Gambling....

I have turned over several times about blogging this. I first thought about it when we were at Krystal at Memphis. A young man approached us (seeing our car license from Kentucky) and talked with us about the Liberty Bowl game later that day. An older gentleman next to me wished me good luck saying "you'll need it". He told me that Kentucky was an underdog to Eastern Carolina. He said he liked to gamble some and always liked to bet on "his boy Peyton Manning". He then said "when they play the Eagles this weekend". Jonathan and I told him "the Colts play the Chargers" this weekend. I guess he lost his money betting on "his boy Peyton Manning" that weekend. All the games I had interest in were either won by underdogs (UK football, Arizona Cardinals) or covered the "spread" (UK vs Louisville).

What really pushed me though was a news story I heard yesterday. Our governor Steve Beshear is trying to deal with a PROJECTED 456 million dollar shortfall in the Kentucky budget this year. He is making another run at expanded gaming (i.e gambling) to help cover the shortfall. He tried this last year and fortunately our State Senate defeated the measure. I wrote my legislator then (Steven Rudy) and he opposed expanding gaming. The Senate president (David Williams) went as far to say that he'd "get rid of the state lottery if he could".

I remember when the lottery amendment came up in the late 1980's. Wallace Wilkinson (our governor at the time) was really pushing it. It was voted in and Kentucky has had a lottery ever since. All we heard was "It'll all be used for education and we'll never have to worry about funding education again". Well, that certainly isn't the case. As long as my sons have been in school (14 years), there have always been concerns about education funding.

There are numerous studies that show how crime, bankruptcy, divorce all increase when gambling is first introduced then expanded in an area. Our founding fathers spoke out against it. George Washington said: “Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” Benjamin Franklin advised: “Keep flax from fire, and youth from gaming.”

Gambling violates serveral New Testament principles.

• It is an abuse of the concept of stewardship. The resources one has are to be managed on behalf of the Lord; we are not free to waste our income in such a frivolous manner.


• Gambling is a form of covetousness; it seeks to obtain money quickly, cheaply, and without honest labor in exchange for income.


• Gambling is a violation of Matthew 7:12. How can you be a successful gambler and practice the Golden Rule? For you to win, many people must lose


• The known gambler will have no Christian influence at all. I distinctly remember a Christian man I had a great deal of respect for appearing on the news at the time Wallace Wilkinson was pushing the lottery. He was holding a sign saying "You don't have to play to win". Mr. Wilkinson walked right up to him in fact. I lost a lot of respect for that man after that.

I want to give credit to a tract I read by Brother Garland Elkins years ago concerning lotteries as well as Brother Wayne Jackson and his articles about this subject on the Christian Courier web site. I have used their teachings many times in discussions with Bible classes and individuals conerning this subject.