Hotel replaced Bibles with 'Fifty Shades'

CROSTHWAITE, England, July 25 (UPI) -- The owner of a hotel in Britain said he replaced the room Bibles with copies of "Fifty Shades of Grey" to reflect the modern secular society.

Jonathan Denby, owner of the Damson Dene Hotel in Crosthwaite, England, said he decided to replace the Bibles with copies of E.L. James' erotic novel because he decided the Bibles were "wholly inappropriate" for bedrooms in a secular society, NBC News reported Wednesday.

"I was thinking originally of putting in a book by Ayn Rand -- 'Atlas Shrugged' was my first thought," Denby said. "(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."

The Rev. Michael Woodcock, who oversees services at St. Mary's Parish Church, told The Westmoreland Gazette he was dismayed by the hotelier's decision.

"It is a great shame that Bibles have been removed from rooms and very inappropriate to have been replaced by an explicit erotic novel," he said. "The Bible remains a source of comfort and inspiration that many people do find helpful."