XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
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   From: bdickman@usa.com   
      
   There is growing outrage among sailors and religious liberty   
   advocates over a directive that calls for the removal of Bibles   
   from lodges and hotels run on U.S. Navy bases. The directive   
   comes after an atheist group filed a formal complaint earlier   
   this year over the placement of Bibles in the rooms.   
      
   "The current direction is to remove all religious material from   
   Navy Lodge guest rooms," read an email to a Navy chaplain from   
   The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM). "For those Navy   
   Lodges with religious materials currently in guest rooms, the   
   Navy Lodge General Manager will contact the Installation   
   Chaplain's office who will provide guidance on the removal   
   procedure disposition of these materials."   
      
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   An active duty service member contacted me and alerted me the   
   Bibles were being taken out of hotel rooms and a lodge   
   housekeeper told American Family Association the same thing.   
      
   The American Family Association received an exclusive copy of a   
   similar directive from NEXCOM, the organization that manages the   
   lodges.   
      
   "The Navy Lodge General Manager should advise the Installation   
   Commanding Officer of our intention to work through the   
   chaplain's office to determine what installation policy is and   
   the method to remove religious material currently in the guest   
   rooms," read a directive approved by Michael Bockelman, the vice   
   president of NEXCOM and the director of the Navy Lodge Program.   
      
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   In other words, they've got to figure out a way to dispose of   
   God's Word.   
      
   I contacted NEXCOM spokesperson Kathleen Martin hoping to get   
   the inside scoop. Yes or no -- are Bibles being removed from   
   Navy-run lodges? Martin dodged my question and to be quite   
   frank, gave me the runaround. She refused, on numerous   
   occasions, to explain the whereabouts of the lodge Bibles.   
      
   "Lodge managers are coordinating with base chaplains regarding   
   the disposition of all religious material," she said.   
      
   Martin said the directive will impact about 40 Navy lodges   
   around the world.   
      
   "We looked at our policy -- and realized there wasn't a   
   consistent policy regarding Navy Lodges," she told me. "We   
   decided we needed to have some consistency and be consistent   
   with the Navy."   
      
   I figured I would try one more time. Yes or no -- will the Navy   
   allow Bibles to be placed in Navy lodges? Martin refused to   
   answer the question.   
      
   The order was hailed by the Freedom From Religious Foundation.   
   The FFRF had filed a complaint with the military -- claiming the   
   presence of the Bible "amounts to a government endorsement of   
   that religious text."   
      
   "FFRF is pleased to learn that NEXCOM has taken seriously its   
   constitutional obligation to remain neutral toward religion as a   
   representative of our federal government," FFRF Sam Grover told   
   me. "By removing Bibles from Navy-run lodges, the Navy has taken   
   a step to ensure that it is not sending the impermissible   
   message that Christians are favored over guests with other   
   religious beliefs or over those guests with no religion."   
      
   The Bibles had been placed in the rooms, free of charge, by   
   Gideons International.   
      
   An active duty service member contacted me and alerted me the   
   Bibles were being taken out of hotel rooms and a lodge   
   housekeeper told American Family Association the same thing.   
      
   "They told us to put them in boxes where they would be taken to   
   a donation center somewhere," the housekeeper told AFA.   
      
   The Navy even has a plan in the event, heaven forbid, a guest   
   leaves behind their Bible.   
      
   "All religious materials left by a Navy Lodge guest, in the   
   future, will be dealt with following established procedures for   
   lost and found property," the directive states.   
      
   FFRF said they were alerted to the Bible controversy by "two   
   concerned service members."   
      
   "One complainant noted that he 'never saw a Book of Mormon or   
   Koran' in any Navy-run lodge," read an FFRF letter to the Navy.   
      
   Mikey Weinstein, the president of the Military Religious Freedom   
   Foundation, told me he was delighted to hear of the Navy's   
   directive. His organization has been trying for more than seven   
   years to cleanse military hotel rooms of the Good Book.   
      
   "We are happy to see the military doing that," Weinstein said.   
   "For years we've been telling them those Bibles are a violation   
   of the Establishment Clause."   
      
   Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for   
   Religious Liberty, blasted the Navy for removing the Bibles.   
      
   "This is just one more assault by military leaders against   
   anything Christian," Crews told me. "It's getting tiresome to   
   see senior military leaders cave in to those who appear to be   
   offended by Christians, by Christian symbols and now by the   
   Bible itself."   
      
   Crews said there's nothing wrong with allowing the Gideons to   
   place Bibles in Navy lodges -- at no cost to the Navy.   
      
   "Our military service men and women have every right to look at   
   literature in hotel rooms -- including the Scriptures," he said.   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/08/11/navy-removes-bibles-   
   from-guest-rooms/?intcmp=obnetwork   
      
           
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)