Seems a guest staying at the College Inn — which is owned by Dixie State University in St. George, Utah — spotted a Bible in her room during one stay and two copies of the Book of Mormon in her room on another visit.
If there's somethin' strange in you neighborhood, who you gonna call?
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, naturally.
The offended guest contacted the national atheist organization, and the FFRF sent a June 14 letter to DSU President Richard Biff Williams.
“It is a fundamental principle of Establishment Clause jurisprudence that a government entity cannot promote, advance, or otherwise endorse religion,” FFRF legal fellow Christopher Line wrote. “If a state-run university has a policy of providing religious texts to all guests, that policy facilitates illegal endorsement of Christianity and Mormonism over minority religions and nonreligion.”
The letter went on to outline more separation of church and state details and asked the school to "remedy this constitutional violation."
On the bright side, one line from the letter should bring comfort to College Inn guests of faith: “Certainly, if guests want to read these religious texts during their stay, they can bring their own copy or use one of the many copies available online or in a digital format."
Alison Vicroy, assistant general counsel for DSU, responded to the FFRF in an Aug. 29 letter, saying "all religious texts that may have been left in any of the guest rooms have been removed" and that a procedure was put in place to "remove any such texts going forward."
(H/T: St. George News)
Dave Urbanski
Sr. Editor, News