Gideons Bibles

this might sound like a funny question, but are you allowed/encouraged to actually take a copy from a hotel? i am not a christian, but i am interested in the bible and dont have a copy and dont feel like buying one...and checking out fromt he library isnt an option cause i would mark it up in my research process. i grew up going to church and over the years i realiized i didnt know much of anything about the bible! at church they just read you short excerpts over and over again...i didnt even realize the gospels contradicted each other. anyway, just wondering
 
gfunkusarelius said:
this might sound like a funny question, but are you allowed/encouraged to actually take a copy from a hotel? i am not a christian, but i am interested in the bible and dont have a copy and dont feel like buying one...and checking out fromt he library isnt an option cause i would mark it up in my research process. i grew up going to church and over the years i realiized i didnt know much of anything about the bible! at church they just read you short excerpts over and over again...i didnt even realize the gospels contradicted each other. anyway, just wondering
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I haven't looked at a Gideon's in awhile, but they used to have a little intro in the front that described them (the Gideons) and their mission and what not. If I recall correctly, they did encourage you to take the bible with you, if you didn't have one, and wanted one. I forget the actual wording, but my recollection makes me think the idea is to provide bibles to those that would like the opportunity to read one, but don't have one.

Is it wrong to take/use them for other reasons? Guess that's an individual call. I'd vote yes though, FWIW.

Most hotel/motel versions, I believe, are hard bound full KJV bibles. They also give out a LOT of small pocket sized New Testament and Psalms versions. I believe those were given to all of us recruits, when I joined the Navy many years ago, along with our other Navy issued stuff. I believe they still provide those for the military.
 
gfunkusarelius said:
this might sound like a funny question, but are you allowed/encouraged to actually take a copy from a hotel? i am not a christian, but i am interested in the bible and dont have a copy and dont feel like buying one...and checking out fromt he library isnt an option cause i would mark it up in my research process. i grew up going to church and over the years i realiized i didnt know much of anything about the bible! at church they just read you short excerpts over and over again...i didnt even realize the gospels contradicted each other. anyway, just wondering
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I recommend you read the first half of the thread ceo linked to in the post above yours, it doesn't entirely answer your question but there are anecdotes from individuals who say they have seen inserts encouraging you to take the bible should you so wish. I've looked at the Gideon website and it doesn't actually say, so perhaps if you really want a definitive answer, you'd like to email them and ask? That would certainly settle the matter.
 
supercorgi said:
At TAM4, there was no room in the drawer because of the stupid bible. So I threw it under the bed so I could put my book, glasses, etc in the drawer. Every day after housekeeping came, I'd find the bible back on top of the bedside table taking up valuable room.
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If you'd been honest, you would have thrown it in the trash. That way, housekeeping might have got the hint.

Hmm... I've traveled twice for the government, now, once I stayed for five weeks in the same motel, and just a few months ago it was a 3-month stay in corporate housing. Don't recall any bibles in either place.

ETA: Nobody has answered Joe's question: Where can those stickers be purchased?
 
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According to an article here:

The Gideons check back with the hotels twice a year to replace lost, worn or stolen Bibles. (The charitable Gideons prefer to say the missing Bibles were "taken" rather than stolen. "Although we don't encourage taking Bibles, we don't complain when it happens," says one Gideon.)
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To reiterate, defacing these books with stickers or otherwise is not a good idea. In some respects it raises more serious issues than simply stealing the book (another not very good idea).
 
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ceo_esq said:
To reiterate, defacing these books with stickers or otherwise is not a good idea. In some respects it raises more serious issues than simply stealing the book (another not very good idea).
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I agree. Those of us who think of ourselves as champions of rationality and knowledge should not be defacing or stealing books just because we don't like their content. How would we react if religious groups started stealing and/or defacing copies of, e.g., Randi's or Shermer's or Sagan's books from public libraries? (And no, it's not the same thing as the school board that put disclaimer stickers on biology textbooks. As the owner of the textbooks, the state or school board has the right to deface their own books -- subject to the First Amendment, of course, and when they overstep that limit, they're answerable to a court. Atheists running around stealing or defacing bibles aren't accountable to anyone.)

It's not that I don't understand the temptation. Last year I was browsing the science section of my local bookstore and decided to move one of the anti-Darwin creationist screeds into the "Religion" section. But I felt pretty silly about it afterwards.
 
The Gideons are trying to push their line of crap. I don't think he should feel like he has to allow them to come into his hotel and plant their manifesto.

The way you guys denounce defacing these bibles.... the Gideons don't own a bible sized space in every room of his hotel. HE owns the hotel.
 
Rustle said:
The Gideons are trying to push their line of crap. I don't think he should feel like he has to allow them to come into his hotel and plant their manifesto.
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Yes, joesixpack obviously shouldn't feel he is obliged to have any dealings with the Gideons.

On the other hand, aren't you being unduly harsh here? Anyone is entitled, of course, to characterize as a crappy manifesto what most people, regardless of religion, would acknowledge as the most important literary work in the history of Western civilization - but that's not what I'd call a credibility-enhancing opinion.


Rustle said:
The way you guys denounce defacing these bibles.... the Gideons don't own a bible sized space in every room of his hotel. HE owns the hotel.
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Those are very distinct issues. If joesixpack, like most hoteliers, comes to an arrangement with the Gideons, then the Gideons are entitled to the benefit of that arrangement for as long as it is in place. Regardless, no one, least of all a hotel guest, is entitled to deface the book and leave it for the next guest.
 
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Rustle said:
The Gideons are trying to push their line of crap. I don't think he should feel like he has to allow them to come into his hotel and plant their manifesto.
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I agree. He doesn't. I don't think anyone in this thread has suggested otherwise.

The way you guys denounce defacing these bibles.... the Gideons don't own a bible sized space in every room of his hotel. HE owns the hotel.
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The comments I was responding to were ones that (unless I misread them) suggested that hotel guests (i.e. not the owners) should deface or steal the bibles.

If the Gideons are breaking into joe's hotel and planting bibles, then not only should joe go ahead and deface/burn/take a [rule 8] on them, he should have the Gideons prosecuted. Somehow I doubt that's what happening. If the bibles are in the room, it's with joe's permission (however reluctantly he might have given it), so your point seems moot.
 
ceo_esq said:
... At that time we did not have the benefit of joesixpack's participation; perhaps he could consult a Gideon Bible and get back to us on that issue....
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Unfortunately, I can't help with that, as I don't seem to be able to find any of them. I can't believe I got rid of them all. When I first bought the place, it felt like I couldn't go into a room without tripping over one. I'm much too scared to actually ASK one of the guidion people, it may seem like I'm trying to initiate a conversation with them.
 
My 2 cents:

If they leave any, thank them politely. Then find a poor, down-on-their-luck church to donate them to. The Gideons are happy: the people who need them have them. The church is happy: they don't have to spend money on bibles. And you are happy: they aren't left in your rooms.
 
Rustle said:
The Gideons are trying to push their line of crap. I don't think he should feel like he has to allow them to come into his hotel and plant their manifesto.

The way you guys denounce defacing these bibles.... the Gideons don't own a bible sized space in every room of his hotel. HE owns the hotel.
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Really, the only reason I feel compelled in any way by the Gideons to let them place their bibles in my rooms is a fear that my hotel would otherwise become the target of some sort of christian boycott.

If that happens, can we have the next TAM at my place as a show of support?
 
joesixpack said:
I'm much too scared to actually ASK one of the guidion people, it may seem like I'm trying to initiate a conversation with them.
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This says more than I think you intended it to say.

Anyway, call up one of your competitors and ask.

joesixpack said:
Really, the only reason I feel compelled in any way by the Gideons to let them place their bibles in my rooms is a fear that my hotel would otherwise become the target of some sort of christian boycott.
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Some 20 years ago, there was a nation-wide attempt by "Christians" to do business only with Christian merchants. It failed, horribly and ludicrously.

Run the numbers. In dollars and cents, how much would it hurt your business? What is the absolute worst the Gideons could or would do? Sounds like it would make an interesting news item, and maybe get national attention: The Ugly Side of the Gideons. My bet, though, is that you're afraid of the monsters under your bed; the Gideons will not boycott and, if they do, there will either be no noticable effect or you'll get free publicity.

BTW, what indications have you had that a boycott is a possiblity? Is there any evidence, or are you postulating a boogeyman? Have there been any expressed or implied threats? Could it be that, if you firmly but politely say "No," that they will just go away? I've refused plenty of Jehovah's Witnesses, and all they do is keep coming back every six months or so.
 
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ceo_esq said:
On the other hand, aren't you being unduly harsh here? Anyone is entitled, of course, to characterize as a crappy manifesto what most people, regardless of religion, would acknowledge as the most important literary work in the history of Western civilization - but that's not what I'd call a credibility-enhancing opinion.
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Most people? Most people regardless of religion? It would be great if we could put some sort of number to this, although once you categorize it as "literature", I think it becomes a difficult question to evaluate.

I think you're being to harsh in calling me harsh, though. I would say that "Mein Kampf" is one of the most important literay works in the history of Western civilization.... but I would also say that it is a crappy manifesto, and I would discourage people from leaving copies in hotel rooms, unless it was clearly ornamented with a sticker reading "Warning: This is Crap!"

I'd be happy to discuss further the extent to which the bible completely sucks, but that should probably be a seperate thread! Apologies for the derail in this one.
 
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