The UK Has Some Great Rules

This news item comes from the Telegraph UK and is awesome. Benny Hinn was refused to entry to the UK. Apparently, he needs to be sponsored by a church to do business there. Here it is:



By Laura Donnelly
Published: 12:16PM BST 03 Oct 2009

Benny Hinn was refused entry to Britain because he had failed to bring a valid sponsorship certificate from his church

Thousands who travelled to see Mr Hinn perform at a London rally have been were left disappointed after officials at Stansted airport would not let him in the country.
Border Agency officials turned back Mr Hinn, who landed by private jet, because he had failed to bring a valid sponsorship certificate from his church, required under rules introduced last November.

The Pentecostal preacher, who was due to perform at a three day rally in a Docklands exhibition centre this weekend, flew on to Paris, and attempted – and failed – to regain entry to Britain via Luton.Thousands of evangelical Christians who had booked long weekend breaks to see the mission at the ExCeL centre were left waiting for Mr Hinn to appear at the free preaching event, not knowing why he failed to appear. Instead another pastor took his place.

His "fire conference and miracle service" was scheduled to last three days, finishing on Saturday night. Among the "miracles" the Texan preacher performs is one in which he instructs participants to "let the bodies hit the floor". Videos of the services show the devout falling down backwards, "slain in spirit".

Mr Hinn has previously visited Britain without problems, but since November, under Home Office rules intended to combat extremism, all religious workers must obtain a valid certificate of sponsorship before they arrive in the UK. One of the aims of the new points-based system was to prevent teachers of religious hate entering the country. A Border Agency spokesman said the rules were designed to ensure that a legitimate sponsor is linked to any application to enter Britain for work purposes. He added: "These rules are applied objectively and clearly set out for travellers".

Jill Masefield, who lives in Bristol, said she and thousands of other followers had been left waiting for Mr Hinn to appear at the free preaching event, not knowing why he had not appeared. "He's been coming here for years and years," she said. "I think it is very unfair that they have blocked him now. It has cost me a fortune in hotel bills and I feel we have been led up the garden path".