Activist Turns Bibles Out of University Hotel Rooms - Allah Be Praised - The Secular Humanist Bulletin - Idaho Humanist Issues

Sep 29, 2026

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Compilation of secular humanist commentary and news-style reports covering religious freedom controversies and government policy. Includes an atheist activist contesting Bible placement in University of Florida housing, legislative discussion of Islamic prayer in Tennessee, critique of court impacts on free exercise of religion featuring Sandra Day O’Connor, and a reinstatement story about a secular storytelling program. Further sections describe Idaho’s $1,000 Bible challenge and related disputes over scriptural consistency and religious influence in public life.

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Activist Turns Bibles Out of University Hotel Rooms

Allah Be Praised

The Secular Humanist Bulletin

Better Late Than Never

Pumsy Is Back

Idaho Humanist Issues

# Activist Turns Bibles Out ofUniversity Hotel Rooms Not long ago,feisty Florida atheist ChristoTzanektakos single-handedly forced theState of Florida to expunge“so help meGod"from its oath for notarypublics.Nowhe's gotten the Bible thrown out of guestrooms at the University of Florida's on-campus hotel,at least temporarily. Tzanektakos and his wife stayed at thecampus hotel while visiting their daughter,aUF freshman.He foundaGideon Bible inthe nightstand drawer and demanded itsremoval;students staffing thehotelrefused.Then Tzanektakos wrote Student UnionDirector Dave Kratzer,complaining thatthe Bibles violate the constitutional separa-tion of church and state. Maybe itwas Tzanektakos'strack record.Kratzer immediately removed the Biblespending a legal opinion from the universityattorney."We are a part of the state ofFlorida,and we have to be mighty sure weare within state law,"Kratzer told the media. Pending the attorney's opinion,hotelguests desiring Bibles could get them onrequest at the front desk.(Thanks to readerRobert Awtrey for this item.) # Allah Be Praised The Tennessee State Senate,recognizingthe multi-cultural makeup of its people,recently opened its legislative session withan Islamic prayer.According to State Sena-tor Steve Cohen,“Werepresent 4.5millionpeople of different faiths,predominatelythe Judeo-Christian tradition,but there arealso Buddhists,Muslims,Hindus,and maybeeven some Ben Franklin-like deists."Bulletinreaders in Tennessee might like to contact theSenate to see aboutopening the session with acompletely secular message. # TheSecular Humanist Bulletin ## Better Late Than Never After ten years of sometimes conservativedecision-making on the Supreme Court,Justice Sandra Day O'Connor now admitsshe is worried about the impact of recentCourt decisions on the free exercise ofreligion. Speaking in Philadelphia before the Bi-centennialConference on ReligioninPublicLife,O'Connor characterized the Court as"narrowly and deeply divided."She citedthe 1990 decision allowing Oregon to banthe use of peyote in Native American reli-gious ceremonies as evidence of the murkywaters through which the Court now navi-gates. “We live in a pluralistic society,withpeople of widely divergent religious back-grounds or with none at all,"she observed.“Governmentcannotendorsebeliefs ofonegroup without sending a clear message tonon-adherents that they are outsiders." O'Connor made her remarks weeks be-fore Justice Thurgood Marshall announcedplans to resign. ## Pumsy Is Back Readers of thelastSecular Humanist Bulle-tin will recall the story of Pumsy,thestory-telling dragon who was suspendedfrom the Madera Unified SchoolDistrict inCaliforniaon thechargeof promoting secu-lar humanism.The Pumsy program,whichis currently being used in 12,000 elemen-tary schools,teaches self-esteem throughsongs and stories.The Madera UnifiedSchoolDistricthas reversedits decision andvoted to reinstate the blue dragon after aheated session involving hundreds of com-munity members. | The Secular Humanist Bulerin 0199 is edited by Tom Flynn,Tom Franczyk,and Andrea Szalanski as a uplement to FReE INQUnRY magazine an is published by he
Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism(CODESH,Ine.),a nonprofit corporation,P.O.Box 664,Buffalo,NY 14226-0664.Phone (716)636-7571.Paul Kurtz,
editor.Tim Madigan,executive edio,FRE INouRY.Leters and editorial nquiries should be adressd to:The Bditors,Secula HumanistBullei,P.O.Box664,Buffalo.
NY 14226-0664. | | --- | # Idaho Humanist Issues $1,000 Challenge “$1,000 REWARD!”blares the headline."Doyou read the Bible?Then tellusexactlywhat ha pened on the first Easter and win $1,000.Ineachof the four Gospels begin atEaster morning...Then,without omittinga single detail from the accounts,write oneconsistent chronological narrative—withscripturalcitations—of theevents from theResurrection to the Ascension." So declares a poster issued by Idaho hu-manist Ralph Nielsen,whose “Bible Truth

FAQs

What prompted the Bible removal request at the University of Florida hotel?

Christo Tzanektakos found a Gideon Bible in a nightstand drawer and demanded its removal. Hotel staff refused at first, and he complained that it violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

How did the Tennessee State Senate open its legislative session according to the bulletin?

It opened the session with an Islamic prayer, reflecting the multi-cultural and multi-faith makeup of its people. The text quotes a senator emphasizing multiple faith traditions represented among constituents.

What is the purpose of Idaho’s $1,000 Bible challenge described in the document?

It offers a $1,000 reward for producing a single consistent chronological narrative of Easter events from the four Gospels, with scriptural citations, without omitting details. The bulletin notes that Gospel accounts differ broadly on Easter’s events.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Mia