Gideons Bibles are going back into Navy lodges

I do not approve of any member of the military feeling forced to do anything against their will when it comes to the personal choice of matters of faith or the lack of it. That said, I approve of this move because some choose to believe and Bibles have a long history in the military.

Navy Tells Lodges to Put Bibles Back in Rooms
Stars and Stripes
by Travis J. Tritten
Aug 15, 2014

WASHINGTON -- Gideons Bibles are going back into Navy lodges.

The Navy on Thursday ordered the Bibles returned to rooms and said it is reviewing a decision by the Navy Exchange to remove them from its worldwide network of military hotels.

Atheists had cheered a victory after a complaint prompted the exchange to begin moving the Bibles to its lost-and-found bins this summer, but the Navy said the decision was made without consulting senior leadership.

"That decision and our religious accommodation policies with regard to the placement of religious materials are under review," Navy spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes.

"While that review is under way, religious materials removed from Navy Lodge rooms will be returned." Bibles donated by Gideons International are a common sight in Navy lodges and at hotels around the world.

"This will allow the commanding officer to determine ... whether the materials will be accepted and how they will be handled and distributed," Mayhue wrote.

The memo was prompted by a complaint in March by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin atheist group that claims 21,000 members including hundreds of active-duty troops and veterans.
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