ToshoftheWuffingas wrote: |
It's clear that religion stirs strong passions though there has to be a bit more offense to stir my juices.
Ditto. And usually I find it pointless to argue about religious beliefs (or lack of.) I do enjoy a good religious debate, though.
If I read the Bible I insist on the King James version anyway for the language.
I own at least 10 different translations and interpretations of the Bible. I love the King James for the Psalms and Song of Solomon, I use the others if I am studying and still others if I am trying to garner some advice.
Jewel, you say that seeing the Koran would interest you and perhaps I'd have a go at it too but don't you think that many of your co-religionists (not your individual church because I know you would instinctively search out a liberal and humane congregation) would go purple and froth at finding one in their hotel drawer and even dispose of it?
I guess some people would do this. I hesitate to call any of them my "co-religionists" whatever name they gave themselves. I find the Christian right a huge embarrassment to both my country and my faith.
Or to give another example what about The Communist Manifesto? Imagine a group of communists going around South Carolina's hotels popping that into hotel rooms? What would be the reaction of the press?
Well...being as one cannot be a member of the Communist Party and also a citizen of the USA, this would never be allowed in the first place. Now...if I was in a hotel in China and found that book there, I wouldn't be very surprised or offended. 84% of the US population identifies as Christian in one way or another. So the fact that a Christian group was able to convince a majority of hotels to have the Christian scriptures placed in guest rooms is not particularly surprising.
So it isn't only about providing a good read or some spiritual solace or something neutral; its about proselytising and one's reactions to that depend on who is doing it.
I think that when the Gideons first started their Bible ministry, there was a very different mind-set about it. As I said, I consider it a fairly benign form of evangelism. However, Liddy's comment about not wanting a book in his hotel room telling him he is going to hell (which is one interpretation, I suppose!) has got me thinking that perhaps this ministry should be revisited.
What I would like to see is a small library (one bookshelf, maybe) in every hotel lobby that was available for guests. This could have copies of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah (well, that's really the first five books of the Bible, anyway) and so on...and maybe some other books for guests to borrow and read. But this would have to be stocked by the different groups that had an interest in such things. And so far, the Gideons have been the only group who has had such a dedicated interest. Perhaps all the Bibles should be taken out of the rooms and put in a different place, accessible to guests but not actually in the room itself. But again, there would have to be some group that advocated for them to do this. And so far, no group has.
I suppose one could ask the management to remove the Bible before check-in. But it might be easier just to put it into the hallway and ask housekeeping to take it away, if it is offensive to you.