Bible in hotel rooms

[Dom Tuk]

Inevitably every hotel room (in the UK) I have stayed in has the bible in one of the drawers. Although it does not bother me in the least, in this day of political correctness when will they start keeping a koran as well.

[andy hughes]

Unlikely.

The bibles are placed by The Gideon Society, and hotels simply accept them as custom and practice in a predomenantly Christian country.

Unless an equivalent Muslim organisation set out to do the same as the Gideons, it's not going to happen.

The hotels cannot be accused of being non-Pc, because they neither invite nor refuse the placing of bibles - they simply accept it.

More FAQ's here - http://www.gideons.org/faq.html

[Buenchico]

The Christian faith expects its members to 'preach the word'. (i.e. there is a 'missionary ethic' which expects Christians to try to convert non-believers). It is therefore unsurprising that a Christian movement seeks to distribute copies of its holy book.

The Muslim faith does not share the 'missionary ethic', so it would be surprising if any Muslim organisation tried to make its holy book available to non-believers. (There would be little point providing a copy of the Koran for Muslims, since all devout Muslims will carry a copy with them).

[The foregoing is a 'rough and ready' choice of words written by an atheist. Apologies if I've managed to offend anyone accidentally!].

Chris

[heatherglen]

i read somewhere that the Gideon Society is no longer leaving  Bibles in hotel rooms.

[VINNY100_2]

They certainly dont leave them in the rooms at Travelodge,I booked in late(wedding next day)forgot to buy a paper and had nothing to read.When I searched for my gideons bible....the drawers were Empty!!!!!(:)tic.

[flashpig]

According to the Daily Mail earlier this year, NHS hospitals either have stopped or were planning to stop accepting bibles for putting in bedside drawers.

I have had a crack at the bible a few times, even one of the Gideons bibles with the helpful 'if you are considering comitting suicide: go to page 136' style contents, and I just find it dead boring.

To me all the Gideon people are doing is taunting the weary traveller who forgot to bring a good book (a good book, not the good book).

[Dom Tuk]

Does anyone nick these things from the hotel?

[Artemis]

VINNY100_2 You must have stayed in the same room as myself as that was where I got my copy from, which neatly answers Dom Tuk as well.

[silly moo]

Hospitals are considering dropping the Bibles as an infection control measure not a PC one.
Most so called hospital acquired infections are actually brought into the hospital by patients and/or visitors.

[ursula62]

If they're going to put in a koran why not a copy of the baghavad gita and other holy books? And while you're at it, since Satanism is now an official religion, why not the Book of the Dead?

Andy Hughes is right - the Gideon Society is a charity. I think it started in the USA. Anyway, unless other religions have similar charities it isn't going to happen.  The bibles are never left out in the open, they are always stashed in a drawer - if you find it offensive, you don't have to open the hotel drawers.

If you needed a Koran, you might try calling reception, they probably have a single copy in the hotel somewhere.

Besides it's not always the christians that get all the breaks! At one work conference I attended, the hotel had set aside one of the bedrooms as a prayer room for muslim attendees, but they didn't offer the same facility for christians or any other religions.

[LordyGeordie]

i seem to remember when travelling through utah a lot of the motels as well as having the gideon bible also had the mormon equivalent