posted
Doubtful, since you can usually get it for free if you know where to ask. Although I guess it might have been true in some times and places, when the Bible was the most common book around.
-------------------- "For the U.S. to get involved militarily in determining the outcome of the struggle over who's going to govern Iraq strikes me as a classic definition of a quagmire." ~Dick Cheney. Posts: 747 | From: Kansas | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
But I wonder, Mr. GB, if that's why people usually shoplift: because they don't know where they can get the item. I wonder if people who feel they need some kind of supernatural power, "like, now" are going to go around and ask, "Say, do you know where I can find a Bible?" Isn't it more likely they drop in to a local store and drop one in their pocket? Also, won't some people feel that this "sin" will be forgiven because of their great "need" etc.?
Posts: 4922 | From: Kyoto, Japan | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Ganzfeld: But I wonder, Mr. GB, if that's why people usually shoplift: because they don't know where they can get the item. I wonder if people who feel they need some kind of supernatural power, "like, now" are going to go around and ask, "Say, do you know where I can find a Bible?" Isn't it more likely they drop in to a local store and drop one in their pocket? Also, won't some people feel that this "sin" will be forgiven because of their great "need" etc.?
But do most people shoplift because they need or want the item in the first place, or for other reasons?
quote:Some shoplifters steal for the excitement, some steal out of desire, some steal for need, some steal out of peer pressure, and some steal because it is simply a business transaction to them. Some shoplifters are compulsive, some opportunistic, and some are mentally ill and don't know any better.
Also note the OP says "most shoplifted book," not most shoplifted item. Considering the Bible's been around a long time, and there are (I'm guessing here) many more versions of it than most books, wouldn't it just be a numbers thing? If there are more Bibles in the world than any other book, there would be more Bibles stolen than other books.
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posted
I would figure most people who'd steal a Bible would do so for the thrill and to "taunt" god, because stealing is a sin (I think). So if you steal a Bible and nothing happens, you likely think you're above reproach.
-------------------- "There is no constitutional right to sleep with endangered reptiles." -- Carl Hiaasen Won't somebody please think of the adults! Posts: 8254 | From: Florida | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
The topic brought to mind something that happened at a high school I used to attend (where my mother still teaches). This seems to fall under the "What an idiot!" category:
A high school English teacher assigned writing an orignal poem. One student got the "bright idea" to plagiarize a well-known psalm (I can't remember which one.) Not surprisingly, they got caught.
Posts: 885 | From: Florida | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Cervus: I would figure most people who'd steal a Bible would do so for the thrill and to "taunt" god, because stealing is a sin (I think). So if you steal a Bible and nothing happens, you likely think you're above reproach.
I was wondering about that too. "Do not steal" is the 8th commandment. Or the 7th if you're Catholic.
-------------------- I love dairy! Does that mean I can't be a vegan? Posts: 1569 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Oh common on, who hasn't stayed in a hotel and didn't at least think of doing something evil to those ever present Gideon things. I'm surprise its not also listed as the most common things to try and be used as rolling papers, toilet paper, note paper, magic tricks or experiements on whether or not it "holds water" by either taking into a bath or shower, or attempting to flush it down the toilet. BTW books, especially good sized Bibles make great unicycle blocks that help learning cyclist mount their cycle.
Hotel Bible: "and lusted after her paramours there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions." (Ezekiel 23: 21, NRSV)... Chim "been there, done that, signed the hotel's 'registry' book about it" era
-------------------- "The question for joining the protected forum for real magicians should be:
What is the use of women?" Steve W. from JREF's 'This is no fun' Posts: 7622 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Why would you want to do something "evil" to a Gideons Bible?
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
When I started working at a bookstore, it was explained to me that we had to put the little electronic anti-theft sensors on any book priced over $50. I'd never thought of anyone stealing the Bible until I looked in one handsomely illustrated - and pricey - edition, and saw the tag there. I always pictured someone stealing it, getting to "Thou Shalt Not Steal", and yelping "D'oh!"
-------------------- The book says, "We might be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." - Magnolia Posts: 252 | From: East Greenwich, RI, what! | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by AnglRdr: Why would you want to do something "evil" to a Gideons Bible?
For the same reason people do all sorts of minor wrongs in hotels and other private property: mere childish wicked glee. Have you *never* written your name on a wall, thrown a pebble at a cat, toilet-papered a house, or rang a doorbell and run away?
Silas
Posts: 16801 | From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Since the Bible has been around a really long time, it would make sense that it's been the most shoplifted book ever.
Speaking of Bibles in motel rooms--I read years ago that some chain or other started placing dictionaries in the rooms together with Bibles. The dictionaries were taken much more often than the Bibles. I wonder--did people think it was OK to steal a secular but not a sacred book, or did they just think the dictionary would be more useful?
-------------------- Si hoc comprehendere potes, gratias age magistro Latinae. Posts: 1720 | From: Charlottesville, VA | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Bubby: Eve, what do you mean?
About people shoplifting for other reasons besides "needing" the item they're taking? I made reference to an article and quoted it in my first post in this thread (link) . It says what I have always heard - some people steal for excitement, whatever. So people taking a Bible might not be just about wanting one, not being able to afford to purchase it and not knowing how to get one for free. (Which was suggested in the first two replies to the original post.)
-------------------- I love dairy! Does that mean I can't be a vegan? Posts: 1569 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by May Read Mari: Speaking of Bibles in motel rooms--I read years ago that some chain or other started placing dictionaries in the rooms together with Bibles. The dictionaries were taken much more often than the Bibles. I wonder--did people think it was OK to steal a secular but not a sacred book, or did they just think the dictionary would be more useful?
By "chain" do you mean hotel chain? Because the hotels aren't the ones who buy the Bibles for the rooms, it's the Gideons.
I don't understand why hotels - or anyone - would put a dictionary in a hotel room. What do people do in there that they'd need it?
Eve "Although I could use one in the pew" MG
-------------------- I love dairy! Does that mean I can't be a vegan? Posts: 1569 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by AnglRdr: Why would you want to do something "evil" to a Gideons Bible?
For the same reason people do all sorts of minor wrongs in hotels and other private property: mere childish wicked glee. Have you *never* written your name on a wall, thrown a pebble at a cat, toilet-papered a house, or rang a doorbell and run away?
Silas
I have no interest in random mischief. I think it is childish and unimaginative, not to mention needlessly distructive. Those who rip pages out of public telephone books and Gideons Bibles are committing acts of random stupidity, IMO.
That isn't to say I am not a fan of mischief. I think the ability to deliver well-aimed, planned mischief is a true gift.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
I've always found it odd that every year people steal Jesus cards from my store. And it's never just the entire box, like it is with other items that are shoplifted. Every Christmas I'll find boxes of the religous cards (And it's never the nice ones, either). opened and missing five or six cards. There's nothing on them to scan, so these people aren't trying to buy them individually. The rest of the box is always hidden somewhere else in the store, with the rest of the cards intact. As if it's somehow less of a sin to only steal the Jesus cards you need rather than the whole box.
Posts: 53 | From: Calgary | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I don't think the Gideons want people committing indignities to their or any other bible, but if someone were to take a bible home from the hotel they'd be tickled pink. That's what they are really hoping for. They give bibles away free to every and anyone who wants one - they used to be able to do it in schools when I was a kid, dunno 'bout nowadays though - they give them to prisoners, etc. If I remember correctly they used to get them to people living in countries where such a thing was restricted - particularly the old Soviet Union and other Iron Curtain countries - but I disremember the exacts on that. But the point is, yeah, they WANT you to take one of their bibles. Please.
Now as far as a retail store, that's just crappy to steal anything, bible or whatever, and I imagine it's frowned upon by management.
-------------------- "Wolves, dragons and vampires, man. Draw the nut-bars like big ol' nut-bar magnets." ~evilrabbit
(snurched because one of my nutbar family members is all about wolves and another one is all about dragons...)(with apologies to surfcitydogdad) Posts: 2397 | From: Texarkana, TX | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Eve MG: I don't understand why hotels - or anyone - would put a dictionary in a hotel room. What do people do in there that they'd need it?
Well, there are a lot of sales reps/business people on the road that may want to look up a word or two for correct spelling while finishing up a file for work, for example.
-------------------- I would prefer not to. My blog Posts: 4789 | From: Rhode Island | Registered: Feb 2004
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About twenty years ago I read an article that contained a quote from a radical feminist named Gine Allen who said she stole Bibles from hotel/motel rooms because she didn't want the Book to be read. She considered the Bible to be pornographic because it (supposedly) teaches the subordination of women to men and "how to burn women as witches."
Barbara R.
Posts: 378 | From: Boonville, Missouri USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Thanks, Trish. That makes sense. Maybe the front desk was tired of getting phone calls about spelling.
Eve "You can tell I don't travel for business!" MG
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DemonWolf
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
To me, it would depend on why the Bible was stolen from the hotel room. I have always left it there because I have a copy at home (that I purchased) and I see no need to remove a book that is there for "anyone" to use. OTOH, if a person had a really profound moment of (spiritual) need, I would not begrudge a person taking the book with them. Although in all fairness, that person should "make good" on it someday by donating to the group that left the Bible or doing some other good work to help others as they had been helped.
Stealing it for fur or to prevent it's reading is, IMO, just plain wrong. I would feel this way no matter what spiritual book (Quran, Torah, Necromicon)
-------------------- Friends are like skittles: they come in many colors, and some are fruity!
posted
What snapdragonfly said - the Bibles are there in the rooms to be taken. The Gideons replace them periodically - once upon a time in a hotel there was no Bible, and I asked about it at the front desk - thinking that maybe things were different. The desk clerk made a note so that a new bible would be placed in the room by housekeeping.
In parts of Nevada and Utah, the bedside table also contained a Book of Mormon. Also free for you to take home.
-------------------- "The fate of *billions* depends on you! Hahahahaha....sorry." Lord Raiden - Mortal Kombat Posts: 1587 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by DemonWolf: snip-Stealing it for fur ... is, IMO, just plain wrong.
What would bible fur be used for? A coat of many colors, perhaps? Sorry, couldn't resist. Self- of me. Lookie, I made an emoti-pun.
-------------------- You fail to consider, for such is the tyranny of fashion, that the swan is not a slim animal... -Jincy Kornhauser, Melinda Falling Posts: 1762 | From: Charleston, West Virginia | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Hero_Mike: What snapdragonfly said - the Bibles are there in the rooms to be taken. The Gideons replace them periodically - once upon a time in a hotel there was no Bible, and I asked about it at the front desk - thinking that maybe things were different. The desk clerk made a note so that a new bible would be placed in the room by housekeeping.
In parts of Nevada and Utah, the bedside table also contained a Book of Mormon. Also free for you to take home.
Okay, call me crazy, I decided to ask the question directly of the Gideons, through their website. Here's how I put the question:
quote: On a message board I frequent, there is an ongoing discussion about theft of Bibles. Several of the members have asserted that it is not only proper, but encouraged, for the hotel room Bibles placed by the Gideons to be taken by the traveler. Is this true, or does it actually interfere with your mission for people to remove the Bible from a hotel room? Thank you for your time.
And the answer I got:
quote:Patrick,
The Bibles that we place in hotels are place there free of charge to the facility. It is our intention that the Bibles be left in the rooms to be used by the guests. However, if someone is in need of a Bible, we do mind [in context, I can only assume he meant "do not mind"] if they take one. We receive many testimonials from individuals whose lives have been blessed through a Bible that was taken from a hotel room. Often these individuals will send a contribution to pay for the Bible. We regularly check the rooms in hotels and motels to replace missing or damaged Bibles. So it does not interfere with our work or mission when people remove Bibles from the rooms.
I trust this information is helpful in answering your question.
Gary Richardson Special Assistant to the Executive Director The Gideons International
-------------------- Patrick Posts: 576 | From: Illinois | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:Originally posted by pob14: The Hilton, in contrast, has copies of Conrad Hilton's biography.
For a moment I thought you had written Paris Hilton's biography and I was scared, very scared.
-------------------- Små hönor skall inte lägga stora ägg för då blir de slarviga i ändan Posts: 1334 | From: Sweden | Registered: Feb 2000
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It was a gideon bible from a hotel in quebec. I was learning french, and the hotel bible was a very nicely laid out french-english interlinear.
I don't think I'll go to hell, however, since, as it turns out, you can't steal a gideon bible, since they are free. they encourage you to take them, and usually leave a fresh supply with hotel maintanance to restock the ones that go missing.
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quote:Originally posted by Hero_Mike: What snapdragonfly said - the Bibles are there in the rooms to be taken. The Gideons replace them periodically - once upon a time in a hotel there was no Bible, and I asked about it at the front desk - thinking that maybe things were different. The desk clerk made a note so that a new bible would be placed in the room by housekeeping.
In parts of Nevada and Utah, the bedside table also contained a Book of Mormon. Also free for you to take home.
There is generally a card in the Bible (or other VSL) saying that if you really want/need it you may take it, but if you can afford to could you please send a donation to the organization that put it there, but if you can't spare it that's OK too.
-------------------- "The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart."--Iris Murdoch Posts: 3307 | From: Charleston, WV | Registered: Oct 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Barbara R.: About twenty years ago I read an article that contained a quote from a radical feminist named Gine Allen who said she stole Bibles from hotel/motel rooms because she didn't want the Book to be read. She considered the Bible to be pornographic because it (supposedly) teaches the subordination of women to men and "how to burn women as witches."
Barbara R.
IIRC, it mentions that witches should not be allowed to live, but does not offer specific instructions on how to kill them, through burning or any other means.
-------------------- How homophobic do you have to be to have penguin gaydar? - Lewis Black Posts: 8322 | From: Columbus, OH | Registered: Aug 2005
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