralert.com/pprofiles/vp_prisoner_197_profile.html?_nc=a6a139416125b06a8865823dec54e718

      http://www.persecution.com/

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 3:33am

      OOPS!
      Should have read Burnthills post a little closer first before I replied to Exrepublisheep.
      Anyway, more info. from persecution.com

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • BurntHills
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:07pm

      no, it happened HERE in AMERICA, kids were arrested for being CHRISTIANS and the muslims in Dearborn didn’t like them near them {preaching Christianity” at a city festival…. the kids were talking to some mulsims who had just asked them about being Christians.

      Report Post » BurntHills  
    • BurntHills
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:09pm

      JUNE 18 2010, 4 CHRISTIANS were arrested in Dearbvorn MI for BEING CHRISTIANS. it is on youtube and the webnews search.

      Report Post » BurntHills  
    • Exrepublisheep
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 4:09pm

      TY Burnthills, I googled :June 18 2010 Christians arrested: and i got just what you were saying. Hate is much worse when protected/promoted by any government, ours especially.

      Report Post » Exrepublisheep  
  • 317718
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:44am

    I pray this will ultimately turn around for her children and family. I also pray the Taliban does not retaliate such a move. To them, simply being a Christian is their reason to kill her.

    Report Post »  
  • thepatriotdave
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:36am

    See, prayer works!!!

    Report Post » thepatriotdave  
    • MrButcher
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 9:07am

      please tell me you‘re not trying to take credit for an event that hasn’t even happened yet.

      Amenesty International has been petitioning the Pakistani Gov’t relentlessly since this story broke as well as countless other religious and non-religious organizations.

      if you really want to help here’s a link to the Pakistani President public e-mail:
      publicmail@president.gov.pk

      His name is Asif Ali Zardari

      write him and tell him what you think.

      if you wish to translate your writing into Urdu, the official national language of Pakistan (you don’t have to; most in government there speak english), here’s a link for translation:

      http://translation.babylon.com/english/to-urdu/

      the best way to stand up to tyranny and despotism is directly.

      nobody deserves to be put to death for their beliefs.

      Report Post » MrButcher  
  • cheezwhiz
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:35am

    This news item is incomplete.
    Here is what is missing :

    The moment Zardari announced that he might consider pardon for the Christian woman,
    Hussain urgently dispatched Holder and a group of DOJ lawyers to Pakistan ,
    to convince Pakis to change their minds about the pardon,
    or else release that woman so that she can be prosecuted
    IN USA.
    ( OK its a sarc :D )

    Report Post » cheezwhiz  
  • jzs
    Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:23am

    If she is set free, it speaks to love of all mankind that the best among us project. Christ’s message was not hatred, but one of love and acceptance.

    Report Post » jzs  
    • Exrepublisheep
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:33am

      Unfortunately his message is not universal. (Yet) And when he returns it will be to kick ass!

      Report Post » Exrepublisheep  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:34am

      If she is set free, it speaks to politics. Christ’s message was love and acceptance, but Islam’s is not… especially regarding women. Did you read the story of how she was persecuted (and prosecuted) in the first place?

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
    • Exrepublisheep
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:40am

      Ya, its frightening to be a Christion in an Islamic country. Any disagreement with an Islamist, even if they say “give us your daughter and you say no, can lead to government sanctioned death.‘Voice of the Martyrs’ web sight tracks such things

      Report Post » Exrepublisheep  
    • CanadianForGod
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:59am

      Please lets keep praying for our sister in Christ that she may return to her children. Why can’t persecuted Christians in muslim countries be the ones that get to come to Canada and the United States? No we bring potential terrorists instead.

      Report Post »  
    • snowleopard3200 {mix art}
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 1:28am

      @Exrepublisheep

      The message of Christ and his followers is of the kingdom to come, and of repentance unto the saving grace offered by the Father via Christ. The call is offered to all of humanity, man, woman, and children and is a free gift given; we decide to accept or decline. He will judge all by the same standard of the commandments and the bible when his return occurs; and will give the according reward of immortal life unto his people. The remainder will perish until the second execution of judgment upon the wicked.

      Revelations says “Blessed is he who partakes of the first ressurection, for upon them the second death shall have no effect.” Revelation 20:5, 6

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 3:11am

      Sadly, if she is set free she will still face persecution and maybe death by stoning or some other terrible fate. Christians in this position of being set free from prison need to flee the country as soon as possible. They will not rest till they kill or convert her.
      BUT, I have under estimated God’s grace before……..Just going by history.

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • geminisailor
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 9:09am

      JZS, no offense here, but she’s being considered for pardon. Operatives, *consider* and *pardon*. While I 100% agree with you about love and peace (Christianity), the only reason they’re considering backing down from their primary decision to execute her is because of the huge backlash it would draw. They aren’t coming from the “love and peace” perspective.

      Report Post »  
    • Nervous Investor
      Posted on November 21, 2010 at 5:44pm

      The message of Islam however is different ….. it is one of cruelty and death to all non Muslims.

      Report Post »  

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love