Comments on: Gideons Gored. Fundies Furious.

By: MizT

MizT — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 01:00:07 +0000

Maybe it would cheer up the depressed who check into hotel rooms to read the Bible. This verse is great…

Kings 18:27
But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

It just communicates such great purpose and meaning to life.

By: Laika

Laika — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:06:12 +0000

I always thought the reason for Bibles in hotel rooms nowadays is simply
because it’s traditional to put Bibles in hotel rooms.

“have been taught in our schools that if they FEEL it’s OK, then it’s OK.”
Wait, I’m a student now, but I’ve only gotten the opposite message from my schooling, and I’ve been to several public schools. Is this something that’s taught only in 10-12 grades? I’m not there yet.

“Of course, I think that those who get all weird about Bibles being in hotel rooms would change their mind if their significant others were in category 2 with someone else, and just happened to get cold feet after reading a few of the pages in the good book. ”
I suppose that’s the theory behind having Bibles in hotel rooms, but how often does an adamant athiest convert to Christianity that way? What would interest them in the Bible in the first place?

By: James

James — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:44:02 +0000

You’ve got a point, Jalestra. And you’re right … there are a lot of folks that don’t know what’s right and wrong. They just haven’t been taught it, or, more likely, have been taught in our schools that if they FEEL it’s OK, then it’s OK. That it might be wrong for someone else, but might be right for you. Reading the words on paper from the ultimate authority certainly does have a tendency to speak to the heart. Thanks for your response.

By: Jalestra

Jalestra — Tue, 15 May 2007 04:07:49 +0000

If the book is what changed their mind, I’d put paid to that relationship real fast. One would hope people don’t need a book to tell them it’s wrong…then again, I suppose such idiots are out there. Alot.

By: James

James — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:03:19 +0000

First of all, the story was originally reported incorrectly and widely distributed. The hotel rushed to open, and just forgot to provide the traditional bibles (see http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=35767) — and have corrected the situation.

Laika, good link on how it started … and for why it continues … simply put: changed lives. People check into hotels for many reasons. 1. Most are traveling. 2. Some are there for less noble purposes (no need to expound). And 3. Some are trying to escape their troubles. It’s this last group that makes it worthwhile for hotels and motels to be sure all its rooms are stocked with the world’s most popular book of hope and meaning. For those intending to check in and not check out through the front desk, but be scraped off the room surfaces, it’s a proven lifesaver.

Funny … I would imagine that Al’s book would have the opposite effect. I mean, if I were depressed, checked into a room to mull over doing away with myself, and stumbled onto an “inconvenient opinions” book and actually believed it, I’d probably be convinced to end it all right there and then!

Of course, I think that those who get all weird about Bibles being in hotel rooms would change their mind if their significant others were in category 2 with someone else, and just happened to get cold feet after reading a few of the pages in the good book.

By: Laika

Laika — Sun, 13 May 2007 23:02:51 +0000

One thing that fundies fail to realize is that those who don’t read the Bible won’t suddenly read it just because there’s one in their hotel room. Those who do read it probably brought their own in the first place. That, and if I’m not mistaken, Jesus did say that nobody was to know the date of the Rapture in the first place, so why do these fundies keep saying that it’s near? I’ll never understand fundies.

vjack: Here’s a Straight Dope article on that:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgideon.html

By: vjack

vjack — Sun, 13 May 2007 13:06:50 +0000

I have never understood the bible in hotel rooms thing. Does anybody have some history on how this strange arrangement came about? I’d be interested to know how this started and why it continues.