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Britain to Benny: Go Away! PDF Print E-mail
Swift
Written by Jeff Wagg   
Wednesday, 07 October 2009 00:00

In a delicious piece of good news, the UK decided not to let self-proclaimed faith healer Benny Hinn enter their country. He tried again, and again, was denied.

Was he denied because his "parsonage," that is his personal home paid for with church funds, is worth $10,000,000? Was he denied because he won't open his books to public scrutiny? Maybe it's because he proclaimed that God would destroy the homosexual community with fire? No, it was none of these. It was a simple, non-personal change in British law that states simply that "preaching" is not work, and therefor a work visa will not be granted unless he has documentation from a church.

For those unfamiliar with Benny Hinn and his ministry, he is a rather run of the mill "faith healer" who takes in millions of dollars each year and fails to offer anything of value in return. Randi has written about him extensively, and Hinn is featured prominenly in Randi's book, The Faith Healers. He's also been featured on prominent US television shows, a nice excerpt of which is found here.

The whole story as reported by by the UK's TimesOnline reveals that in fact, this was just a clerical error, and Hinn will be admitted once he fills out the paperwork. So while many of us might chortle at his misfortune, it's likely to be short lived, though it did costs him a trip in his private jet, and he did cancel three performances. Still, we should take moments like this to remind the public than men of Hinn's ethics are still out there, taking money from a gullible public.

It's rather amazing though, that a man with God on his side should fail to provide the proper paperwork to enter a country not once, but twice. What did he think would be different the second time? Did he pray in between, and if so, was his faith not strong enough? No matter—sadly, the same throngs that were waiting for him the first time will be waiting when he returns. Hopefully though, at least a few will have taken the time to learn more about him.

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written by Steel Rat, October 07, 2009
Preaching absolutely IS work! It can be very hard work sometimes getting the gullible to believe in nonsense.
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Clerical Error!
written by Michael K Gray, October 07, 2009
"... that a man with God on his side should fail!"
No more surprising than that a man with a leprechaun on his side might fail.

Benny Hinn would have truly gob-smacked P.T. Barnum with the enormity of his outrageous chutzpah.
You have to hand it to him:
He is a consummate puppet-master of the ignorant and utterly credulous.
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written by daveg703, October 07, 2009
@Steel Rat
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written by ianmacm, October 07, 2009
The UK government has also banned Dutch MP Geert Wilders and US radio show host Michael Savage from entering the UK, arguing that they were guilty of hate speech against Muslims. Although Wilders and Savage have said some wacky things, critics argued that the government was running scared of open debate and was creating publicity by turning them into free speech martyrs. Banning preachers, psychics etc from entering the country would be incompatible with allowing people to make up their own minds, and would give the impression that they could not be defeated in open debate.
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written by tctheunbeliever, October 08, 2009
Whew! For a second there, I thought they'd deported Benny Hill! But he isn't (wasn't?) as wacky anyway. The people on his show just scream "crazy" (figuratively, I mean).
The problem with open debate is that logic doesn't always win out. But of course you're right about freedom of conscience (no pun intended).
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Benny's Real Interest
written by StarTrekLivz, October 08, 2009
It's pretty obvious that Hinn's real interest is $ and not the work of any divinity, as per these news stories:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4619733.stm

http://exchristian.net/2/2008/02/benny-hinn-leaves-australia-800k-richer.html

That he would go into countries in Africa which are still under such grinding poverty and demand even more money & pout over the size of his "take" is disgusting, and demonstrates a lack of ethics at odds with religious and philosophical systems .... He makes the case that religion should be taxed like any other business -- exceptions for programs that are genuinely humanitarian like food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, free schools & clinics for the poor, etc.
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written by outsorcerer, October 08, 2009
In fairness to Hinn, (and from personal experience) the UK work Visa paperwork can be rather cumbersome...

In fairness to those dealing in reality, couldn't/shouldn't Hinn have just trusted "God" to take care of the paperwork? Shouldn't he take the two rejections as a "sign" that "God" doesn't want him there...?
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written by tctheunbeliever, October 08, 2009
(I meant to say, the people on Hinn's show)
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At last!
written by Dooyoowoowoo, October 08, 2009
He's getting in on the third try. I just want him to remove these voices in my head that keep telling me he's a corrupt con artist and all round sleaze ball. You can do that can't ya Benny?

Benny?
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written by Paul Claessen, October 08, 2009
"British law that states simply that "preaching" is not work, and therefor a work visa will not be granted"

That's a bit of a weird sentence! If preaching is not considered 'work', then why would he need a 'work' visa in the first place?
Even more bizar is that preaching, all in a sudden, IS considered 'work', when you can show a document claiming sponsorship by a church.
I mean, WHAT constitutes a church? Will they recognize ANY church? Church of Satan? Why didn't Hin simply sign a sponsorship from his own church on the spot?
I wonder if they check the Pope and the Dalai Lama for the same documents, when they visit the U.K.?
Don't get me wrong, the name Hin alone makes my blood boil, but this reeks of silly persecution.
And yes, the Brits have been turning away people at the border latelely.
Maybe they turned away Benny Hin in retaliation for the U.S.'s turning away of Cat Stevens, a few years back. (j/k)
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written by LovleAnjel, October 08, 2009
@Paul

I think they wanted a UK church to sponsor him.

As for preaching being work-- he provides a 'service' that people are willing to pay him for. That sounds like it can be called 'work' to me. He probably just didn't think he needed to fill out the paperwork like every other schmo.

(btw I'm not saying the 'service' he provides is actually worthwhile or ethical)
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written by sailor, October 08, 2009
I seem to remember in my youth the Brits actually did stop the Scientologists coming en mass to proselytize or hold a conference or some such. Benny obviously rips people off all over the world. It would be interesting to know how much he makes in each country. It could be a kind of inverse "skeptometer"
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written by krelnik, October 08, 2009
My favorite part of this story is that it all happened during TAM London.
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A very clever fraudster
written by Bill, October 08, 2009
I Live by the Sea of Gallilee in Israel and have met the man (Benny Hinn)and some of his "flock". He is such a transparent Fraud that a completely blind and half deaf man could see through him. You can imagine the sensless (deaf blind and dumb)quality of his flock.
By the way,someone doing an academic paper on these types of preachers need not travel the world. Come sit by the Sea of Gallilee and they will come to you.(with their flock)
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One rule for all?
written by ianmacm, October 08, 2009
An interesting question here is whether the UK government has learned how to be more subtle in these matters. There was criticism in the media after it banned Geert Wilders and Michael Savage from entering the UK (here is the letter sent to Mr Wilders declaring him persona non grata: http://www.dianawest.net/Porta...Letter.jpg Benny Hinn was not formally banned, but was turned away because of a failure to follow the "rules". This Telegraph article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...emism.html asks whether the UK has moved the goalposts in order to block Mr Hinn's entry. Will Pope Benedict XVI need a work visa when he visits the UK next year? smilies/wink.gif
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written by ianmacm, October 08, 2009
Not sure why the link to the Geert Wilders letter is not working, so here it is again: http://ponyurl.com/zgq782
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written by Alan3354, October 09, 2009
Isn't Benny Hill sufficient for the Brits?
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How history might have been different...
written by ianmacm, October 10, 2009
Maybe Pontius Pilate got it all wrong. Instead of having Jesus crucified, he should have said "Sorry, Mister Nazareth, you have not filled in the correct paperwork for your occupation."
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written by bosshog, October 10, 2009
The man's haircut alone should be enough to bar him from any civilized country.
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written by Paul Claessen, October 10, 2009
"The man's haircut alone should be enough to bar him from any civilized country"

Better not make haircuts (or lack thereof) an issue: else the good Doctor Richard Dawkins is going to be banned too from a lot of countries.
Did you see him at Bill O'Reilly's last night? JEEPERS! Someone should tell the man to get a haircut!

http://www.videosift.com/video...-10-9-2009
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Overseas income
written by rosie, October 10, 2009
Is it not still the case that the IRS could tax every penny he makes in the UK? Why do they not?
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Reminds me of Charlie Tuna
written by kunjamuk, October 16, 2009
Remember Charlie Tuna..."StaaKIsht doesn't want tuna with good taste, they want tuna that taste good." That was his rejection slip. Frankly I think the Brits have got it right on either count. There's a certain bigot AM radio wag bellyaching every day about being "banned in Britain." Sounds like "good taste" in either case.
mc
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written by masanf, November 14, 2009
I can't believe people are cheering this. When did suppression of dissent become admirable. This guy is a threat to absolutely no one, at all. One wonders how those on this site would react if a majority religious country had decided to bar atheists from entering.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 08 October 2009 00:47