Sunday, April 17, 2005
Goodbye Gideon
The News Telegraph (UK) reports that students in Scotland have voted to remove Gideon Bibles from residence halls:
Stirling University Students' Association (SUSA) has voted to remove up to 6,000 copies of the Gideon Bible from more than 2,000 halls of residence rooms.
A motion to have them withdrawn was passed by 15-1 at a recent meeting of student council. Seven members abstained.
Citing the Scottish Executive's One Scotland Many Cultures campaign, the students said representing one faith was not in the spirit of equality.
Al Wilson, president of the SUSA, said: "The one thing the students have come up with is that they do have a Gideon Bible in their rooms but they feel that's not really fair on those who practise other faiths.
"It's promoting one faith over others, so we're trying to encourage the university to still retain the Bibles within the buildings themselves, but not necessarily in the rooms."