Secularist Intolerance—Demanding Bible-Free Hotel Rooms

Gideons International has been placing Bibles in hotel rooms for over 100 years with great success, but the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF)—behind many of the attacks on our Ark Encounter project—has sent a letter to 15 hotel chains urging them to make their rooms “more hospitable to non-Christian and nonreligious clientele” by providing “Bible-free” rooms in their hotels. FFRF says, “Many of your guests are freethinkers—atheists, agnostics, skeptics or 'nones'—who are deeply offended to be charged high fees only to be proselytized in the privacy of their own bedrooms.” They say that Gideons International is “exploiting hotels and motels to proselytize a captive audience.”

Now, this is utterly ridiculous. Is anyone forcing hotel guests to read the Bible in their rooms? Of course not! They are not being “proselytized” to—guests have the option of reading the Bible or not. Now, Christians could complain about the evolutionary and pornographic content available on the TV in hotel rooms—but they can make a choice not to watch such programs, just as secularists can make a choice not to read the Bible.

Is the FFRF so worried that someone might actually read a Bible and believe its teachings, that they have to stop guests even having access to the Bible? Obviously the FFRF must recognize their worldview has no foundation, as they are scared people will read God’s Word and may be convinced! And these atheists should be scared, “for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). God uses His Word to change hearts and minds for now and for eternity.

Now, some hotels also feature other religious literature; I often see them in hotel room drawers when I am traveling. But is the FFRF asking that this literature be removed? It appears not from the reports we have seen. They are just asking that Bibles be removed (of course, this only highlights the spiritual nature of such battles—it’s not a physical struggle, but a spiritual one; see Ephesians 6:12). Now, when I‘m in a hotel room, I don’t complain that other religious groups are supposedly trying to proselytize me because there is other religious literature available in the drawer. I simply choose not to read it if I don’t want to.

We are in the midst of a spiritual battle in this country. I encourage you to be in prayer for this nation! Also, we need to stand more firmly than ever on the authority of God’s Word and the gospel, being salt and light to a dying generation. Share God’s Word and the gospel with your family, friends, and neighbors—it’s the gospel that will change hearts and minds for eternity.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a self-described “free thought” group, is the epitome of intolerance.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.