As an Orthodox Jew I am forbidden to enter a church for any purpose whatsoever.

which, given that the Jewish Scriptures and most of their commentaries predate the existence of churches, strikes me as pretty weird. How did the prohibition start?


This ban also extends to any church affiliated facilities such as a Catholic high school gymnasium or auditorium where crucifixes or statues of the Virgin Mary are prominently displayed.

I once went on a computer training course at a centre which once been a posh Catholic school. Their machine room was the former chapel, and the plaster statues were still there looking over the mainframes. Seemed rather fitting.


It falls under the prohibition of idolatry.

It shouldn't, because you can be in the same building/city/universe as an idol without worshipping it.


You mention that you are a pastor of an Anglican church. Do you think it's possible that there are some people in your community that couldn't bring themselves to go through your doors?

The last time I encountered that one in Scotland, it was a Presbyterian art history student who couldn't bring herself to go through the door of a Pisky church to look at its architecture.


The things that give me the creeps are military shrines. I'm not going to make a point of pissing on them like the woman who made the news a few weeks ago, but as far as I'm concerned they're no less suitable objects to be pissed on than any other piece of outdoor masonry, and I am certainly not about to do anything ever which conveys any indication of public respect towards them. There are usually buskers beside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Edinburgh who completely ignore the thing. Good for them.