# Athiests why do you need the bible to be removed from your hotel room? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588 "2016-08-31T18:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/101 "2016-09-01T15:48:49Z")
It’s quite useful when you need to countersign a codephrase in the message sent to you by an international arms dealer who wants to buy the NOC list you just stole from CIA headquarters in a feat of acrobatics and subterfuge. It can also be used for beating a suspect under interrogation, especially since phone books have become almost non-existant. And Jason Bourne could turn it into some kind of weapon of mass destruction. Other than that, I have no real use for it. The pages are too slick and flimsy for service as toilet paper, and I’ve read better stories in _Dukes of Hazzard_ fan fiction. But I’ve never asked for it to be removed, and I question that anyone else has, either, except as a weak attempt at recreational outrage. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/102 "2016-09-01T15:57:10Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Yeah, harmless to you - but I suspect that you’re not an LGBT teenager growing up in a small town in the Bible Belt. > > When people stop spewing hatred of their fellow human beings, I will happily adopt your laissez-faire attitude to religious belief. Well, the bigots who tormented you succeeded in one way: they taught you to hate, just like them. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/103 "2016-09-01T16:01:12Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Well, the bigots who tormented you succeeded in one way: they taught you to hate, just like them. So what’s your reaction to hateful bigotry? To embrace it as part of the rich tapestry of life? As it happens I’m anti-slavery too, I guess I just hate almost _everything_ in the bible. I really must learn to be more tolerant and loving of those bigots, after all they are human beings too, right? Poor things. Hate the bigotry not the bigot, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/104 "2016-09-01T16:14:05Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > But I’ve never asked for it to be removed, and I question that anyone else has, either, except as a weak attempt at recreational outrage. Although in this thread we do seem to have found _someone_ who is badly “triggered” by the very idea. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/105 "2016-09-01T17:16:31Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > This atheist has about ten version of the Bible in my bedroom at home and another ten books about the Bible, plus one Quran and one Book of Mormon. Finding just one lonely bible in a hotel room just makes me feel like they aren’t really trying. Perfect user name/post combo. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/106 "2016-09-01T18:04:35Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I have thought about, but not actually done, opening the bible to one of it’s more disturbing passages, (ones about being commanded to commit genocide, take slaves, commit rape, and so on), and leave it highlighted on the nightstand. > > Or, maybe put in a nice bookmark with scripture from 1 Timothy 2:12 inscribed on it to mark the place. Or Ezekiel 23:20? (NSFW) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/107 "2016-09-01T18:17:21Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Or Ezekiel 23:20? (NSFW) > > 😛 Nah, those passages are pay-per-read. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/108 "2016-09-01T18:42:00Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Recently read about Atheist groups trying to get hotels to remove the Gideon bibles from all the hotel’s rooms. I have to wonder in what way are they being injured by having that bible there? In every hotel I’ve been in it is unobtrusively placed in a drawer. It can’t hurt you. The hotel doesn’t pay for the Bible so it’s not like they up your bill. I just can’t understand this level of religiophobia and it strikes me as just another opportunity to act like an Asshole. Imagine that the Koran or maybe some atheistic book like The God Delusion was standard issue in hotels. What do you think the Christians would say? That’s why atheists want the bible removed. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/109 "2016-09-01T18:58:34Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > That’s why atheists want the bible removed. In this case it has nothing to do with that. It’s about a hotel controlled by a government entity distributing bibles and appearing to favor a specific religion. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/110 "2016-09-01T19:11:46Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > In this case it has nothing to do with that. It’s about a hotel controlled by a government entity distributing bibles and appearing to favor a specific religion. What? Who mentioned anything about a hotel controlled by a goverment entity? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/111 "2016-09-01T19:21:14Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > …yes. A quiet, unobtrusive, polite form of proselytism that neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket nor makes noise that keeps me awake nor buttonholes me in the driveway to chew my ear off. And yet somehow I doubt you’d have the same reaction if somebody was leaving copies of _Mein Kampf._ ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/112 "2016-09-01T19:42:18Z")
I don’t give a damn about bibles in hotel rooms and honestly had no idea it was still done, not having stayed in a hotel for at least the past 20 years. It would not bother me in any way to see one, but even as a Christian for 30 years I wouldn’t have ever required one in a hotel and these days most people could access any version of the Bible they like on their own phone. It does seem pushy, but not unexpected considering I can’t go to the grocery store without someone inviting me to their church or passing me a pamphlet or sticking a flyer on my car. Christians can be rather pushy though, can’t they? They have special advantages already. I have to deal with Christians and their expectation that everyone at the meeting bow their heads for their “in Jesus name” prayers running the PTA at my kid’s school. They knock on my door at least once a week or leave something on my front door, and that really pisses me off because it gets my roommate’s dogs worked up. They invite my child to all sorts of “fun and prizes” afterschool clubs and send out flyers through the school inviting kids to parties at their churches. But it’s okay because they’re Christians. If Muslims started doing this there would be protests in the streets. But because Christians are the majority the rest of us just suck it up and either keep our mouths shut or we protest and get labeled as troublemakers. Why does it matter to YOU that atheists don’t want Bibles in their hotel room? Is it really that big a deal even if they stop putting them there? Won’t people just learn to bring their own or use their own electronic devices? Do you think they save lives by providing hope for those at the end of their rope? What was the original point of those Bibles? To save lives? Or to save ‘souls’? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/113 "2016-09-01T19:50:33Z")
I’ve always found Gideon Bibles in hotel/motel rooms to be annoying, because I once read somewhere that hookers listed their phone numbers inside the cover or first couple of pages, and I never found any such listings. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/114 "2016-09-01T19:50:47Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > What? Who mentioned anything about a hotel controlled by a goverment entity? The OP, in post #27, when asked to give details. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/115 "2016-09-01T20:05:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Christians - Why do you ask for the Satanist tract in your hotel room to be removed? It isn’t harming anyone. I would probably go to the front desk and demand either a different room or advise I’m not staying at that hotel if there’s devil worship garbage in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/116 "2016-09-01T20:08:56Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I would probably go to the front desk and demand either a different room or advise I’m not staying at that hotel if there’s devil worship garbage in the room. That’s not very open-minded of you. What harm does it do to you? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/117 "2016-09-01T20:09:19Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I would probably go to the front desk and demand either a different room or advise I’m not staying at that hotel if there’s devil worship garbage in the room. Thanks for the best laugh I’ve had in a while. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/118 "2016-09-01T20:10:34Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > I would probably go to the front desk and demand either a different room or advise I’m not staying at that hotel if there’s devil worship garbage in the room. So, you sympathize with atheists who would rather not find a bible in their room? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/119 "2016-09-01T20:22:06Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > I never have. Nor have I had any problem with a Koran, which I’ve actually had in my room, or the mark designated which way for Muslims to pray. I wouldn’t even care if there was a copy of a book by Richard Dawkins. Books can’t hurt me. You can often find the Book of Mormon at Marriott hotels, and when I stayed at the Hotel Nikko I picked up a Buddhist book. This assumes that I even open a drawer. I have never seen the open Bible on the nightstand in 30 years of business travel (and I travel weekly). Satanist track - hilarious and I would love to read it. Some bit from Dawkins, etc. - sure - it is something to read. And I identify as a Christian (serving as a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588/120 "2016-09-01T20:29:21Z")
I’d love to find out who the Jack Chick of the Satanist tract genre is. Some terrified woman in Heaven saying “But I killed goats every week and drank the blood of babies!” and the faceless God saying “But you didn’t believe in Satan with your heart and now you’re mine! FOREVER! **HAW HAW HAW!** ” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiests-why-do-you-need-the-bible-to-be-removed-from-your-hotel-room/764588.md?page=7)