It's fun removing a Gideon Bible - knowing that you have done your bit. It's even better when that bible contains a flyer or card advertising a local evangelical church! The fact remains though - you shouldn't have to do this. You paid for a room, you didn't sign up to be evangelised at.

Hotel owners are not all evangelicals - for the most part they have been fed a mix of misinformation and moralising that makes them think the bibles are there as a public service. If you explain what they are really doing there, chances are your hotel owner will remove them.

When you write to your hotel owner (and please - write to them, don't harrass the poor receptionist!) here are some useful things to ask them:

• Do you know that Gideon Bibles are used to recruit people to the Christian Religion?
• Why do you place a Gideon Bible in every room, whether the customer asks for it or not?
• Does your hotel value the business of people who are not Christian?
• How have you decided which religion to promote?

Did we miss one? pop into the Discussion Forum and let us know!

It's important not to just complain - suggest what you want the owner to do about it! We suggest asking:

• Would you consider keeping the bibles at reception, in case a customer asks for one?
• Will you ask customers at check in if they want a non bible room?
• Will you consider adopting a religion neutral stance, which respect the views of all of your customers, rather than a religious minority?

Almost all of the large hotel chains are listed on the stock market. This raises an interesting possibility - you can buy shares in the company. Buying shares in a company - in some cases even a single share - allows you to do things that not many people know about. For one, you can ask questions about the accounts. So, if you want to find out if your hotel chain actually bought those Gideon bibles (which they would call a donation, naturally), you can ask that question as a shareholder.

More importantly, owning shares in the company allows you to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM). There is no better forum to ask those difficult questions than the annual meeting of shareholders. Look at the questions above - those are awkward enough for a single hotel owner to answer. How hard are they for a chief executive to answer in a room full of people who expect them to do what is required to get the best return for the shareholders?