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Permalink Reply by Tim K on October 26, 2009 at 1:05am

As I understand it, the idea behind the bedside bible is that it is a free service provided by Gideon's International for the benefit of Christians so that even when traveling anybody can access a copy. Either the bible in question is yours to keep, or they are so plentiful that no one cares if you walk off with one or write in it. There is nothing to stop traveling atheist from collecting Gideon's Bibles and burning them.

Gideon's Bibles trouble many atheists, although it is hard to build a case against them. The legal trouble is that this practice is non-obtrusive, does not violate separation of church and state (as many practices of Gideon's International used to).

When traveling in hotels in Africa, there is always a table somewhere with a glass surface that has a slip of paper pointing to Mecca for Muslims concerned as to which direction to pray in. This seems to me to be a perfectly logical practice, and it doesn't bother me at all. The case for the Gideon's Bible is similar, and yet something about it still bothers me. I very much like the idea of religion free rooms, but I don't think we can put up much of a legal effort. I know someone knowledgable about the ACLU who would know how much of a chance a case like this has, I'll check it out.

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Permalink Reply by David Miller on November 4, 2009 at 10:48pm

Although I can agree with C's estimation of the Bible, it seems like taking this sort of direct action against the hotel room Bibles is something like trying to throw the sand off the beach one grain at a time (though maybe more immediately gratifying).
We would be much better off banking on a cultural change from educating the future generations. We're not in a great place in that regard at the moment but we seem to be generally headed in that direction. That and I don't have a better idea. ;)

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Permalink Reply by mistercliff on May 12, 2011 at 9:16am

I've seen some colleges have events where you can exchange your Bibles in for porn.

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Permalink Reply by paul babcock on May 12, 2011 at 10:47am

Has anyone else ever heard that Woody Allen spiel evolving bible and bullets? I forget most of the details, but the punch line is how this guy's life is saved by this bullet in his pocket shielding him from a crazed theist, who has thrown a bible at his heart.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on May 12, 2011 at 2:23pm

The Freedom From Religion Foundation in Madison, WI has stickers you can order to put in those bibles warning people that they are a work of fiction. :)

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Permalink Reply by Holly Valinotti on May 12, 2011 at 9:51pm

Would love to!  I just wrote a quote from Richard Feynmann in a Gideon's Bible, but would love an organized effort!

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Permalink Reply by Grace Fitzpatrick on May 13, 2011 at 11:48am

Why is it you can always find a Bible in a hotel room and the cable channel guide is almost always wrong?  I hadn't stayed in a hotel for quite awhile and in the intervening years, hotels got a lot more chintzy on the toilet paper and kleenex.  My suggestion is the next time you go to a hotel, put the bible in the bathroom where it can be really useful when your 2 tissues and three sheets of tp run out.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on May 13, 2011 at 12:28pm

That's the best idea yet! :)

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Permalink Reply by Hazel H. on May 13, 2011 at 3:42pm

I think it's only fair that they also provide the Satanic Bible alongside those Gideon thingies in hotel rooms. Just to be on the fair side. Or throw in one of Adolf's Mein Kampf there while we're on the subject. Some porn wouldn't hurt, too.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Ramos on July 19, 2011 at 8:34am

This is juvenile, but..... My old job used to send me away on training a lot, so I stayed in plenty of hotels. I used to find the bible and write "god isn't real" on the inside cover.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on July 19, 2011 at 8:52am

I just did this in a hotel in Chicago :)  I wrote on the inside cover "Warning: this book is a horrible work of fiction".  I'm 44. lol.

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Permalink Reply by The Doubter on July 19, 2011 at 3:42pm

Hi C,

I am new to Nexus and I was delighted for purely selfish reasons reading your post.

I have started a 'take the bible challenge' with my own web blog, forgive me now for seeming to promote it, but I would like you and others to honestly let me know what you think. I have basically being either asking motels/hotels and other organisations in the public arena to either remove the bible or place another book of science etc next to it.

This blatant  promoting of one faith is just simply wrong. For years it has annoyed me that organisations  such as hotels presume I would wish to gain comfort from reading the bible and that they think it is still an acceptable practice to promote the bible in such a singular manner.

My blogs are;

www.challengereligion.blogspot.com

www.takethebiblechallenge.bogspot.com

Let me know if this of interest to anyone,

Big thanks.

 

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