Bibles in hotel rooms

[Stevil]

Do you get this habbit happening in your country, where you go into a hotel room and they have a bible in the bedside cabinet?

I find it very bizzare. Anyone know how this habbit came about?

Has anyone challenged this with a hotel they are staying it. e.g. asked at the reception if they would remove the bible, or better yet if they could replace it with a Quran, or something equally unChristian, or the God Delusion.

[Whitney]

In the US one of the churches supplies them to the hotels.  Forgot which church.

[fester30]

Gideons.  Their stamp is on every one of them.

[The Magic Pudding]

Now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon's bible
Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky's revival.

Why not just add subversive comments to it?

[Willow]

I used to notice these, but now all hotel rooms have televisions, I couldn't tell you whether they are still there.

[OldGit]

Now Willow comes to mention it, I haven't swiped seen a Gideon Bible for a long time.  I've stayed in two hotels recently, and I'm sure there weren't any in those.
Maybe if they livened the Bibles up with a bit of porn here and there....

[original_gender]

No no no, they put Gideon Bible's in hotels because Gideon went out of business in the eighties and they had to liquidate their remaining inventory. Hotel managers put them next to the bed to give male guests something in which to relieve themselves, so as not to foul the bedding.

...right?

[absurdsolidarity]

You can't really blame the hotels, those Gideons people are very persistent!

I go to a large university, and every spring there is one day where these sweet old men stake out every bus stop and building entrance.  They hand out little green copies of the New Testament to everyone they encounter.  If you are on campus at all that day, it is guaranteed you will be offered a copy at least 5 times.  I always just smile and say, "no thank you", which I'm sure they appreciate more than being flat out ignored.  They're really nice people about it, so I don't see a point in being rude back.

In all seriousness though, a bible in a hotel room is just there.  It doesn't solicit anyone and it doesn't care whether or not you read it.  Whatever holy book it is doesn't really matter to me.  I'm glad I'm not in the position of a religious person who would potentially be mad at the lack of their religious text or the presence of another one.  If I let atheism make me xenophobic of theists, I'd be contradicting one of the reasons I oppose religion in the first place.

[Medusa]

Well someone also put the wonderful porn in my motel room too. But I don't question it. Use it or don't. I'm more concerned with any weird stains I might find. 

[Asmodean]

I'm more concerned with any weird stains I might find. 

Yes, especially those that glow under UV light... Very... Concerning.