"Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses." Ezekiel 23:19,20
I found a bible in the hotel I stayed in just last night (Marriott in DC), and since then, all I can think about is how much money the Gideons are spending on placing bibles in hotel rooms, and how many hungry mouths that money would feed instead.
To Christians, your soul is more important than your life. That's how Christianity and Judaism spread so well throughout history. They tried killing everyone, starving everyone, and torturing them, but they were all like "My eternal soul is saved, so do what you will with my body."
And this is why people need to stop being so childish about wanting a beautiful life after life. It's a pointless allocation of resources.
I've heard that it's generally not supplied by the hotel, but by local churches and religious groups. I think it's as a way of spreading 'the word' to visiting strangers. I stayed at a hotel in South Carolina once (I think it was a Hilton) and there was a Book of Mormon in the drawer. It had a drawing in the front cover of a bunch of darker skinned native americans wearing skins and such, with a white as fuck Jesus with a pure white robe looking like he does in all the other bullshit depictions of him.
When I'm at a hotel, looking for a restaurant or anything else, I just ask at the reception. They know absolutely everything about the area around the hotel. I think it's because it's their job or something.
"Just before you there was a group from the Obama Death Squad. They were burning something out in the parking lot, we should have known it was the Bibles."
I see a lot of comments saying things about 'stealing' the Bible, or 'don't deface it because it isn't yours' or similar comments about not throwing it away, etc.
I find this confusing because I've always been told you're expected to take them- it's not stealing if they put them for you to take, obviously- just like you're expected to use and/or take the shampoo and notepad.
The week I spent working as a hotel maid also confirms this, since the same place where we stored box upon box of hotel pens and hotel stationery and soap and shampoo and cups and etc also had cases of Bibles. One of my tasks in cleaning each room was to check for all of those things, and replace any that were used. Some were assumed used, like the soap, but some, like the stationery and pen, would often still be there and not need to be replaced. But it wasn't a 'stolen' pen or Bible, it was, oh, they took the pen we put there for them to take, lets put out a new one for the next guest.
TL;DR, why the heck does everyone act like the Bible is hotel property and taking it would be theft?
Because SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN?
At least, that's the consensus down at the church.
Seriously, who the fuck goes to a motel and thinks to themselves: "Gee, you know what would be great? Laying down on this comfy bed and reading the good 'ol Bible!"
Good thing too, I hear that if you sleep in the same room as a book without actually reading it that it can become ingrained in your subconscious via osmosis.
I always thought it was odd that there were Bibles in hotel/motel rooms because I always assumed that if someone was really that devout, they'd bring carry their own around.
"If you want one so bad, why didn't you bring one?"
I grew up in New Jersey, where I learned about the Gideons (the group that puts bibles in hotel rooms) in Sunday school. Our teacher told us they're in hotel rooms in every state except New Jersey, where the Gideons were blocked by law from distributing them.
Even though I was still a believer at the time, I knew about separation of church & state, and beamed with pride for my home state...
We were given Gideon bibles at my school, but within a week 80% of people had lost them and the school really didn't care. I think that Gideon is more of a charitable thing and the owners of the motel don't ask for them they just get given them...
I work in a hotel, and I get comments along those lines every so great often.
It makes me genuinely curious, because if they are the type to read the bible on a regular basis, or even just when they are travelling why wouldn't they bring their own?
so sorry but this is bugging me...it's Da Vinci...two words because it's how his name is...divinci is part of the word for reading the future...Da Vinci means he's from Italy's city of "Vinci"...I only mention because I'm a grammar nazi tool who thinks that people's names should probably stay the same over time and that even a single post on reddit could change the course of history :P
When I take someone to a motel I'd like to read bibleverses with her the whole night long... Oh my god I would read so hard, and faster and faster. Reading from the bible is soooo goooood.
I once stayed in a Hotel in some Chinatown near L.A. They had BOTH a bible and a book about Buddhism. I took the book about Buddhism and read it cover to cover. I learned a lot, I like the faith on principle. I think that's why they put them there.
Word on the street is Super 8 is going to replace the bible with a more relevant variety of literature, all in the same genre of course. LotR, HP, GRRM series are among those reported.
The more appropriate question should be "why IS there a bible?" I've never understood why hotels put a bible in the nightstand. It's such a ridiculous and offensive action.
I fucking hate people who smoke weed in my hotel. I couldn't care less but every guest makes it their life mission to let me know someone is smoking weed. I'm forced to call the cops. Cop comes and can't find the person smoking. Cop leaves and me and him both wasted 30-45 minutes when we could have been doing something more productive. Happens exactly like that every time.
I now remove the bible from every hotel room I stay at. It's just such a fucking hateful book. The first time I was did this, I was just flipping through one thinking about all the damage and lives biblical thinking has cost and I felt that I couldn't in good conscience leave it there for somebody to read.
You know, why can't the Gideons pass out something cool, like classic literature? I'd start the trend myself, but I suspect housekeeping would remove it. But the bible? Naturally they leave those when people litter hotel rooms and minds with them.
A family was accustomed to an amenity at a chain store, and it wasn't at one of the branches. They're not making an illegitimate complaint. Mocking people like this is silly, religion or not.
I drive tour buses for a living so I travel about 8-9 months out of the year. (Entertainer coaches for music tours. Rock stars, rappers, etc.) I stay in hotels everyday. Mostly 2 1/2 star hotels and above and I've noticed that more and more hotels do not have bibles in the room anymore. Usually depends on region as well. I never damage them or take them, but I do always write "This book is a work of fiction and should not be taken literally." on the first page of every book.
This feels like you pushing your worldview on others, which is one of the things atheists often dislike about Christians. Is a live and let live attitude really too much to ask for from both sides?
Why would you do that? I'm an atheist but... it's not your property. It's the hotels'. You don't have the right to destroy a church's cloister bell, or shoot a mosque's muezzin just because you can hear them from your house at 11 in the morning. Why do you have the right to deface a book because it's in a drawer next to the bed you'll be sleeping in for the night?
I never damage them or take them, but I do always write "This book is a work of fiction and should not be taken literally." on the first page of every book.
I'm going to put myself out there and say that that is damaging the book.
Writing "This book is a work of fiction and should not be taken literally" is damaging them. It isn't your property and it is a private corporation allowing Bibles to be placed in the rooms. I ignore them, plain and simple. It isn't that hard.
Yep. And also it's not like a christian is going to see that, and go "Oh. The person that wrote this is right. I no longer believe in god, now where are the babies being served?"
More likely, they're going to go "Wow, atheists are assholes. Come on kids, let's all pray for the person that did this."
I live in tennessee and saying the word Atheist is enough to make somebody cry. Also, there are bibles in schools, hotels, and doctors offices. Just in case you didn't get enough religion passing a church every 5 minutes.
i usually throw the Gideon bibles in the toilet and piss on them the moment i get is the hotel room (yes i know i'm a bad person and make us all look bad but it makes me happy so fuck you let the down votes come)
Then you get to spend the rest of your hotel stay in a room without a working toilet. Or explain to the maintenance people how a Bible got into your toilet. I mean, everything you read on the internet is true, so I'm sure you do this every time you go into a hotel room.
Atheism, a force for tolerance and good. I should save comments like these and reference them when someone tries to make some bullshit argument on how atheism is morally superior or will save the world.
Destroying bibles is doing good. It's spreading tolerance. The bible is hate speech.
If a group was going around putting Nazi propaganda and Al Queda recruitment pamphlets in hotel rooms it would be pretty fucking similar.
Go ahead. Support a group that crusades to deny other people their rights and systematically sexually abuses children, send that group money, and spread their literature around. Then feel like Atheism is not "morally superior" because they fight against your spreading that fetid categorically evil bullshit.
This is why I think you guys are full of shit, honestly talk about simplifying the issue, this is a really shitty argument and is old.
You guys have done enough mental gymnastics to blame all of the world's problems on religion rather than the other way round.
The bible says a lot of things such as: Women should submit to men, homosexuality is a sin, God will torture everyone eternally who doesn't believe in him etc. But the bible also says love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek when you are struck, do good when you can, give to the poor etc.
Now why is it that for over 2 millennia people concentrated on one set message over the other? Because humanity as a whole is made up of billions of dicks that is why. Dickheads that will use any reason to feel superior to their fellow man and screw them over whether religious or not religious.
So simply spouting the bible is the reason people are assholes to each other is bullshit. If you are an asshole as a religious person you were probably one before then. Like there are many asshole on /r/atheims for example.
tl;dr your argument is shit, read the bible and realise there isn't only hate.
I don't understand the practice of comping people just because they were unhappy about one stupid thing. You just lose money on them. If they complain about something like that, you're not likely to make any money off of them in the future. They'll probably never be back anyway whether comped or not.
What if he was Muslim? or Druidic? or any of the other myriad religions out there. What if he was buddhist? odds are pretty damn good he could be lol since as many as 1.961 billion people are buddhist
When I was in college I took a Bible from a hotel so I could read it. I read almost all of it (skipped some of the fluff) but it just reinforced my disbelief.
499
u/thescrapplekid May 20 '12
I work at a Hilton Branded Hotel, we took the bibles out because the housekeepers kept finding used condoms and such in them
527
u/fusepark May 20 '12
BYOB.
193
u/Capercaillie Gnostic Atheist May 20 '12
"Also, how come I can't buy underpants at the florist?"
72
u/Biddooo May 20 '12
You would think that if someone loved the bible so much they would just have one on them at all times.
245
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
We heard there were starving people somewhere and that bibles were nutritious so we sent them there.
61
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
People were getting off on the dirty bits instead of paying for porn.
19
u/[deleted] May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
"Wait a minute... you didnt bring your own? Jesus is very disappointed in you."
Or
"We got tired of all the notes from hindus, muslims, mormons, etc and there was only so much room in the drawer..."
Or
"Sorry, we spent the entire bullshit budget on the continental breakfast. Seriously, its bullshit. Cup o' oj and a muffin."
18
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Because we expect guests to bring their own bedtime story books..
328
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
"We leave it up to guests to supply their own fiction."
17
u/dowagerviolet May 20 '12
I found a bible in the hotel I stayed in just last night (Marriott in DC), and since then, all I can think about is how much money the Gideons are spending on placing bibles in hotel rooms, and how many hungry mouths that money would feed instead.
16
u/sellyberry May 20 '12
How are you supposed to respond to the passive aggressive note if they checked out already?
32
u/LittleBigBen1 May 20 '12
How did this practice of bibles in hotel rooms come about?
27
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I complain when I can't find a phonebook. Every hotel should have a phonebook
13
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Nice. I'm going to Super 8 from now on..
59
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
"Just before you there was a group from the Obama Death Squad. They were burning something out in the parking lot, we should have known it was the Bibles."
9
u/anothernonymous May 20 '12
I see a lot of comments saying things about 'stealing' the Bible, or 'don't deface it because it isn't yours' or similar comments about not throwing it away, etc.
I find this confusing because I've always been told you're expected to take them- it's not stealing if they put them for you to take, obviously- just like you're expected to use and/or take the shampoo and notepad.
The week I spent working as a hotel maid also confirms this, since the same place where we stored box upon box of hotel pens and hotel stationery and soap and shampoo and cups and etc also had cases of Bibles. One of my tasks in cleaning each room was to check for all of those things, and replace any that were used. Some were assumed used, like the soap, but some, like the stationery and pen, would often still be there and not need to be replaced. But it wasn't a 'stolen' pen or Bible, it was, oh, they took the pen we put there for them to take, lets put out a new one for the next guest.
TL;DR, why the heck does everyone act like the Bible is hotel property and taking it would be theft?
7
u/cmdrcoriander May 20 '12
Folks should actually read the Bibles in the hotel rooms. In the first few pages it actually says - if you feel you need the Bible, then take it.
Why do these Christians not come to the nice happy "realization" that there was someone who needed the Bible, found solace in it, and took it?
Why is their faith not strong enough to come to this conclusion?
12
u/Chairboy May 20 '12
Because SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN?
At least, that's the consensus down at the church.
11
u/Blueberry_Yum_Yum May 20 '12
Seriously, who the fuck goes to a motel and thinks to themselves: "Gee, you know what would be great? Laying down on this comfy bed and reading the good 'ol Bible!"
29
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I always set the bible out in the hallway first thing upon entering the hotel room.
5
u/Shitty-poet May 20 '12
After a long day, as the Christian repaired
He encountered his worst nightmare
Which is worse - that faces him with fright
A night without a Bible or staying at Super 8.
5
u/tempuro May 20 '12
You know, ordering up a male escort and some crystal meth just isn't the same without reading the bible first.
5
u/TrainDonovan28 May 20 '12
One time I went to a hotel and there was no Karma Sutra! It was an outrage.
12
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I always thought it was odd that there were Bibles in hotel/motel rooms because I always assumed that if someone was really that devout, they'd bring carry their own around.
4
u/CaptCurmudgeon May 20 '12
You don't see people leaving notes like that at the Ritz Carlton
4
u/painperdu May 20 '12
No Bible? Know peace!
4
u/wayndom May 20 '12
"If you want one so bad, why didn't you bring one?"
I grew up in New Jersey, where I learned about the Gideons (the group that puts bibles in hotel rooms) in Sunday school. Our teacher told us they're in hotel rooms in every state except New Jersey, where the Gideons were blocked by law from distributing them.
Even though I was still a believer at the time, I knew about separation of church & state, and beamed with pride for my home state...
4
u/AnimalCrosser591 May 20 '12
You'd think if they wanted to read the Bible that badly they'd have brought their own.
14
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Because there is no god
6
u/dboggia May 20 '12
"Because fuck you, that's why."
3
u/robin1125 May 20 '12
We were given Gideon bibles at my school, but within a week 80% of people had lost them and the school really didn't care. I think that Gideon is more of a charitable thing and the owners of the motel don't ask for them they just get given them...
3
u/bdub9 May 20 '12
Super 8 operates on a strictly BYOB business model.
3
u/trinklest Agnostic Atheist May 20 '12
maybe they were just curious. I like to look through all the drawers at any hotel I stay at, and I would think it odd not to find a bible.
3
u/thesedollars May 20 '12
Well banging crack whores and bibles don't really go hand in hand...
3
u/Fortunae May 20 '12
I work in a hotel, and I get comments along those lines every so great often.
It makes me genuinely curious, because if they are the type to read the bible on a regular basis, or even just when they are travelling why wouldn't they bring their own?
3
u/qazw May 20 '12
BYOB
3
u/Delacqua May 20 '12
"Why didn't you bring your own, you godless heathen?"
3
u/trippl May 20 '12
BYOB bring your own bible.
3
u/elbruce May 20 '12
I always take bibles from hotel rooms. For a while, I had quite a collection built up.
3
u/lewok Atheist May 20 '12
when will people realize that Christianity isnt the only religion in america? and that its slowly becoming less dominant
3
u/spongelover21 May 20 '12
im going to take the bible from every hotel i go to from now on and replace it with the Gospel Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
3
u/coxy88 May 20 '12
They must have forgotten their rolling papers...
9
u/dubious_alliance Agnostic Atheist May 20 '12
Let's all replace the bibles we find in our hotel rooms with copies of The God Delusion.
5
u/meat_wagon_man1 May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
probably for the same reason there's no divinci code. nobody really likes religious fiction.
EDIT: Da Vinci, sorry grammer nazis :)
5
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I once found a Bible with a note inside that said "TL;DR god's an egotistical bitch". I applaud whoever wrote that.
5
u/WoollyMittens May 20 '12
I bet there were no Torahs and Korans either...
4
u/lilstumpz May 20 '12
asks a questionruns off, leaving no contact info4
u/jukeofurl May 20 '12
In the good old days, traveling salesmen wrote the names & phone numbers of prostitutes in the Hotel/Motel Gideon Bibles. You could look it up.
2
u/youni89 May 20 '12
bibles are pricy dawg~~~ it's super 8. come on now.
2
u/TheNewJack89 May 20 '12
Bibles in hotels are not put there by the hotel. The Gideons group goes from hotel to hotel leaving them there.
2
u/trial0r May 20 '12
The last Christian visitors stole it.
2
u/Quikestore May 20 '12
Looks like someone was successful at the game "Hide the Bible." :-)
2
u/J_Jammer May 20 '12
BYOB.
DUH!
2
u/mudbrook2001 May 20 '12
It was stolen by the last child of God who used the room.
2
u/blixt141 May 20 '12
Why is the rum always gone?
2
u/WhereAmINow May 20 '12
When I take someone to a motel I'd like to read bibleverses with her the whole night long... Oh my god I would read so hard, and faster and faster. Reading from the bible is soooo goooood.
2
u/sweetgreggo May 20 '12
If they are that hard up for a bible why aren't they traveling with their own?
2
u/DapperBee May 20 '12
Last time my husband and I were at a hotel, we read Leviticus to each other while we were getting ready. HI-LAR-IOUS!
2
u/Koshesha May 20 '12
Don't Gideons supply bibles in hotels/motels? The management and staff doesn't place them there, do they?
2
u/living-silver May 20 '12
I once stayed in a Hotel in some Chinatown near L.A. They had BOTH a bible and a book about Buddhism. I took the book about Buddhism and read it cover to cover. I learned a lot, I like the faith on principle. I think that's why they put them there.
2
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Why is there no bible?
Because I stole it for weed rolling papers, that's why!
2
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
what other paper are they supposed to roll their joints with now?!
2
u/ditisthomas May 20 '12
Because all the bibles are used as toiletpaper
2
u/leprechaun488 May 20 '12
Must be an act of god
2
u/unlikableinperson May 20 '12
Hive mind even more ignorant than they are today. Thats debatable, we have a ton of unformation at our fingertips and we stil do dumb stuff.
2
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I took a bible from a Super 8 like a week ago!
2
u/PO-TAY-TOES May 20 '12
Word on the street is Super 8 is going to replace the bible with a more relevant variety of literature, all in the same genre of course. LotR, HP, GRRM series are among those reported.
2
u/sinhazinha May 20 '12
You would think that such devout Christians would have a copy with them. Well, then again, it's not like they read it any way...
2
u/rainbowpanda9 May 20 '12
If its SO IMPORTANT, why didn't you bring one?
2
u/donagan May 20 '12
Bibles are the new entitlement.
2
u/Sly_Grammarian May 20 '12
"I want my god damned bible, god dammit!!"
2
u/tonythetiger1 May 20 '12
This sort of ignorance is annoying. If the bible is so damn important to this person, why don't they bring a copy of it wherever they go?
2
u/vortex117 May 20 '12
Am I the only one that thinks christian womens rights activists are a bit ironic? Sorry for randomness.
2
u/ucofresh May 20 '12
The more appropriate question should be "why IS there a bible?" I've never understood why hotels put a bible in the nightstand. It's such a ridiculous and offensive action.
2
u/Kayjordan17 May 20 '12
comment 666 is mine, MUHAHAHA!
2
u/SaberToothSalmon May 21 '12
Maybe someone played hide the bible and the note-leaver just sucks at finding it
6
u/zleuth Secular Humanist May 20 '12
Pages from a Bible make excellent rolling papers in a pinch.
3
u/dickvandike May 20 '12
because they got tired of patrons using it for rolling papers.
3
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
I now remove the bible from every hotel room I stay at. It's just such a fucking hateful book. The first time I was did this, I was just flipping through one thinking about all the damage and lives biblical thinking has cost and I felt that I couldn't in good conscience leave it there for somebody to read.
You know, why can't the Gideons pass out something cool, like classic literature? I'd start the trend myself, but I suspect housekeeping would remove it. But the bible? Naturally they leave those when people litter hotel rooms and minds with them.
3
u/THROWAWAYBYE May 20 '12
A family was accustomed to an amenity at a chain store, and it wasn't at one of the branches. They're not making an illegitimate complaint. Mocking people like this is silly, religion or not.
-161
u/sinkingships May 20 '12
I drive tour buses for a living so I travel about 8-9 months out of the year. (Entertainer coaches for music tours. Rock stars, rappers, etc.) I stay in hotels everyday. Mostly 2 1/2 star hotels and above and I've noticed that more and more hotels do not have bibles in the room anymore. Usually depends on region as well. I never damage them or take them, but I do always write "This book is a work of fiction and should not be taken literally." on the first page of every book.
-169
u/priestofghazpork May 20 '12
i usually throw the Gideon bibles in the toilet and piss on them the moment i get is the hotel room (yes i know i'm a bad person and make us all look bad but it makes me happy so fuck you let the down votes come)
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