The Tribune

“ERADICATE it or regulate it,” is Bishop Simeon Hall’s position on the question of gambling.

Bishop Hall, one time president of the Bahamas Christian Council, chastised his fellow Baptist ministers for their silence on so many important social issues in need of their attention, while suddenly coming alive to expend their energy on a “no” vote on gambling. So entrenched is gambling in the Bahamian fibre that if these ministers were realistic they would understand that they are fighting an impossible fight.

The Baptists are against gambling in all its forms —this includes raffles to raise money for charities, and church bingo games for the same cause. If Baptists are strong in their faith they will not frequent the web shops. If they are not strong believers they will — and this has been the reality of life for at least the last fifty or more years.

As Bishop Hall has said his fellow ministers have to be realistic.

“My position is the Bahamas should either eradicate or eliminate this system or regulate it. Eradicate it or regulate it. And it’s difficult to eradicate it.”

Catholic Archbishop Patrick Pinder and Anglican Bishop Laish Boyd seem to have arrived at the same conclusion. They fully recognise the evils of intemperate gambling, but they realistically understand that for more than half a century it has become so imbedded in our society that the only way to manage it is by regulation.

“Gambling in excess has a great potential for generating intemperate behaviour and for many, addictions,” said Archbishop Pinder. “It is from intemperance and addiction that many societal ills arise. Therein lies the real danger of permitting gaming that is an unregulated, free-for-all. It is our duty to take whatever measures lie in our power to help Bahamians avoid the potential and dangerous pitfalls of gaming or any activity that could lead to harm for the individual or society.”

If Bahamians have a realistic understanding of their society, they will appreciate that any attempt to eliminate the “numbers racket” will only drive it underground. If we now despair of crime, we won’t know what hit us when the gamblers start cutting each others throats over gaming debts. Our present position is the fault of society — and since at least the sixties the PLP’s tolerance of gaming by having the one-time king of the illegal numbers racket as its party treasurer. No wonder the PLP want the Bahamian people – and not themselves – to make the decision about the future of gaming.

Yesterday we asked a Bahamian — himself not a gambler — whether he wanted a lottery, or either the closing or regulation of the web shops.

Of one thing he was certain. He never wanted Bahamians to be allowed to gamble in hotel casinos. His reasoning was that after the casinos have paid government taxes, the remainder of their earnings goes overseas, whereas whatever is gambled on a lottery or in web shops would all have local circulation. This, he felt, would be more beneficial to the Bahamas.

He recognised that it would be impossible to eliminate the “numbers racket.” As he pointed out it has been illegal for generations, despite police raids it has operated in open defiance of the law. In his view no government can ever stamp it out. Therefore, whether one gambles or not, those who do will always gamble— even if they have to fly to Miami to quench their thirst for the throw of the dice. He felt that rather than pushing it under the bed by candlelight, it might as well come out in full view and be controlled by the law.

As for a government lottery. He was also against such a lottery, not because he thought that lotteries as operated in the United States would not be the ideal answer, but because he had no faith in persons who might be assigned to operate a similar lottery in the Bahamas. “Too many sticky fingers, and hands in the cookie jar!” was the opinion of another Bahamian.

Archbishop Pinder also “warned of the danger of the numbers business being driven underground with Bahamians continuing to patronise such operations.”

The Baptist must understand that they cannot control the morals of all Bahamians, but they can have an influence on their own congregations. These are the ones they have to keep in check. A strict enforcement of laws —that must have sharp teeth — will take care of the rest.