The controversial removal of Bibles from hotel rooms by one of Britain's largest hotel chains has sparked complaints from Christians, Fox News reported. However, the company claims that the Bibles were removed for "diversity reasons."
Travelodge, which operates 500 hotels, cited the country's increasing multicultural influences for its decision to make a change to the traditional practice of providing guests with a Bible in their hotel rooms, the Daily Mail reported. Despite the recent uproar, the chain reportedly said that the decision to remove the Bibles was made in 2007.
The move was designed so as "not to discriminate against any religion," the company said in a statement. Now the Bibles, supplied by the Gideon Society, are available at the reception desks for guests to borrow.
However, when a guest recently requested a Travelodge branch receptionist in London for a copy of the Bible, he could not find one and suggested for the guest to use the hotel's free Wifi to "Google it and read it online," according to Daily Mail.
But on the guest's insistence to find a hard copy of the Bible, the employee was forced to call his manager, eventually being told that there were no Bibles in the hotel since a renovation was done last year, according to Fox News.
Travelodge is the first national hotel chain to remove Bibles, according to the report. In 2012, one independent hotel replaced Bibles with the best-seller, "Fifty Shades of Grey."
However, the Church of England is not happy with the hotel's policy. "[It is] 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.' " the Church said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Tim Stanley, a U.S. historian, noted that no one has ever lodged a complaint to Travelodge about the hotel room Bibles, and said in an op-ed for the Telegraph, "It's an act of cultural vandalism upon a tradition that goes back 126 years."
