Crazy Preacher Todd Bentley Refused Entry to the UK

If you follow the lunatic fringes of Pentecostal-evangelicalism, you’ve heard of Todd Bentley. A former child molester, Bentley is a YouTube star for screaming on stage, claiming to cure cancer, and claiming to cure that cancer by bashing old ladies’ heads on stage.

An evangelist preacher who has claimed he can cure people of their illnesses by hitting and kicking them has been banned from entering the UK by the Home Office.

Todd Bentley, a controversial revivalist healer based in the United States, had been due to hold a series of gatherings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the next few weeks. But the Home Office said Bentley, a Canadian citizen, was subject to an exclusion order and would not be permitted entry to the country.

“We can confirm that Mr Bentley has been excluded from the UK. The government makes no apologies for refusing people access to the UK if we believe they are not conducive to the public good. Coming here is a privilege that we refuse to extend to those who might seek to undermine our society,” the Home Office said.

Bentley, a 36-year-old former drug addict who at the age of 13 sexually assaulted a minor, reacted angrily to the decision, writing on his church’s Facebook page: “What about all the other celebrities, musicians and others with a more colorful past than me that are permitted into the UK for shows … Is this really about my past and fear of potential violence or Freedom of Religion and attack on Faith, God & Healing?” [via Revivalist preacher Todd Bentley refused entry to UK | World news | The Guardian]

So, kudos to our brothers and sisters in Great Britain for showing some common sense.