The Tribune

By PASTOR ALLAN R LEE

Popular reasons given for legalising gambling:

People are going to do it anyway

A faulty basic assumption is implied: that legalising something makes it morally right.

If this were a reasonable argument, why shouldn’t we apply it to murder, rape, incest, wife and child abuse, drugs, stealing and so on.

People will continue to do these things. If those who propose this argument with regards to the legalisation of gambling are to be intellectually and morally consistent, then they must also press for the legalisation of these other vices.

However, it’s simply not true that people will gamble naturally or normally. In fact, it has been adequately established that most people normally would not gamble – they only do so if it is convenient, legal and vigorously promoted.

The very fact that cities in the United States which have legalised gambling spend so much money on promoting and advertising their lotteries to lure people to gamble, shows that they won’t do it naturally or normally.

It is more than likely that legalisation or decriminalisation of gambling in the Bahamas, as it has done elsewhere, will actually encourage non-gamblers to gamble and will provide both an incentive and temptation for our young Bahamians to become contaminated and even addicted by this vice.

Dr Geisler concludes from his American youth and gambling study that: “A time bomb of young gamblers is now ready to explode in America. Ninety percent of problem gamblers are now young people.

“Twenty years ago, there were virtually no teenagers in Gamblers Anonymous. Today, they comprise 20 percent of those being treated.”

The same study also showed an alarming increase in women gamblers: “Women gamblers now make up one out of every four persons being treated by Gamblers Anonymous.”

It can be stated without any fear of successful contradiction that if gambling is legalised in the Bahamas, there will be a rapid increase in the number of Bahamian gamblers.

And if we are to suffer what is now happening in the USA, we can look forward to 10 per cent of those who gamble regularly becoming problem or addictive gamblers.

The government has tacitly acknowledged this to be true by stipulating that if gambling is decriminalised in the Bahamas, those who operate the industry must provide a means of taking care of those who will be mentally and psychologically harmed by their assured addiction to gambling.

Really, how more absurd can a government be than to legalise an activity they know will adversely affect its citizens!? Is this not a form of mental oppression?

Gambling is a voluntary activity. No one is forced to gamble against their will

This is also a faulty basic assumption: that all that is voluntary or done without coercion is all right. That simply is not true.

For the true Christian, one who really believes the Bible to be the Word of God, there is one voluntary act which is unquestionably good, moral, right and expected by God – to choose to do His will.

Here is how the Apostle John puts it in 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

It is without question that, from a Biblical perspective, gambling is “of the world”, meaning that it is contrary to the will of God for the Christian. No Bible-obeying Christian should voluntarily choose to gamble. Hear what James has to say about this: “When tempted, [as with government sponsored lottery or numbers] no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

It’s for a good cause

You guessed it: another false concept is advocated – that the ends justify the means – which is, of course, contrary not only to Biblical teaching, but also to intellectual honesty and common moral standards.

Why not legalise the sale of drugs to support education, health or sports?

Remember this, and no false assumption is involved here: Using an immoral means to aid a moral cause is an immoral action.

Petersen, in his book, What You Should Know About Gambling, quotes The Los Angeles Times as stating that a government-sponsored lottery for the cause of education in that city is immoral. He says: “It [state sponsored lottery] is immoral because it would make education and other pressing needs of the state dependent on the weakness rather than the strength of our people.”

I agree totally with that assessment. Legalised gambling is a classic way in which a nation can bring disgrace rather than reproach upon itself – by encouraging its citizens to support good causes with immoral means.

Such an approach degrades and demoralises the character of well meaning, socially concerned, patriotic spirit of citizens.

Rather than meeting such needs through proper information, right incentives, and just plain old-fashioned work, sweat and tears, state sponsored gambling seeks to do so by appealing to the baser instincts of its citizens. What a tragedy it would be if gambling is legalised in the Bahamas.

Our political leaders need to heed the words of Solomon in Proverbs 16:12: “Kings [that is, righteous kings – or prime ministers] detest wrongdoing, for a throne [or government] is established through righteousness.”

Proverbs 14:31: “He who oppresses the poor [and legalised gambling does that] shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.” [...by not oppressing the poor.]

One of the responses by those who favour a legalised lottery to those like myself who oppose it, is to insist that, because we oppose it, we must therefore come up with a solution as to how to fund the cause or project the lottery was designed to subsidise – or do so ourselves – meaning apparently, that if we cannot or won’t, then our failure to do so automatically legitimises the lottery.

Not only is such reasoning illogical and fallacious, it also has a malicious, intimidating intent. If a cause is good and worthy efforts and strategy are used to fund and administer it, good people will respond positively.

Now, let’s turn to the Bible

To the dismay of many Christians, the Bible nowhere says specifically: “Thou shall not gamble.”

Some say the only clear example of gambling in the Bible is when the soldiers rolled dice to see who got to keep Jesus’ robe when He was being crucified. However, I’m not sure this is actually a case of gambling when properly defined.

No reference is made to any other “item of value” being risked.

It seems that they were simply seeing who would get the highest number to determine who would get the garment. The loser would not lost anything he already possessed.

Anyway, be that as it may, my point is that many, including some professing Christians, contend that the Bible does not specifically condemn or condone gambling in any one passage. However, in spite of this, the overall teaching of the Bible does in fact condemn gambling, and it does so clearly and specifically.

This charge can also be made concerning one of Christianity’s major doctrines – the Trinity, yet this doctrine is essential to the Christian faith.

Even those whom (“Vote Yes” consultant Phillip) Galanis describes as: “The infinitely more learned theological scholars who head the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist Congregations” will not be able to counter that thesis.

But now, how was this essential doctrine of the Trinity arrived at? By looking at all of Scripture, to see what was said about The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

This information was then crystalised or synthesised to give us the doctrine of the Trinity. We can do the same thing with gambling and arrive at the same level of certainty re the Bible’s teaching on gambling.

So, let’s look now at some specific reasons why Gambling should not be legalised.

Reasons for not legalising gambling

• Gambling is morally sinful. It violates clear Biblical directives and standards.

Gambling is both an evidence and sustainer of greed, lust and covetousness, all of which are condemned and prohibited in Scripture. The last of the Commandment is clear and specific: “Thou shall not covet.”

Gambling is a clear example of coveting that which does not rightfully belongs to us.

• Gambling is also a form of stealing, thus a violation of the eighth Commandment.

For a gambler to win his or her jackpot, hundreds and even thousands of others have to lose – and the majority of these are those who can least afford to gamble in the first place.

Studies in the US have conclusively shown that state lotteries “take a disproportionately high amount of their revenue from the poor and minority communities”. This has led one author to state: “This is state-sponsored stealing from the poor and is a form of economic immorality.” [Gambling: A Bad Bet]

Commenting on the way the jackpot is paid over a long period of time, rather than all at once, he adds, “There is much to be said for the idea that if a Wall Street promoter represented a stock deal the way the states do their lotteries, he would most likely be put behind bars.” [Luck: A Secular Faith]

Undoubtedly, if a lottery is legalised, our government would pay off the major winners in the same illegal, ungodly fashion. The government cannot justify this kind of economic immorality with the excuse that the poor choose to gamble of their own free will. This does not justify their being taken advantage of by a government that is supposed to care for the poor rather than to oppress them by exploiting their weaknesses.

• Gambling causes social degeneration.

It thrives on the baser instincts of citizens, encourages other vices and discourages the work ethic.

The active promotion and encouragement of government in giving its citizens the hope that they could win millions of dollars and become a millionaire overnight cultivates and nourishes a selfish, greedy love for money. It nullifies and casts aspersion upon the Word of God which says: “... a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses”.

The history of countries wherever gambling has been legalised is a record of accompanying crime, corruption, poverty and social degeneration. It encourages laziness, slothfulness and irresponsibility. It also encourages an inordinate and sinful attitude toward money. The Scriptures clearly states that “the love of money is the root of all evil”.

• Government backed and promoted gambling depreciates and discourages a healthy attitude toward the work ethic.

This is true because gambling most definitely promotes the kind of attitude, mentality and way of life which are exactly opposite to the spiritual, moral and Biblical injunction to work to meet one’s needs.

In fact, the Apostle Paul says quite pointedly that, “if any one does not work, neither should he eat”.

He also says: “Let him that steal, steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands in things that are good, so that he may have to give to the one who have a need.”

Solomon gives a dire warning to the sluggard – the lazy person. “The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work” and “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.”

The Living Bible translates this verse: “wealth from gambling quickly disappears, but wealth from hard work grows.”

From a secular perspective, in Washington, DC, the Presidential Commission on the Review of the National Policy Toward Gambling noted a specific finding concerning the connection between gambling and work, they said: “...if through legal gambling, citizens are allowed or encouraged to make a profit or gain through chance rather than through work, the government may be undermining a basic social tenet of our culture.” [Gambling in America]

• Gambling is politically irresponsible. It promotes a lifestyle that is contrary to, rather than in conformity with, the kind of lifestyle that promotes national righteousness.

The Bible is clear: “Sin is a reproach to a nation, but righteousness exalts any people.”

A government that backs and promotes legalised gambling teaches it people to support good and worthy causes for the wrong reasons – not out of patriotic concern, citizen responsibility, pride and decency, but out of selfishness, greed and personal gain.

Government sponsored gambling tempts the poor, the youth and the needy to squander their money, not to save it or invest it wisely.

It teaches a wrong, non-productive way of life when it should be teaching a right and productive way of life. In our case, it could actually help to ruin the lives of the very “little darlings” the proceeds from the lottery are supposed to help.

• Legalised gambling is economically unproductive.

Here are some quotes from studies on the economic benefits of legalised gambling by various US local governments.

“The actual cost to society in terms of crime, addiction, immoralities, is probably more than what the government takes in from its cut in gambling licence. There is little return on the dollar for government licensed and supported gambling.”

“Some studies have concluded that the actual return on the dollar for such states as California and Florida is only two or three cents when all the expenses of managing the operation and negative fallout from gambling are taken into consideration.”

“If history teaches us anything, a study of over 1,300 legal lotteries held in the United States proves [that]... they cost more than they brought in of their total impact on society is reckoned.”

[cited by WJ Petersen in What You Should Know About Gambling]

Its returns never cover the actual overall negative impact it has upon a society. Here is a quote from a study that reflects the conclusion of numerous others studies in this area:

“The actual cost to society in terms of crime, addiction, immoralities, is probably more than what the government takes in from its cut in gambling licence. There is little return on the dollar for government licensed and supported gambling.”

A consensus of most who study this activity is that legalised gambling encourages illegal gambling and illegal gambling is always accompanied by a host of socially corrupting activities: crime, stealing, immorality, drunkenness, drugs and an abandonment of family responsibilities.

• Gambling is domestically detrimental. It causes hardship, marital conflicts and deprivation of basic family necessities. Geisler says: “Absentee spouses, financial disasters, spouse abuse and divorce are only a few of the many tolls gambling takes on a marriage.”

• Gambling is psychologically addictive. The American Psychiatric Association originally defined pathological gambling as a diagnosable mental disorder in 1980. It was described as: “a chronic and progressive failure to resist the impulse to gamble.” [Volberg and Steadman, “Refining Prevalence Estimates]

Many people become the victims of irrational, unconscious desires that chain them to a way of life that is no longer voluntary, but compulsive and pathological.

No one ever starts out this way, of course. It always starts out with the well-intentioned person truly believing that he or she could control their urge or desire to gamble.

But the convenience of being able to gamble and the lure of the “big win” eventually tempt them to gamble more than they can afford. Then, being convinced that they will eventually win, that their turn will come – it has to come – they steal, borrow or do whatever is necessary just to play one more time. But it never comes.

Gamblers Anonymous in the United States reports that there are some eight million compulsive gamblers throughout America and that some 12,000 of them are seeking treatment in their 700 chapters throughout the nation.

Richard Richardson, the head of the Maryland Council on Compulsive Gamblers, states that the problem has reached epidemic proportions. As we have already noted, an alarming trend is the growth in teenage and women gamblers in the US since the legalisation of gambling.

The rise in these numbers has been conclusively traced to the re-introduction of legalised gambling throughout the United States.

Its sheer convenience and lure by aggressive advertising programmes by the government that gives both moral and legal sanction to gambling are the major contributions to this phenomenon.

It is unambiguously conclusive: The more people there are who gamble, the more gambling becomes a problem to more people.

The Word of God is sure in its predictions. Listen to these statements from the Book of Proverbs:

Prov. 28:20: “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”

Prov. 28:22: “A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.”

Prov. 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

From a biblical perspective, gambling is not an amoral activity. It is an immoral, sinful activity that corrupts the individual, contaminates a society and brings dishonour to a nation.

For a government of a professedly Christian nation to legalise, actively promote and officially encourage its citizens to indulge in this form of debasing behaviour would be one of the most serious acts of the dereliction of its duty that it could ever commit.

Therefore, to answer our opening question – “Should a Christian support the legalisation of gambling and endorse a government sponsored lottery?” – the answer from Biblical perspective is clear: Christians should say, “NO!” to such a proposal - and if you are a Christian and you do not gamble now, don’t begin! And if you do gamble, STOP!