PEOPLE OF FAITH AGAINST
GAMBLING
by
Public Policy Advocate
Why are people of faith against slots
gambling in
1.
Playing slot machines harms families, children, marriages, and neighborhoods by
contributing to increased bankruptcies, crime, embezzlements, divorces, and
lost workdays. In order for the state of
2. Slots
become a form of idolatry as people worship “Lady Luck” rather than God.
3. Slots
gambling teaches that chance and coveting your
neighbor's lost dollars are more important than education, hard work, and
placing God and your neighbor before yourself.
4.
Slots are destructive of good government as the state becomes "addicted"
to that source of funding. The wealth of the gambling industry presents temptation
to elected officials to allow their votes to be bought. Increased advertising
and marketing will be necessary to maintain the level of slots income, making
the State an inadvertent promoter of gambling. The ads will teach that one
should gamble to support education, etc.
What does the gambling lobby tell you
to undermine your beliefs?
This
approach to fund education makes children a tool for gambling. If the State is bankrupt, then the debate
should be about controlling spending and/or changing the tax structure. Slots
are the short-term, easy fix to government’s problem and will fail in the long
run. The costs will be born on the backs of the poor and elderly who are the
large majority of slots gamblers.
“Look at the hundreds of millions of
lost revenues that go to
Every year, visitors spend over $8 billion dollars in MD at
family friendly sites like
“We already have gambling with the
lottery. What’s the big deal?”
That’s true.
The MD Legislature originally created a limited lottery with a once-a-week
drawing. It has expanded into a multi-game enterprise, including Keno
terminals, with a drawing every four minutes. Slots is
not a lottery. It is a highly addictive form of gambling, brought to MD by
heavily financed, out-of-state interests. Today, slots advocates promise you a
limited number of machines and locations. As the slots bill expands, do you
believe that promise? Over time there will be more.
“You can’t tell adults what to
do. People want to gamble.”
Government
is a contract among its people. We collectively agree to limit drinking,
driving, prostitution, voting ages, drug use, and other human behavior. For
many people, gambling is an activity that needs limits. Proximity to
convenience gambling increases the risk of problem gambling. It is not a
Constitutional right to be encouraged by the State.
What can you do to proclaim your
desire for a
At this 2005 Session, the Governor’s Bill for slots is SB205 and HB255.
Call your Senator and Delegates and tell them you are against slots and opposed
to SB205 and HB255.
If you do not know who your Senator or Delegates call 410-956-5400 to
find out their names and numbers, and they will connect you. You also can go to
the web for up-to-date information at www.mlis.state.md.us.
Email is a second choice to send your message of opposition to them.
Email addresses for all are firstname_lastname@house.state.md.us
or firstname_lastname@senate.state.md.us.For even more information, see www.nocasinomaryland.org
or
www.stopslotsMD.com