( MCNS) -- A new $1.1 billion resort opening this summer in New Jersey has decided it will not allow the Gideons to place Bibles in any of its 2,002 hotel rooms.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, home of the Borgata Babe cocktail waitress and shower-stall-for-two, is breaking ranks with all other casinos in Atlantic City, reported The Press of Atlantic City.
"What we've found is there's such a diversity of gaming customers that visit Atlantic City, by putting one generic publication in there you're not fulfilling the needs of everybody," Borgata spokesman Michael Facenda said.
"You could do the Mormon Bible, the Koran, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Greek New Testament. ... Where we ended up is we're not going to put anything in there," Facenda said.
The Borgata would be the first casino to ban the Gideon Bibles in the city's 25-year history of casino gambling, according to Jim Werner, Bible scriptures secretary for the Gideons' Atlantic County chapter. Even the Las Vegas hotels owned by Borgata's parent companies -- Boyd Gaming and MGM Mirage -- have Bibles in their rooms, company officials told the paper.
"It's a matter of tradition in the hospitality industry," said Maureen Siman, spokeswoman for the 1,625-room Tropicana Casino and Resort.
"A lot of times the casino hotels have taken their time to make a decision - sometimes a month or two. It seems like they don't have a policy because of the so-called controversial nature of the matter," Werner said.
Werner also said he believed Borgata will eventually let the Gideons distribute their Bibles.
"I'm sure it's lower on the list of decision-making. I'm sure they have more important things on their mind than 'shall we put Bibles in the rooms?'" he said.
The 103-year-old Gideons International is based in Nashville and claims to distribute more than a million Bibles per week in 176 countries and 80 languages. Most can be found in hotels and motels, overnight health-care facilities, schools, prisons and places with military and public-safety personnel.
Werner said the recipients pay nothing for the Bibles and the Gideons have to replace half of the local casino Bibles each year.
"Once we put them in the hotel rooms we let God do the work," Werner said.
Werner said a simple thing like a Bible in the drawer of each hotel room could be a life-saver during a personal crisis, such as a catastrophic gambling loss.
"For the casino, it's good for them if it saves one or two lives a year," Werner said. "If nothing else, it's a lot less negative publicity for them and it doesn't cost them a nickel because they're free."
© 2003 Maranatha Christian News Service