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Gideon Bibles
Members of The Gideons International distribute Bibles in 181 countries in 82
languages. They focus on five primary areas:
Hotels and Motels
Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and Domestic Violence Shelters
Schools, Colleges, and Universities
The Military, Law Enforcement Personnel, Firefighters, and EMTs
Prisons and Jails
The Gideons provide Bibles to Hotels for free under the condition that the proprietors keep them in the rooms. Watch how
fast the proprietors go back on their word to get your money when you ask for a Bible-free room. Much work needs to be done to combat the intrusion of
religion to a captive audience as the Gideons distribute 120 Bibles per minute.
Hospitals, shelters and the like which are county owned or otherwise government
owned have no business accepting Bibles for distribution to patients or residents.
If they are going to own Bibles, they should at least acquire other "holy
books" as well so that they may accommodate everyone equally.
- Check the status of this practice at the local hospital.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that an
Indiana school district's policy and practice permitting representatives of
Gideon International to distribute Bibles in public schools during school hours
violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. See Berger v. Rensselaer
Central School Corp., 982 F.2d 1160 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113
S.Ct. 2344 (1993). So, obviously, the Gideons are fully aware of the
illegality of this practice but they continue anyway. Their current strategy is
to cease distribution at a school after the first complaint, thereby avoiding
controversy, legal costs and most importantly to them, legal precedent.
- Immediately report any appearance of a Gideons representative at one of
your public schools.
The military, law enforcement and many firefighters are government employees.
If these people feel it necessary to have a bible with them on the job, that's
fine. But for a government body to accept them from an outside group whose
stated mission is "to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ" is absolutely inappropriate. There has been quite
a bit of controversy lately about the christian bigotry in the ranks of the
military.
“And Gideon had threescore and ten
sons of his
body begotten: for he had many wives.”
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