# Motel Bibles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258 "2003-02-24T22:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![headchecked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/258eb7/32.png) [@headchecked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/headchecked)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/21 "2003-02-25T04:22:09Z")
It said on one of the links they place about 45 million bibles a year, where do they get the funding for all of that? With the 130,000 members they claim that comes out to about 350 bibles a person. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/22 "2003-02-25T04:32:05Z")
I hear the Gideons buy their supply of bibles off of Ebay. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/23 "2003-02-25T05:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by headchecked \* > **It said on one of the links they place about 45 million bibles a year, where do they get the funding for all of that?** I know they come to my church at least once a year, begging for money. Their site says that they focus on placing Bibles (and New Testaments, although that always seemed kind of half-hearted to me) in places where people lodge overnight, including hospitals and homeless shelters. _on preview: They never mentioned Ebay, but isn’t it nice to think that the Gideons are in favor of recycling? 😉_ ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/24 "2003-02-25T06:59:40Z")
Somewhere along my life I read that salesmen listed names and phone numbers of “working girls” in the Gideon Bible, although I have never come across such a listing! 😉 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/25 "2003-02-25T07:58:48Z")
A traveling man managed to convince the dining room waitress that she should spend the night in his room on the grounds that Leviticus 5:4 in his room Bible said it was OK. Next morning she awoke to find him gone. She hurriedly opened the Gideon Bible to the cited page and found that someone had written, “The waitress puts out.” ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/26 "2003-02-25T09:07:56Z")
Some hotels in Hawaii have Buddha books, not King James Bibles. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/27 "2003-02-25T09:18:25Z")
A few months ago a thread of mine established that Gideon’s Bibles are _not_ for the taking. This was later reconfirmed by **yojimbo** when he was on a business trip - there’s small-print in the bible saying “please leave this for the next sinner” or something. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/28 "2003-02-25T11:32:03Z")
The next traveller IIRC. This was in a London Hotel. The bible which I picked up purely for research reasons (ie. to answer **jjimm’s** question) had a sticker inside it asking for the Bible not to be removed. It didn’t say anything about using the nice thin paper as a stand in for Rizla’s however 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/29 "2003-02-25T11:34:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > \*\*It didn’t say anything about using the nice thin paper as a stand in for Rizla’s however 😉 \*\* I hate to think what you used for glue… ---
**Author:** ![pierre72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@pierre72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pierre72)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/30 "2003-02-25T11:41:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*I strongly recommend Penn & Teller’s [_How to Play in Traffic_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1572972939/qid=1046136891/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_4/102-3450295-4580134?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) for anyone who would like to have some serious fun with their Gideon Bible and an unwitting roommate. \*\* Just out of interest, and because that book is unavailable in the UK (oh, go on, then… and because it sounds good already and I fancy a wind-up), what’s the trick? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/31 "2003-02-25T12:02:41Z")
Umm, who would WANT a crate of bibles? Surely most people manage with two or three? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/32 "2003-02-25T12:29:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whistlepig \* > > In Utah, you usually find the Book of Mormon instead. Sometimes, you find both. > > \*\* In many Marriott Hotel rooms you will find both a Book of Mormon and a Bible. The Marriotts are Mormon. Also they figure that some people caught without a book prefer to read fiction. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/33 "2003-02-25T14:06:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pierre72 \* > what’s the trick? There’s a whole chapter on it, but basically it’s a card trick. You have to prepare the bible ahead of time, so sometimes it’s best to have a spare and swap it with the one that comes with the room. Friend “picks” a card of your choosing, you show them how the bible prophesied that selection. Plus, you get to get naked, so it’s a fun trick for everybody. Not as fun, IMHO, as the Eternal Card Trick, but fun. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/34 "2003-02-25T14:28:22Z")
I confess that I have, on more than one occasion, amended the Table of Contents in a Gideon Bible to include a few… interesting verses. They usually come with a quick reference to verses that are handy in certain situations, like family strife (which is why you’re spending the night in a motel, I guess). So I point out the part where Jesus tells believers to hate their parents and children, for example. It’s fun! ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/35 "2003-02-25T14:43:48Z")
Bill Hicks had a great routine regarding gideon bibles in hotels/motels. Cracks me up every time I listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/36 "2003-02-25T14:52:28Z")
I would take a Gideon Bible, but they’re always KJVs, I could use a good NIV or other modern translation that doesn’t read like the Middle English version of _The Canterbury Tales_. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/37 "2003-02-25T23:17:55Z")
I just got a reply from the Gideons Int’l. The bibles are intended to stay in the room, though they check twice a year to see that the room is supplied. However, if someone is in need of spiritual guidance, she may take one and the Gideons will not object and not label her a thief. So I guess taking them, while not forbidden, isn’t really kosher unless spiritual encouragement is really needed. Live and learn…well, I guess that’s: email and learn! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/38 "2003-02-26T00:10:30Z")
Cool! Thanks, **js**. Does that wrap up all the General Questions in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/39 "2003-02-26T00:34:19Z")
I’ve worked 20 years in the hotel industry and I have NEVER heard of anyone complaining about the bible. Not that there was one, not that there wasn’t one, not that it is the wrong version. Marriott is (or was) owned by Mormans (maybe not now) so I can see them putting The Book of Morman in there. It is not wrong to take the bible but it isn’t exactly right. It is similar to the lady who needs lipstick and goes to the cosmetic counter to try a sample on with no intention of buying it. The bible is put there for people who need it. And if you need it and don’t have one you should take it. It is wrong to take it to sell it. This is morally speaking. The hotels get them for free. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_to\_be\_Queen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Never\_to\_be\_Queen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_to_be_Queen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258/40 "2003-02-26T01:42:18Z")
I remember when the telephone number of a local chaplain was posted inside the Bibles, in case a person needed spiritual assitance while traveling. Haven’t seen this done in some time though… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/motel-bibles/157258.md?page=3)