Do many people get banned from entering a Church ?

Question

The Jerusalem Post
George Bush and Tony Blair have been banned from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
The report quoted a Church official Father Panaritus as saying ,
" They are war criminals and murderers of children. Therefore , the Church of the Nativity has decided to ban them access into the Holy Shrine forever ".

they are officialy banned Father P was the one to make the announcment .
It was done to show Christians cannot condone or turn a blind eye to the mass killing of innocents
The Church is a place for sinners who repent , not for people who continully sin with no remorse and have no regard for human life

Father P didn`t call it a Holy Shrine .Thats what it is Bethlehem is a Holy place and the Curch of the Nativity is the Holy shrine of Christianity to honour the Birth of Christ and the values Christianity stands for.

Answer 1

every body needs a wake up call every now and then good on the father P for doing this. And yes if your behaviour is inappropriate and you show no remorse you should not be allowed to attend church. I am glad someone has shown some backbone to these two world leaders who think they can do anything thye want and get away with it.

Answer 2

That's kinda funny. Father Panaritus bans President Bush and Tony Blair from entering the Church of the Nativity and more than likely, they will be permitted in heaven and Father Panaritus won't.
The fact that FP called the church of the Nativity a Holy Shrine just shows that while Bush and Blair are Christians, FP is an idolater.

Answer 3

Unbelievable! No, I don't think many people are banned from entering a Church. It doesn't make sense does it. If the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem thought President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair were that terrible, you'd think they would have their doors wide open. Something wrong with this picture.

Added: Who has the standing to judge these two men? Who decided they were war criminals and murders of children? This is only Church official Father Panaritus's opinion and judgement. The Bible he uses says, "Judge not and ye shall not be judged".

Answer 4

Keny..I did not know your question was going in this direction...its more political than religious. The Church of the Nativity sits in Palestine territory. Knowing this, I am sure that Bush and Blair are likely seen as...what you said.

I can get pretty hard on them (Bush and Blair, the B boys) myself...though not quite that harsh...and about the war. Especially after last nights speech. My little bro is over there on his second tour of duty in Iraq and I want him safe and at home.

Now, so as all the fundamentalist Christians can stone me along with the atheists...yes, people are banned from churches all the time...NOT ALL CHURCHES...but some. To those who do all I can say is THANK YOU, because those people come to my church and they are fantastic. Church is a good place for us sinners to get together with God you know, and party down.

Maybe we should just pray for Bush and Blair and hope they can still go in some church.
cal

Answer 5

The Church of the Nativity is wrong. No one should be banned from a Christian church who has never been there. The only time banning might be justified is if a person is disruptive to the services on repeated occasions and will not repent their behavior. I can assure you that if Osama Bin Laden walked through the front door of our church that he would be properly greeted, seated and prayed for. Politics should never enter into a decision to ban. The Catholic Church is being hypocritical in banning these two leaders as over the centuries it has been responsible for a great number of atrocities in which tens of thousands of women and children have been brutally killed. No church can rightfully act as judge as to who can be admitted and who can be excluded, as God desires to see all people come to the glory of God.

Answer 6

First I've heard of this.
Very rare that people are banned from church. However, there have been occasions where people have been ex-communicated (refused holy communion) because their behaviour doesn't match up with christian standards and they are unrepentant.
Also, in the church of england, the church wardens are responsible for keepiing order in church and they have the authority to remove anyone who is causing a disturbance, or dangerous in any way. But they don't stop people from coming in.

Answer 7

I never heard of anyone being banned form a church before. In fact, that goes against everything that Christ taught. If anything, Bush and Blair need church worse than some others.

Answer 8

Loas of people get banned from church... Theyr'e just not as famous as The Honourable Tony Blair and Stupido bush. I stand by what I said becacse bushy thinks he can lead any body down the garden path but not our Tony Blair. I dont believe in God so I dont care who the F gets banned or barred from churches as long as the integrity of The Hopn Tony Blair is not brought int question. As for Bush he truly is a waste of space that not even I would let into my heart....He brought our country down with his own.

Answer 9

I have a hard time believing it. Especially since this action would be based on a false accusation. Besides George Bush and Tony Blair are both Christians.

Answer 10

I've only heard on one guy that's banned from our congregation. Apparently he's a known sex offender on paroll and part of his paroll rules are that he can't go into a church because he preyed on lots people in churches before.

My bishop said he's been instructed to escort this guy out if he ever showed up.

Seems very reasonable compared to that awkward political statement.