Not sure how our British Forces fare when it comes to having religious texts as a matter of course. It won’t be mandatory kit, but I suspect you can find one next to every bed – Gideon Style. In the US, the Bible is no longer listed as a requirement on the checklist for hospitality mandates for Air Force Inn lodgings. A group of atheists known as the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers filed a complaint against the Air Force for having the Holy Bible among requirements on their checklist for hospitality for lodging officers.
Having the Bible shouldn’t be a requirement, and the military of all government bodies shouldn’t extend it as one. They apparently realized that and removed the item from the checklist. This may seem like a small win, and nothing of importance, but any win is big when it comes to secularism in the United States. Atheism is becoming less of a taboo in this nation thanks to people like the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, as well as groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and American Atheists.
While the Bibles are being scrubbed from the checklist, the Air Force isn’t going to remove the Bibles in the lodgings available. This has upset the atheist group who is demanding the investigation of Michael B. Donley, the Air Force secretary, for religious bias.
Good for them!