Why Are There Gideon Bibles in Hotel Rooms? | Mental Floss Why Are There Gideon Bibles in Hotel Rooms? Like us on Facebook © William Whitehurst/Corbis Because the Gideons put them there! The Gideon Bible is not some special version or translation of the Bible that hotels really like (the books are usually plain old King James Versions); they're named for the group that distributes them. Gideons International got its start in 1898, when two traveling businessmen, John H. Nicholson and Samuel E. Hill, arrived at the crowded Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin, for the night. The two had never met, but there was only one double room left, so they decided to share it. The men got to talking and found they shared a common faith and had both toyed with the idea of creating an evangelical association for Christian businessmen. They decided to give it a shot together. They called a meeting the following year for men who were interested in joining together for “mutual recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord.” Only one other person showed up to that meeting—William J.

Knights, who suggested they name their organization after Gideon, an Old Testament judge who led a small band of men to defeat a much larger army. As the group expanded in its first few years, most of the new members were men who frequently traveled for work and spent many of their nights in hotel rooms. They wondered how they might be more effective witnesses for Christ on the road, and hit upon the idea of providing Bibles to hotels. They could be used not only by the Gideons’ members as they traveled around the country, but also borrowed by other guests in need of them. They started with the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana, then set out to put a Bible in every hotel room in America. Since 1908, they’ve distributed more than 1.7 billion Bibles, expanding beyond the U.S. to more than 190 other countries. Passing Them Out The Gideons don’t go room to room themselves, slipping the books in nightstands like Bible elves. When a hotel opens, local Gideons members will present a Bible to the hotel's general manager in a small ceremony and then give enough books for each room and some extras to the housekeeping staff for distribution.

In addition to hotel rooms, the Gideons also give Bibles to military bases, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and to students on college campuses. Each Bible handed out is free of charge, and the project is funded entirely by donations to the group. The Gideons will also replace any books that go missing or get worn out, and the group says that the books have a six-year life expectancy, on average. They don’t get bent out of shape when people ignore the “thou shalt not steal” rule when it comes to the Bibles, either. They’d rather you just take the book if you need it that badly. Based on the success of the Gideons’ Bible project -- the group’s own statistics claim 25% of the people who check into a hotel room will read the Bible placed there -- other religious groups have begun distributing their own free literature to hotels. The Marriott hotel chain, founded by a Mormon, places the The Book of Mormon in many of its rooms, and many hotels also offer Buddhist, Hindu, Christian Scientist or Scientologist books along with the standard Gideon Bible. “One nation under God”?

Not when it comes to distributing Gideon Bibles to public schools - Salon.com Saturday, Apr 4, 2015 5:30 PM UTC “One nation under God”? Not when it comes to distributing Gideon Bibles to public schools Gideon Bibles in hotel rooms? No problem. But public schools were another story, as the Gideon salesmen discovered Excerpted from "One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America" For the evangelical businessmen who belonged to the Gideons International, Inc., selling God was a second calling, if not their first. Founded by a trio of traveling salesmen at the end of the nineteenth century, the Gideons made a name for themselves in the early twentieth by putting millions of copies of the Holy Bible in hotel and hospital rooms across the nation. During the Second World War, the organization distributed, with the military’s blessing, a specially prepared edition of the King James Version of the New Testament and Book of Psalms to every member of the armed forces.

After the conflict, the group created a new paperback version of this “Gideon Bible” (now with the Book of Proverbs as well) for distribution at public and private schools for all students between the fifth and twelfth grades. In the words of W. L. Hardin, an Atlanta contractor and past president of the Gideons, their new ministry would help them meet their long-standing goal “to win men and women for the Lord Jesus Christ” by reaching them earlier in life. “In the days of their youth, before the evil days come,” Hardin said in 1946, “the boys and girls of our public schools may by means of the precious Word of God, come to know Him.” In practical terms, the Gideons’ program reflected their roots as salesmen. Their founders originally considered calling the new organization the Christian Traveling Men of the United States of America but abandoned the idea because, as one later noted, “traveling men don’t have time to use such long names.” So they settled for the simpler calling card, a name inspired by an Old Testament judge who led a small band of faithful Israelites to victory over a vastly larger force. But their identity as on-the-road representatives of business never changed.

Indeed, in its first four decades, only traveling salesmen could join the Gideons. Even after expanding their ranks to admit a broader range of businessmen in 1937, this spirit of door-to-door salesmanship still prevailed. The postwar program to distribute their abridged Bibles to schoolchildren is perhaps the prime example. In what quickly became a standard script, a Gideon first contacted a local school board or principal to win permission. He then spoke to the entire school at a special assembly, offering an address that an observer characterized as “evangelical in tone and content, on the advan­tages of Bible reading.” After the sales pitch, the Gideons announced that every student–or, in some cases, every student who provided written per­mission from a parent–was welcome to a free paperback version of the New Testament. Moving from school to school, the Gideons distributed 4.2 million of their Bibles in the first three years, with ambitious plans to distribute 25 million in all. For the Gideons, their drive to distribute Bibles at public schools seemed a natural extension of the larger effort to encourage public religion in the postwar era.

While other religious innovations had been relatively uncontroversial at the time of their creation, the Gideons’ ministry to schoolchildren sparked a contentious debate. Religion in the public schools had long been considered a local concern. Communities dominated by one faith traditionally instituted sectarian prayers or Bible reading in classrooms with little complaint. More diverse locales often tried to avoid the issue of religion entirely, but the Gideons brought long­ simmering tensions to the forefront. Jewish leaders protested any effort to place the New Testament in public schools, while Catholic officials objected because canon law forbade members of their faith from using the King James Version.”Most children will accept anything free,” noted a priest in upstate New York, and thus they would inadvertently sin in taking the gift. In Boston, it became such a widespread problem that the archdiocese instructed priests to order all Catholic children who had accepted Gideon Bibles to return them immediately. Even some liberal Protestants disapproved of the Gideons’ campaign.

The editors of the Christian Century insisted that public schools were simply “not the place” to evangelize, arguing that Christians had “a duty to respect separation of church and state in relation to the schools.” The objections were strongest in religiously diverse cities and suburbs, especially in the Northeast. In the fall of 1951, the school board in suburban Rutherford, New Jersey, inadvertently caused a controversy when it accepted an offer from the Gideons of Passaic and Bergen Counties to distribute their version of the Bible to all students in grades five through twelve in the district. The board printed up permission slips for children to take home, but when scores of parents protested, it found itself on the defensive. At its next meeting, the superintendent of schools, Guy Hilleboe, insisted that “the Gideon Society was not presenting their own version of the Bible but were merely offering a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs of the King James Version” for families who wanted it.

He pointed out that the Gideons had not, in this instance, been allowed to make a special address at school assemblies, and principals had been instructed to send the permission slips home “without comment.” Furthermore, Hilleboe added, the state’s lawyers assured him that the practice was wholly constitutional. Despite these assurances, religious leaders and parents continued to object. A local priest asserted that, although he believed Rutherford was a “God fearing town” and he supported the general effort to get “God into the schools,” the board had made a mistake. The separation of church and state had to be maintained in schools because the sectarian nature of the Gideons’ work would assuredly “create tensions.” Likewise, Rabbi Herman Schwartz argued that even if principals offered no comment on the program, several teachers had become “salesmen” for the proposal. The permission slips had also been prepared by school officials, he noted, and therefore the entire endeavor bore the formal approval of the district. Parents echoed these concerns. Mrs. E. K. Ingalls, for instance, reminded the board there had been a similar controversy in their high school over the state-mandated practice of Bible reading during morning assemblies.

Catholic students there had refused to read from the King James Version and were castigated by the principal. Was it “good teaching,” she asked, for a school to say “you will read the St. James [sic] version or else”? The superintendent recognized “the right of each child in the Public Schools to use the religion of his choice” but maintained that the board had done nothing wrong. The district’s legal counsel double-checked the law andre­ assured school officials that they were in the right. The Gideons, the board decided, could proceed with their evangelism in Rutherford’s schools. But before they could begin, a pair of parents filed for an injunc­tion. Bernard Tudor and Ralph Lecoque, Jewish and Catholic, respec­tively, asserted that the Gideon Bible was a “sectarian work of peculiar religious value and significance to the Protestant faith.” Its embrace by the schools therefore amounted to an establishment of sectarian religion. Their complaints quickly drew national attention. The Catholic diocese and the American Jewish Committee rallied behind them. Notably, civil liberties organizations did as well.

While they still held that religious invocations at the national level were relatively harmless, in such local manifestations civil libertarians identified individuals who felt personally wronged by new religious policies and, more important, who would serve as plaintiffs in lawsuits against them. In March 1953, a trial judge in Hackensack heard arguments in Tudor v. Board of Education of Ruther­ford and the Gideons International. Leo Pfeffer, a prominent advocate for the separation of church and state, represented the plaintiffs. Bringing forth an array of witnesses with expertise in religion, law, and even child psychology, Pfeffer argued that the school board displayed an “unconsti­tutional preference” for Protestantism by embracing the Gideons and, as a result, infringed on the religious liberties of Catholic and Jewish children. The trial judge disagreed, but the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed his opinion in December, issuing a unanimous decision condemning the school board’s actions as clear “favoritism” of one faith. For the Gideons, it was a stunning blow. Bewildered by the objections to what they saw as a selfless act of kindness, they were doubly shocked that the New Jersey Supreme Court had sided against them.

(Search­ing for an explanation forty years later, the head of the Gideons could only surmise that “Satan has been and still is vigorously opposed to this particular program.”) The organization’s leaders instructed local Gideon camps to hold prayer meetings to determine if they should appeal to the US Supreme Court. The Gideons’ leaders ultimately decided God wanted them to do so, but the justices refused to revisit the case in the fall of 1954. Though disheartened, the Gideons later realized the development had been a “blessing in disguise” because it meant the lower court’s ruling would be limited to New Jersey. And so they continued to distribute their edition of the New Testament in public schools across the country, discovering that legal and educational responses to their work varied considerably. In Pennsylvania, the attorney general ruled that the Gideons’ work was clearly unconstitutional; in Minnesota, his counterpart found nothing wrong. A suburban school board in Connecticut reported it had “successfully resisted” the Gideons’ efforts; in Dade County, Florida, officials believed there was nothing to resist.

By the late 1950s, the Gideons’ campaign provided vivid evidence of the varied legal landscape on issues of church and state. A survey of school systems across the forty-eight states showed that roughly 43 percent of districts allowed the distribution of Gideon Bibles. Small towns were most likely to accept the Gideons’ gifts, with 50 percent of communities with populations under twenty-five hundred doing so. In contrast, larger cities tended to reject the offer, with only 32 percent of districts in areas of twenty-five thousand people or more allowing it. There were regional differences as well. The more rural South and Midwest proved most amenable to the program, with 55 percent and 50 percent of school systems, respectively, allowing it. In the West, 40 percent of districts sanctioned the practice, while in the more urbanized Northeast, only 26 percent did so. Regardless of location, there was always some degree of protest. In districts in the Northeast, West, and Midwest that allowed the Gideons to distribute their literature at schools, 33 percent, 32 percent, and 25 percent, respectively, still reported some form of organized objection.

Even in the overwhelmingly Protestant South, 8 percent of school districts with Gideons’ programs faced protests of some kind. As the controversies made clear, public schools became a contentious site in the postwar rise of religious nationalism. In the eyes of those seeking to link piety and patriotism, schools were the obvious place to begin. Many already employed some type of traditional daily prayers or organized Bible readings, and often both. In the postwar era, new practices—such as the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance recited by millions of schoolchildren each morning—had been adopted with little objection. But as the religious revival moved from the national level, where vaguely defined ceremonial deism held sway, to individual schools and districts, it necessarily took forms that were at once more concrete and more complicated. Educators at the state and local level required religious programs to be as detailed as the rest of their curricula, and as a result, they soon found themselves involved in controversies that national leaders had managed to avoid. While prominent voices in political and popular culture had encouraged a return to prayer in general, state-level administrators felt the need to choose or compose specific prayers for all schoolchildren to recite as one.

Likewise, while religious leaders had urged Americans to turn to the Bible of their choosing, local educators had to pick a particular version, invariably offending one sect or another. And so, as they attempted to channel the “very vague religion” of the Eisenhower era into specific programs, school officials across the country sparked local controversies that, in turn, had national ramifications.The concept of “one nation under God” had seemed a simple, elegant way to bring together the citizens of a broadly religious country, but at the local level, as the Gideons had discovered, Americans were anything but united. Excerpted with permission from “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America” by Kevin M. Kruse. Available from Basic Books, a member of The Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2015. Gideons International | Let's spread the good news Let's spread the good news Ministry Behind Bars Featured Story With the highest population of incarcerated men and women of any country, Gideons and Auxiliary across the United States work to take the Word of God to inmates.

A Life of Ministry Featured Story Jason and Paula joined with a desire to impact lives with the Gospel, but discovered ministry had a way of making just as big an impact on their lives. Who are the Gideons? Disciples of all nations We are a body of believers dedicated to making the Word of God available to everyone and, together with the local church, reaching souls for Christ. The Gideons International is the result of a meeting between two men who wished to band commercial travelers together for evangelism. What began in 1908 as an Association of Christian businessmen placing Bibles in hotel rooms has evolved into an expanding mission to provide Scriptures to all people in nearly every facet of life. Today, we have taken more than 2 billion Scriptures in more than 95 languages to 200 countries, territories, and possessions across the globe. We exist as an advocate for the lost, to bring them the saving knowledge of the Word through not only placing and distributing Scriptures, but also through personal witnessing and by associating together for service. As a united force for the Gospel, we remain rooted in tradition, but we operate under the firm belief that anyone can be a valuable asset to this invaluable cause.

We provide many opportunities to partner with us through either prayer or financial support. Join us, and let's spread the Good News. + Learn More Suggested for you Gideons mark 100 years of giving out the Bible - USATODAY.com Gideons mark 100 years of giving out the Bible Posted Enlarge By Steve Dykes, AP Pastor Elliott Osowitt poses with a in the doorway of his church before holding service at the Faith Fellowship in Jefferson, N.C. Years ago, Osowitt checked into a motel to commit suicide. But he decided not to after seeing and reading a Gideon Bible. The passage in the banner over the door is the one he read that "saved his life." FAITH & REASON Join the conversation on religion, spirituality and ethics here . And catch up on interesting news with USA TODAY's Cathy Lynn Grossman. NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP)  Long before cable television, spa treatments and eco-friendly soaps and shampoos became staples in hotel rooms, there was the Bible — the Gideon Bible. And the book with the familiar two-handled pitcher and torch on its cover that most guests find inside hotel nightstands doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Gideons International is celebrating its 100th anniversary distributing Bibles and has begun efforts to hand out more Scriptures in the U.S. to boost a distribution rate that's remained relatively flat in recent years. FAITH & REASON FORUM: What's your perception of the Bible? Nearly 76.9 million Gideon Scriptures were given out in nearly 85 languages in 187 countries last year. Close to 1.5 billion Scriptures have been distributed since 1908, when the Gideons first began to place Bibles in hotel rooms. Since then, the nondenominational evangelical group run by businessmen has spread its tremendous reach, also giving out free Scriptures at hospitals, schools, prisons and in the military. "This is not a church-sponsored, clergy-led effort," said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group for evangelical churches and organizations. "It's individuals that go around and distribute Bibles. It's an astonishing accomplishment." "What it's done is actually changed our culture. People expect there to be a Bible in a hotel room.

There's hardly anything that's parallel to it." The admittedly media-shy Gideons rarely seek outside attention, but leaders agreed to an interview with The Associated Press at the group's Nashville headquarters to mark the anniversary. "We've never been an association that necessarily dwelt on the past," said Gideons executive director Jerry Burden. "We always work in the present and look to the future. We're a very low-profile organization. That's been our underlining philosophy. For us, we look to be around another 100 years." Because the Gideons were founded by Christian traveling salesmen who spent a lot of time away from home, the group sought to put Bibles in hotel bedrooms to spiritually nurture themselves and others. Around 1916, the group started distributing Bibles within hospitals, followed by the military, public schools, prisons and colleges and universities. The Gideons have about 176,000 members, plus their wives, who distribute Scripture around the world, and their numbers have remained steady over the years.

The group only allows for evangelical business and professional men to hand out Scripture to its targeted groups, although Gideons allow their wives to hand out Scripture as well in health care settings and in prisons for women. Elliott Osowitt, 59, pastor at Faith Fellowship in Jefferson, North Carolina, said when he used to work in the tourism industry, the life he led "involved loose living and immorality." His wife eventually kicked him out of the house on Christmas Eve in 1996. His daughter had also been sent to prison during that time, and Osowitt felt he'd failed as a father and husband. He was going to shoot himself in his motel room that night, but before he did, he saw a Gideon Bible laying on a television, he said. "When I looked at it, I thought who needs that and threw it on the floor. It fell on the floor and it still stayed open, like it was beckoning me," Osowitt said.

"It really made me mad, so I kicked it, but it hit this wooden box frame under the bed and popped back on the floor." He then picked it up and was about to throw it when he looked down and started reading a passage from the Gospel of John. "It caused me to stop. It caused me to cry. When I read it was Jesus, I had a hard time with it," said Osowitt, who converted from Judaism to Christianity and became a Southern Baptist minister. "It literally began a process of healing that eventually led to the reconciliation with my entire family. I just thank God for saving me and the Gideons for being so faithful." Steve Smith, director of communications and development for the Gideons, said the group has thousands of similar recorded testimonies. "I think there's an untold number of people that have had their lives changed as a result of reading the Gideon Bible or New Testament," Smith said.

"We've been blessed to learn the details of many of those and are confident there are still many more we have not yet learned about." "We don't keep a running number 'cause it's impossible." While worldwide Gideon Scripture distributions increased by one-third from 2004 through 2007, U.S. distributions have averaged about 10.5 million annually for the last few years. Gideons want to try to increase that number to 12 million by the end of the group's fiscal year in May. Burden said as part of the initiative, the group is trying to reach more college-aged students. "In many cases, a lot of our local (member) groups are just not aware of the colleges they have in their area," Burden said. "They recognize the major schools, a university or college, but they don't think about the business schools, the technical schools and others available to them. There's a significant amount of students there." "We're trying to promote an awareness with members that there are other opportunities for them to take advantage of." Also, Burden said that in some areas of distribution, the Gideons are experiencing limitations, mainly in public schools. Several school districts throughout the U.S.

have been sued or threatened with legal action by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, which argue that distribution of Bibles at schools is an endorsement of religion. Burden said the Gideons hand out Bibles on sidewalks off school grounds. The majority of Gideon Scriptures — about 60% — are given to students, a demographic the group sees as a source for future growth. Jeremy Gunn, director for the ACLU's program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said the ACLU doesn't specifically challenge Gideon distribution. He said the ACLU would take issue with any organization given what's perceived to be privileged access to children on public school grounds. Even the place where the Gideon movement got its start is changing. An increasing number of hotels are offering religious texts besides the Gideon Bible to appeal to visitors from a wide variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. The Gideons have made some other adjustments to accommodate the hotel industry, which has become more environmentally conscious to respond to their guests' wishes and save money on laundry and cleaning. For example, this year the Gideons started putting Bibles made of 30% recycled paper into hotel rooms. "We think it's beneficial to the environment. We need to be conscious of that.

And then secondarily, if the hotel industry is going that way, it helps with our relationship with them," Burden said. "We're fine with that. We're just going to continue to do what we do." Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted E-mail | Print | To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor Brent Jones . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com . Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more . How to Counter Gideon Bibles in Hotels and Schools How to Counter Gideon Bibles in Hotels and Schools Atheists and Secularists Should Oppose Privileging Christianity and the Bible Hotel Bible. George Diebold Photography/The Image Bank/Getty Share By Austin Cline The Gideons International distribute Bibles all over the world.

They don't do this to educate people about the Bible or even to provide Bibles to those who otherwise can't afford to purchase one themselves. The purpose of the Gideons is, in their own words, to "win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ ." They exist solely to evangelize Christianity and convert people to belief in their god . You can take a stand against the Gideons when their actions are rude or even break the law. Gideon Bibles in Hotels & Motels You're most likely encounter with Gideon Bibles will be in motels and hotels. Their presence certainly isn't illegal, but it does represent an unambiguous form of preferential treatment for Christianity. It might not be so bad if religious scriptures from a variety of religions were provided on an equal basis, but thus far the only hotel chain to even try eventually succumbed to pressure from evangelical Christians . As has been demonstrated in so many other cases, some Christians can't handle even the slightest competition. Things to do: Request a Bible-Free Room: Owners are expected to keep Bibles in every room, but if you ask for a Bible-free room you can get one.

This might sound petty since if you aren't interested in the Bible you can just ignore it, but it's important to remember that hotels are unjustly assuming that guests would want a Bible in the first place. It's not petty to object to Christian beliefs and Christian scriptures being singled out for privileged treatment. Why isn't the onus on Christians to ask for a Bible or to bring their own? By specifically requesting a Bible-free room, you will be demonstrating to the owners that not everyone wants or even appreciates having a Bible in their room. Perhaps if enough people do this in enough places, it will eventually make a difference and Bibles will be something that you have to request. If they won't remove the Bible or you just forget to ask, there are other steps you can take that are just as effective or perhaps even more so. Warning Stickers: There are warning stickers you can place in the Bible to send a message to future readers and perhaps make an impact on their thinking. There are also warning stickers about the Gideons themselves . If you don't want to go so far as putting a sticker on the Bible, you can just leave a freethought bookmark in it .

Write a Letter: Whatever happens, writing a formal letter to hotel management is a good idea. Your goal should be to explain to them that don't appreciate the company giving privileged treatment to Christianity generally or the Gideons in particular. Not all their customers are Christians, after all, and non-Christians shouldn't be told like this that they aren't as important as Christian customers. Gideon Bibles in Hospitals, Nursing Homes Both public and private medical facilities receive visits from the Gideons to distribute Bibles to patients and in the rooms. People who are ill, old, weak, and alone are easy targets for evangelists promising heaven but who never actually have to deliver anything while people are still alive to collect — or complain. This is unfortunate, but Christian evangelists have a long tradition of such behavior. In Catholic hospitals, you may face not just a Bible but a crucifix hanging prominently on the wall. If you are in such a facility, it may be difficult for you to object simply because of your condition. It is a good idea to let your family know about your feelings in advance so that they can effectively and accurately represent you when you are unable to do so yourself.

This might not be as serious as an advance medical directive, but it's worth including in the same package of information. By the same token, you should be vigilant about providing the same help to friends and family who feel like you do. Gideon Bibles in Public Schools There was a time when it was common for the Gideons to enter public schools during school hours and distribute Bibles to students. This favoritism towards Christianity was blatantly unconstitutional and, over time, most schools have stopped the practice — but not all. It's amazing that any schools today would still think that it is OK to have outside religious groups come in and distribute Bibles to students, but such incidents still make the news occasionally. Things to do: Document Everything: First, make sure you know who is responsible for what's going on and what all the relevant policies are. Second, document every step you take, every communication, and everything you are told. If it comes to a lawsuit, your records may be invaluable. Organize: It's best to be prepared, so start talking to people about the issue. Local freethought and atheist groups are a good place to start, but you should approach liberal churches and non-Christian houses of worship as well.

The broader the support is, the better your chances of making a difference. Contact the Administration: Once you know what's going on and aren't alone in your objections, it's time to approach the school administration. Don't be hostile, but explain to them how their policies violate the law and ask that the Gideons not be accorded any special privileges. Offer Alternatives: Sometimes supporters of Christian privileges reverse course when others take advantage of them, so if the school won't stop privileging the Gideons you can request that other groups get the same benefits. Can you imagine the outcry if a freethought group even requested permission to distribute Freethought literature in public schools, much less were allowed to? What if communists asked to distribute the Communist Manifesto? What if Muslims asked to distribute copies of the Qur'an or a biography of Muhammad? Any privileging of Christianity or the Bible in public schools is illegal — courts have held this to be the case repeatedly all over the country. School officials have two choices: admit other religious and secular groups to distribute material on the same basis, or stop the Gideons from coming in. If the school refuses to do either, they will stand almost no chance in a lawsuit.

Bible Now Shares Hotel Rooms With Some Other Good Books - NYTimes.com Bible Now Shares Hotel Rooms With Some Other Good Books By EDWIN McDOWELL Published: December 26, 1995 It used to be that hotel guests could count on finding at least three things in their rooms: a bed, a bathroom and a Gideon Bible. These days, the Bibles are more common than ever, but they no longer have the field to themselves. In a growing number of hotels, the Bible now finds itself keeping company with the Book of Mormon, the Teaching of Buddha and, in rarer cases, with Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, or The Way to Happiness, a publication of the Church of Scientology. This reflects the fact that in this diversified culture, the Christian Bible is no longer the single religious text," said Leander E. Keck, the Winkley Professor of Biblical Theology at the Yale Divinity School. The American Hotel and Motel Association says the number of Bibles in hotel drawers has grown partly because the number of hotel rooms in the United States has increased to 3.4 million from 2.6 million in 1983.

Perhaps more importantly, the Gideons -- evangelical business and professional men from various Christian denominations who have been putting Bibles in hotel rooms for almost a century -- appear to have lost no missionary ardor. But many of the 160,000 hotel rooms in the Marriott chain -- whose founder, J. W. Marriott, was a Mormon -- carry the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. Some 2,500 hotels in the United States also carry the Teaching of Buddha, compliments of the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism, based in Tokyo. While most hotels that carry the Teaching of Buddha cater heavily to Asian guests, the book is also in all 383 rooms of the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena, Calif., the 781 rooms of the California Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the 1,206 rooms of the Fontainebleau Hilton in Miami and in hotels in New York, Colorado, Texas and Washington, D.C. "It took a while for our book to get into hotels, because it was not as well known as the Bible," said Tomohito Katsunuma, the United States director of the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism.

Steve Post, the general manager of Barnabey's Hotel in Manhattan Beach, Calif., near Los Angeles International Airport, has no trouble keeping Science and Health in all 128 rooms, along with the Bible. "Four generations of Posts have owned this hotel and we're Christian Scientists," he said. While Christian Scientists do not actively seek to place Science and Health in hotels, Martin Sirota of the church's Committee on Publication said, "It's something we might think about." The Church of Scientology International said that a foundation formed by Scientologists has, since 1984, placed more than 90,000 copies of The Way to Happiness, written by the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, in more than 350 American hotels. Despite the United States' growing religious diversity, the Bible does not appear likely to lose its primacy in hotel rooms anytime soon. "The only holy book we have in our hotels is the Bible, because our guests are 99 percent Americans and the majority of them are Christians," said Ravi Patel in Charlotte, N.C., who with his family owns 20 hotels in Virginia and the Carolinas. Neither his hotels, Mr.

Patel said, nor the many others owned by members of the Asian American Hotels Owners Association, carry the Bhagavad-Gita, the Sanskrit poem and classic of Hinduism. "But we are in a service industry," he said, "and if the time ever comes when our guests request it, we would provide it." Dr. Abdel-Rahman Osmam, the senior Imam, or leader, at the Islamic Center of New York, said Moslems did not try to put the Koran in hotel rooms "because guests may take it to the bathroom or some other improper place." Most Moslems, Dr. Osmam added, memorize at least the Koran's opening chapter, which must be recited during each of the five prescribed daily prayers. Dr. Neil Gillman, a rabbi and associate professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York said that as far as he knew there was no Jewish organization that tried to place religious works in hotel rooms.

Meanwhile, the 150,000-strong Gideons International -- founded by three traveling salesmen in 1899 and named for a Biblical judge of Israel who also led a small band of men dedicated to the service of God -- have given away about 700 million copies of the King James or Modern English versions of the Bible. Based in Nashville, the Gideons say their Bibles have reached 170 countries in 76 languages. Occasional efforts to bar Bibles from hotel rooms, on the ground that they are offensive to some guests, have not gotten very far because, hoteliers say, hotels are private businesses, free to accept Bibles or not, while guests are equally free to read them or not and to take them or not. Margo Gilbert, the general manager of the Radisson Inn Lake Natoma in Folsom, Calif., said she had seen Bibles used as a scratch pads and repositories. "If I had a nickel for every time I found a condom in the Bible," Ms.

Gilbert said, "I would be able to retire." And spirituality is clearly not initially uppermost in the minds of most guests at the California Hotel and Casino, despite its having Bibles and the Teaching of Buddha in every room. "Maybe guests eventually read the books," said a hotel spokeswoman, Jodee Streuber. "But when they arrive they just want to shower and hurry down to gamble." Organizations That Give Free Bibles | Our Everyday Life Organizations That Give Free Bibles by Anne Reynolds Gideons International supplies free Bibles to hotel rooms throughout the world. Related Articles How Can I Get a Free Catholic Bible? The Bible is the Christian's handbook to life. One of the main goals of evangelical Christian organizations is to reach the world through the influence of the Bible. Providing free Bibles to developing countries, secular organizations and new believers is one way evangelicals fulfill the "Great Commission" (as described in Matthew 28:19). Many Christian organizations distribute free Bibles. Gideons International In 1899, Gideons International was born. Because most early members of the Gideons were travelers, the idea soon became a reality to provide free Bibles to hotels.

The first free Bibles began to appear in hotel rooms in 1908. In the 21st century, Gideons International distributes free Bibles, printed in more than 90 languages. The Bibles are distributed all around the world in more than 190 countries. Spirit One Ministry Spirit One Ministry began as a Christian broadcasting feed over the Internet in 2004. The ministry evolved to include FM radio broadcasting stations. Spirit One relies on donations and offers up to three free Bibles upon request. An online KJV (King James Version) Bible is available, as well. Recycled Bibles Many organizations collect used Bibles and distribute them to needy individuals. FreeBibles.net is a grassroots organization that is made up of volunteers. The organization was founded in 2000. There are a few requirements to receive a free Bible from the organization. The recipient must be very poor, imprisoned or sick, and Bibles can be sent only to people in the United States. Bible Senders is another organization that uses recycled Bibles. However, it will ship all over the world, and there are no limitations on the recipients. Online Bibles Individuals with access to a computer find many online Bibles available.

Online versions are easy to use because many websites provide keyword and verse search. Bible Gateway offers multiple versions in many languages, making verse comparison easy. Bible Gateway also presents reading plans, commentaries, eBook Bible downloads and Bible dictionaries. Bible Resources presents an online Bible that allows the user to read, search or listen to the Scriptures. Information on how to study the Bible is also available. Local Churches Usually local churches purchase Bibles in bulk to hand out as needed. Free Bibles are used during services for individuals who forget to bring their own or do not have one. Contact your neighborhood church for information on obtaining a new or used free Bible. References Who are the Gideons International, and what do they believe? Who are the Gideons International, and what do they believe? Subscribe to our Question of the Week : Question: "Who are the Gideons International, and what do they believe?" Answer: The Gideons International is an association of Christian business and professional men who are dedicated to distributing God’s Word around the world. The Auxiliary of Gideons are wives who support the work with prayer and by participating in many of the functions of Gideons, including the placement of Bibles.

By making Bibles available around the world, the Gideons trust God to use His Word to increase His kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:6). The Gideons International has its worldwide headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, but each Gideon is assigned to a local group called a “camp.” Camps usually meet once a week for a prayer breakfast and once a month for education and planning. Members encourage each other in personal witnessing and in their overarching goal of bringing men and women, boys and girls, to a saving knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior. The Gideons organization was begun in 1899 by two traveling salesmen with a heart for evangelism. They later adopted the goal of putting a Bible in every hotel room in the United States starting in 1908. From those beginnings grew an organization of over 300,000 men and women in 195 countries giving out Bibles or New Testaments in over ninety languages. In their first 105 years, the Gideons have given out over 1.8 billion copies of God’s Word. The Gideons are lay persons (not clergy) who are members in good standing in an evangelical or Protestant church.

Essentially, they represent local churches as missionaries whose sole purpose is winning the lost through providing them the Word of God. Today, they distribute over one million Scriptures throughout the world every week—that’s more than two copies per second. Whole Bibles are left in hotels and motels, and New Testaments are provided to middle schools, high schools, colleges, prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, military facilities, doctor’s offices, and fire stations—all at no cost to those receiving the Bibles. Churches support the Gideons with prayer, with some of their members serving as Gideons and Auxiliary members, and by paying for Bibles. All donations to the Gideons go for the printing and transportation of Bibles—many to countries where traditional missionaries cannot go. In forty-eight of the countries where the Gideons are organized, people struggle to survive; they will never own a Bible without some assistance. The Gideons believe and teach the basics of orthodox Christian doctrine, and the New Testaments they distribute have two pages in the back devoted to explaining the gospel and how to be saved. Their doctrinal statement and further information on the Gideons are available on their website.

Question: What organization famously distributes bibles to hotel rooms?
Answer: The Gideons