The U.S. Navy instructed housekeepers to remove Gideon-placed Bibles from every hotel room on its military bases after it received a letter from the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation, Charisma News reported earlier this week.
After thousands of Christians contacted the Navy, it reversed its order and Bibles are now allowed to stay.
Atheists had cheered a victory after a complaint prompted the exchange to begin moving the Bibles to its lost-and-found bins this summer, Stripes.com reported, but the Navy said the decision was made without consulting senior leadership.
“That decision and our religious accommodation policies with regard to the placement of religious materials are under review,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. “While that review is under way, religious materials removed from Navy Lodge rooms will be returned.”
The American Family Association (AFA) sent an online Action Alert to its friends and supporters Tuesday, encouraging them to take action. It worked.
“This is great news! I know thousands of AFA supporters voiced strong objection to the purging of Bibles by the Navy from their lodges,” says American Family Association president Tim Wildmon.
“We must be alert to what the secularists are doing inside the military but this reversal proves that those who believe in religious freedom can make a difference when we take action.”
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