A popular atheist activist group recently doubled down on its mission to have complimentary copies of the Bible removed from hotel rooms across America. Urging the hospitality industry to be more hospitable towards non-religious and non-Christian clientele by offering them Bible-free guest rooms, Freedom From religion Foundation (FFRF) created a major setback for Gideons International that is responsible for placing the Scripture in hotel rooms free of cost.
The FFRF sent its letter to as many as 15 major hotel chains that collectively run at least 33,000 hotels, requesting that the Bible be removed from their guest rooms.
“Those who must read the bible every day will surely take precautions to travel with their own copies,” wrote Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The rest of us deserve a break from mindless evangelizing when we are on vacation.”
The atheists, who also happen to be husband and wife, went on to warn the hotel chains that many of their guests are in fact non-believers who feel deeply offended when they have to pay exuberant tariffs for accommodation and be proselytized against their wishes at the same time.
However, they did not stop there and went on to take aim at some of the rather offensive messages that are embedded in the Scripture.
“The Bible calls for killing non-believers, apostates, gays, ‘stubborn sons’ and women who transgress biblical double standards,” they wrote.
Their letter also noted that other companies, including Travelodge in the United Kingdom, have removed copies of the Bible from all of their hotel rooms so that their non-Christian guests are not offended. Travelodge now makes the Bible available upon request at the front desk and that is what all hotel chains should do, asserted Barker and Gaylor.
Hilton Worldwide, Intercontinental Hotel Groups, Wyndham Worldwide, Choice Hotels International, Marriott International, G6 Hospitality, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Best Western and Starwood Hotels and Resorts were among those that received FFRF’s letter this month.
Photo Credits: Clayton Traylor
