You’ll Never Believe What One Hotel Used To Replace Bibles

You'll never believe what The Damson Dene Hotel, which touts itself as the perfect destination for a “peaceful break away from it all” in England’s picturesque Lake District, used to replace Bibles in each of it's 40 guest rooms - E. L. James' steamy novel 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.

'Fifty Shades of Grey', part of an erotic trilogy,contains graphic sex scenes that have its main characters engaging in bondage, sadomasochism and other exploits.

To make this move even more controversial, Damson Dene owner Jonathan Denby bought the hotel from a Methodist group 10 years ago.  Not being a fan of the Gideon Bibles that accompanied each room at the point of purchase, Denby had long been wanting to replace them.

Denby decided that in a modern secular society it was “wholly inappropriate” to keep a religious book in people’s private bedrooms.

He was thinking originally of putting in ‘Atlas Shrugged’  by Ayn Rand, 'Atlas Shrugged’ was my" first thought”, Denby told NBC News.

“(But) because everybody is reading ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ we thought it would be a hospitable thing to do, to have this available for our guests, especially if some of them were a little bit shy about buying it because of its reputation.”

Denby says the decision to replace Bibles with the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was done for fun.

Some locals don't mind the decision, others are sickened.  Rev. Michael Woodcock, parish priest at St. Mary’s Church in Crosthwaite, where the hotel is located, told British media that the hotel’s decision is just a gimmick.  “It is a great shame that Bibles have been removed from rooms and very inappropriate to have been replaced by an explicit erotic novel,” said Woodcock.

[Via:  NBC News]