How about those who have to go outside the workplace to smoke? They are still being paid during that time, yet it’s a personal habit like reading private material.

I do believe Mr. Parker was being persecuted by an overzealous and, perhaps, God-hating supervisor. The other books that appeared with his bible, in the news photo, were set up by his supervisor. The books may have been on the desk but for the supervisor to set them up for the photo amounts to tampering with the evidence that he used to to bring his charge against Parker. That is persecution!

I have personally witnessed this type of persecution. On a job where I was building brick fireplaces, I bent down to get a trowel of mortar and a New Testament fell from my shirt pocket. At that very moment another man walked into the room and saw the book fall. He immediately became angry with me and asked: “You don’t believe in that ****, do you? You’re not going to tell me that there is a God who lets young men die!” Apparently, he was in the navy when a shipmate fell overboard and was never found. Yet years later he was still mad about it. For the duration of that contract, the man would not come near me. It does make you feel bad, but to hate me for something over which I had no power, amounted to persecution. That happened 28 years ago and still he avoids me when we cross paths.

So, yes, there are those who hate the bible and those who read it, and it doesn’t surprise me that Mr. Parker has also run into a problem because of his bible.