Bible study and the Gideons

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Posted by: Economist.com | LONDON
Categories: Books Hotels
FROM saucy cable-TV channels that miraculously vanish from the hotel bill to after-hour assignations in unfamiliar cities, business travel has always contained its share of temptations. How to resist? Many travellers put their hands into the top drawer of their hotel room's bedside table and reach for the Gideons Bible.

In November the Gideons International marks 100 years since it first placed a Bible in a hotel room. Nowadays the books are found in most global hotel chains. They almost certainly won’t be mentioned in any of the marketing bumf nor in the list of amenities; but unlike the fluffy bathrobe or hotel umbrella, stealing them is not frowned upon (though selling them on is). And if you do choose to read the Bible, you’ll find a handy cribsheet at the beginning that points to passages that might alleviate particular emotional turmoil.

The Gideons dates from 1898 when two travelling businessmen were made to share a room at the Boscobel Hotel in Wisconsin and ended up praying together before settling to sleep. A decade later the group, named after an Old Testament judge, decided to distribute Bibles to every hotel in America. Since then it has distributed over 1.4 billion Bibles in 183 countries.

But in a post-9/11 world that has learned to treat theocracy with suspicion, how has the Gideons Bible become such an accepted part of international business-hotel life? Firstly, despite much evidence to the contrary, there is clearly still demand. The Gideons optimistically reckon each Bible has the potential to reach 2,300 people in its estimated six-year lifespan (even if it is used to scribble down notes and phone numbers). Secondly, many hotels prefer to cater for all religions by providing the Bible in the bedside table and other texts on request, than do away with the Bibles altogether.

Thirdly, the Gideons is well mobilised and able to supply Bibles quickly, efficiently and without charge. Many branches of the group have links to housekeepers and hoteliers which mean stocks can be replenished easily.

But perhaps the biggest reason is the sheer weight of the group's funding and support. According to the latest balance sheet of the Gideons International, around $68m was earmarked to buy 66m Bibles in the year to May 31st 2008, a period when net assets increased by $6.7m. The association is well bankrolled with an astonishing number of donors, many of whom leave annual contribution payments in their wills.

The Gideons operates on the same missionary principle as many of America’s evangelical Christians: sow widely and some seed will fall on fertile soil. You may not agree with the group, but while their Bible is there in your room, and available without cost or hassle, you may not end up rejecting it altogether.