Hotel manager Wayne Bartholomew said the move to install the steamy bestseller was in response to popular demand. Mr Bartholomew said the book was all people were talking about but many were too shy to buy it. “I thought it would be a special treat for our guests to find it in their bedside cabinet and that includes the men too,” he said. “They are as desperate to get their hands on a copy as the women.”
He added: “The Gideon Bible is full of references to sex and violence, although it’s written using more formal language, so James’s book is easier to read.” The hotel said the Gideon Bible would remain available at the reception desk. Crosthwaite parish priest Mr Woodcock oversees services at the nearby St Mary’s Parish Church and spoke of his disappointment at the hotel’s move. “It is a great shame that Bibles have been removed from rooms and very inappropriate to have been replaced by an explicit erotic novel,” he said.
“The Bible remains a source of comfort and inspiration that many people do find helpful.” A Diocesan spokesperson said: “Fifty Shades of Grey is all the rage but is likely to be a passing fad. The Bible is a classic, shaped and reshaped by Jewish and Christian communities over many centuries; it is also an enduring source of comfort to travellers around the world and, we believe, the words of life. It is unclear why anyone would think it appropriate to replace the latter with the former.”
5 comments:
I think they've hit the nail on the head with shaped and reshaped.. it probably no longer bears any resemblance to what was originally written.
One piece of fiction's as good as another but the bible does have its own share of porny bits. In my old school we were obliged to read out bits of the bible at assembly. I felt this somewhat of an imposition, but managed to bore even the god botherers when I found a whole section on the dimensions of the pillars in solomon's temple. I'm just sorry I wasn't aware of Ezekiel 23:19 at the time:
Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.
"He said it was ‘a great shame’ to replace the Gideon Bibles at the rural retreat with an explicit, erotic novel."
He missed a few words out of that description. It should read "explicit, tedious, badly written, overrated, erotic novel".
I'm thoroughly insulted! Didn't he even think of replacing the Bible with "Five-Star FLEECING?"
Harrumph.
""He said it was ‘a great shame’ to replace the Gideon Bibles at the rural retreat with an explicit, erotic novel."
He missed a few words out of that description. It should read "explicit, tedious, badly written, overrated, erotic novel"."
Gareth, I wouldn't necessarily call the Bible a novel, erotic or otherwise, but other than that I agree with you.
There was a bit in Red Dwarf, where the news channel mentions scholars had found a new page from the bible, it belonged at the beginning and read : "To my darling Candy. All characters portrayed within this book are fictitous and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental."
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