An Atheist Group Got The Navy To Remove Donated Bibles From All Lodges, Hotels
Military chaplains are calling for donated Bibles to be allowed in Navy lodges after an atheist group successfully lobbied to have them removed.
The atheist nonprofit Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Navy complaining about the Bibles back in March. The Bibles had been donated by various Christian charities, including the famous Gideons International, who have distributed nearly 2 million Bibles to hotels, motels, hospitals, schools and prisons since its founding in 1908. This shocking discovery was brought to their attention by two FFRF member servicemen who noted that “nearly every Navy lodging room” they’d stayed in over the course of their careers contained a Bible.
“Providing bibles to guests in Navy-run hotels amounts to a government endorsement of that religious text,” the letter explains. “Including bibles sends the message to non-Christian and non-religious guests that they should read the bible… Such a practice alienates non-Christian guests whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the message being promoted by the bibles, including the 20% of the U.S. population that is nonreligious.”
The Navy responded a few months later, ordering the Navy Lodge General Manager to “remove religious material currently in the guest rooms.”
“By removing bibles from Navy-run lodges, the Navy has taken a step to ensure that it is not sending the impermissible message that Christians are favored over guests with other religious beliefs or over those guests with no religion,” said FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover at the time.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/12/a...-bibles-from-all-lodges-hotels/#ixzz3AGxlC0Ws
http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/12/a...remove-donated-bibles-from-all-lodges-hotels/
Military chaplains are calling for donated Bibles to be allowed in Navy lodges after an atheist group successfully lobbied to have them removed.
The atheist nonprofit Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the Navy complaining about the Bibles back in March. The Bibles had been donated by various Christian charities, including the famous Gideons International, who have distributed nearly 2 million Bibles to hotels, motels, hospitals, schools and prisons since its founding in 1908. This shocking discovery was brought to their attention by two FFRF member servicemen who noted that “nearly every Navy lodging room” they’d stayed in over the course of their careers contained a Bible.
“Providing bibles to guests in Navy-run hotels amounts to a government endorsement of that religious text,” the letter explains. “Including bibles sends the message to non-Christian and non-religious guests that they should read the bible… Such a practice alienates non-Christian guests whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the message being promoted by the bibles, including the 20% of the U.S. population that is nonreligious.”
The Navy responded a few months later, ordering the Navy Lodge General Manager to “remove religious material currently in the guest rooms.”
“By removing bibles from Navy-run lodges, the Navy has taken a step to ensure that it is not sending the impermissible message that Christians are favored over guests with other religious beliefs or over those guests with no religion,” said FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover at the time.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/12/a...-bibles-from-all-lodges-hotels/#ixzz3AGxlC0Ws
http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/12/a...remove-donated-bibles-from-all-lodges-hotels/