Bible Checklist for Air Force Lodges Going Away

The Bibles that are often found in the nightstands of Air Force Inns lodging rooms aren’t going away, but the requirement that staff check and make sure they’re there is.

The Air Force Services Agency will remove the “Is a Bible provided?” question from its lodging checklist, according to Air Force Personnel Center spokesman Mike Dickerson.

Dickerson said after a legal review, the Air Force Services Agency determined that there was no legal reason to have the question on the lodging checklist. The checklist is used to ensure that lodging standards at all Air Force Inns are being met and maintained. The question will be removed when the checklist is updated in September. The updated checklist will be in effect for fiscal 2013.

But the Air Force isn’t prepared to do a wholesale scrub of the Bibles from Air Force Inns.

“The Air Force has not directed the removal of Bibles from Air Force Inns lodging rooms at this time,” Dickerson said in an email. “We continue to review the situation and weigh our multiple First Amendment responsibilities and obligations.”