The nationwide hotel chain Travelodge has removed Bibles from all of its rooms, in a move criticised by the Church of England.
Bibles
provided free by the Gideons have been taken away for “diversity” reasons.
The
removals took place after refurbishment work across the hotel chain, which
replaced the drawers where Bibles were being kept.
‘Cultural
vandalism’
In
response, a spokesman for the Church of England said: “It seems both tragic and
bizarre that hotels would remove the word of God for the sake of ergonomic
design, economic incentive or a spurious definition of the word ‘diversity’”.
Writing
on the Telegraph website, commentator Tim Stanley described Travelodge’s
decision as “an act of cultural vandalism upon a tradition that goes back 126
years”.
A
spokesman for Travelodge said: “The reason is because of diversity. With the
country being increasingly multicultural, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to
just have the Bible”
Further
Reading here:
