Organized Gambling  -  [A message presented at Hosanna New Testament Church, Oxford, Maine, on August 24, 2003]

Pastor Eric Hansen

I Timothy 6:9-10   I do not usually speak about what people like to term “social issues” in a Sunday morning message.  I hold this down to two or three occasions each year.  I prefer to teach the Bible chapter by chapter or share principles from the Bible which people can apply in their private lives. 

There is an issue, however, which a love for truth and disdain for the actions of those who would prey upon the more vulnerable elements of Maine’s populace compels me to speak out about today.  This is the matter of organized gambling.

God’s word makes it plain that wealth grows through hard work, frugal and wise spending habits, proper investing, generous giving, and the blessing of the Lord.

Wealth, in any society, is generated by the production of real goods and real services, which meet real needs. Here are some scriptures, from Proverbs, the Bible’s book of wisdom, which speak to these important realities:

Proverbs 3:1-2 & 9-10, 6:6-11, 8:17-21 (wisdom speaking), 10:4-5 & 22, 11:24-25, 12:11 & 14, 13:11 & 21-22, 14:23 & 26, 18:20, 19:8 & 17, 20:13, 21:5,17,& 20-21, 22:4 & 9, 24:30-34, 28:8, 19-20, 22, 25, & 27.

God has clearly established righteous principles regarding the generation of wealth. These principles create blessing for all who are involved, including the poor of the community who receive gifts, employment, and training in right living. 

Gambling establishments can never create wealth.  They can only transfer wealth, and they do this very efficiently.  They consistently, year in and year out, transfer wealth out of the pockets of millions of regular citizens, and into the pockets of those who run casinos and racinos. 

The working poor and those on disability are especially hard hit in matters of gambling. Here are some telling facts concerning this ongoing problem:

1. Families suffer

-Domestic violence and child abuse increase dramatically when gambling comes into an area. (Maryland attorney general J. Joseph Curran Jr.: "The House Never Loses, and Maryland Cannot Win.")
-In a related development, child protection cases multiplied six-fold in the year after casinos arrived in Central City Colorado (“Win, Lose, or Draw” The Aspen Institute, 1994)
-Harrison County, Mississippi has averaged 500 more divorces per year since casinos arrived there. (Mississippi Bureau of Public Health Statistics)

2. Addiction

-The number of compulsive gamblers in an area multiplies by anywhere from 100% to 550% when organized gambling comes into an area. (Professor John Warren Kindt writing in the Drake Law Review)
-In Iowa, the number of people with serious gambling problems more than tripled when casinos were introduced. (Rachael  A. Volberg: Iowa Department of Human Services)
-Casinos earn more than half their revenues from problem and pathological gamblers. (Earl Grinols: University of Illinois economist)
-In 1995, University of Minnesota researchers discovered that more than half of underage Minnesota youth surveyed had participated in legalized gambling activities.
-Teens are three times more likely than adults to become addicted to gambling once exposed according to Loma Linda University Medical School Professor Durand Jacobs. He further points out that at least one in ten teens engages in illegal activity such as stealing, shoplifting, selling drugs, or prostitution, for the purpose of financing their gambling.

3. Crime

-Within three years of the arrival of Casinos in Atlantic City, the crime rate there went from 50th per capita in the U.S. to 1st. (Robert Goodman: Legalized Gambling as a Strategy for Economic Development.)
-The crime rate in gambling communities is nearly double the national average. (U.S. News and World Report analysis: 1996)
-At least two thirds of compulsive gamblers turn to crime to finance their addiction. (Valerie Lorenz: Director of the Compulsive Gambling Center in Los Angeles)

4. Cost to the State

-Each problem gambler costs society ( That’s you and me) between $13,000 and $52,000 per year. (Robert Goodman: The Luck Business)
-For every dollar a state receives in gambling revenues, it loses three in increased criminal justice, social welfare, and other expenses. (John Warren Kindt giving expert testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives committee on small business)
-Counties that added gambling in the 1990s experienced no additional growth in new business. (U.S. News and World Report analysis)

5. Victimization of the Poor

-The poor and minorities are more prone to gambling problems than others. (Henry R. Lesieur “Compulsive Gambling” Society magazine May-June, 1992)
-More than 1,000 Minnesotans file for bankruptcy each year as a result of gambling losses. (Chris Ison: “Dead Broke” Star Tribune December 5, 1995)
-Gambling related bankruptcies in metropolitan Detroit have multiplied 40 fold since the opening of a major casino across the river in Windsor, Ontario. (Ron French: Gambling Bankruptcies Soar Detroit News December 5, 1995)

What About Slot Machines Here in Maine?

Apart from the fact that the gaming industry itself is a blight on our nation, destroying many people and families, and shackling cities and states with burdensome expenses, there are also specific flaws in the proposed casino and racino laws Maine will soon vote on. Let’s look at a few of these. 

Slot machines will unleash the same gambling monster here that has caused such heartbreak in many other States.  All of this money to develop slot machine parlors has come from a Las Vegas developer who hopes to prosper from this new business venture. 

The Deception

This [2003 referendum] is worded “Do you want to allow slot machines at certain commercial horse racing tracks if part of the proceeds are used to lower prescription drug costs for the elderly and disabled, and for scholarships to the State universities and technical colleges?”  Again, it sounds like a compassionate response to real needs in our State, but the reality is far from that carefully painted picture.

A. This is the bill that would turn the horse racing tracks in Bangor and Scarborough into slot machine “racinos”.  Hundreds of such machines could then be installed and run day and night.

This would play very strongly into the creation of thousands more gambling addicts in our State, and the financial and social failure detailed above which go with that territory.

B. Under referendum section 923(1), 25% of the slot machine take will be paid to the state Harness Racing Commission. Then, 33% of that money would go to promote harness racing and supplement racing purses (a strange use of State collected fees). 

Only 12% of the collected monies would go to scholarships. 40% of these fees would go toward prescription drugs.  The remaining 15% would be absorbed into the Commission.

Question #3 [the 2003 referendum] does not mention a thing about almost three times as much money going to promote harness racing as toward scholarships.

In addition, the new law would limit the amount the Commission could pay for counseling for gambling addicts to $250,000. This amount is a mere token when compared to the problem which will be unleashed in Maine.  Hundreds, or even thousands, of new problem gamblers will be created, causing family misery and massive State expense.

C. The new law (section 921(2)) also protects the owners of the tracks from liability for the problems they bring about in people’s lives. It states they have…“no civil or criminal liability for the amount of time or money spent by an individual playing slot machines.”

This whole gambling area is the province of fools.  God’s Word is clear that wealth comes about through the practice of sound principles of hard and wise work, investment, giving, and generosity of spirit. 

Any scheme which ever proposes to make people rich without the production of real goods or real services (which benefit others) can only be a money transfer gimmick.  The gambling industry knows well that the house always wins.

This whole enterprise is an affront to human dignity and to God’s principles of living right.  I, for one, am going on the offensive to stop this.  I am going to do my level best to get every citizen in Maine to hear everything that you have heard today .  I invite you to join with me, in any way that you can.

We may or may not succeed in seeing this voted down, but we sin if we say nothing to defend Maine’s people from this great deception of the casino and the racinos.  May the Lord God empower and bless our efforts in this matter.

If you have been participating in gambling, or looking forward to slot machines and such, I challenge you today to repent of that.  Walk away from it.  There is no good in this destroyer of dreams called gaming.

My wife was the daytime manager at a small Mom & Pop store here in the Oxford Hills for three years.  She observed many people get their monthly State check or weekly paycheck and then make a beeline for the store to buy lottery ticket after lottery ticket after lottery ticket.

Many of them would win two dollars or five, which would immediately be used to get more tickets.  Typically, they would play until all their discretionary money was gone.  This went on week after week for years.  Many of them were in great need of dental care or even of decent clothes.

Many of these people, if they spent the money they throw away on the State Lottery on dentistry, clothing, an emergency fund, and other basics, would be doing well. 

So many lives and families are in bondage to the lottery, that regressive tax on poor people who are looking for a quick fix. 

If these referendum questions pass, it may in part be Maine reaping the whirlwind for having sown to the wind with the State Lottery for all these years.  Nevertheless, we must sound the alarm, and walk far from involvement in gambling ourselves.

[Pastor Eric Hanson is co-pastor along with Pastor Dallas Henry, of Hosanna New Testament Church in Oxford, Maine.]

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The Christian Civic League of Maine has been fully engaged in protecting children and families for over a century now and has some experience at the battle.  The League is committed to proclaim the truths of Jesus Christ.  It is bringing its influence to the State House.

Churches, ministries and individuals who partner with the League are also engaging in this battle and helping to win it.  Please consider supporting the League with regular contributions if you haven’t already. 

The summer vacation season is the time when finances at the League are at their lowest.  As the League fights gambling in Maine, and the constant advances of the homosexual movement, it is very important for resources to remain strong.  It would be greatly appreciated if you could help today.

Our sincere thanks goes to those churches and ministries that are joining the 500-50-5 project.  Support of the League has never been more important with daily attacks on marriage and family being introduced in our Legislature.  We could do so much more if the resources were there.  If you haven't become a partner, I urge you to do so today.  Maine's future depends on it.

Another very important blessing to the ministry of the League is prayer.  Pray for Executive Director Michael Heath, the staff and Board of Directors.  The League has a prayer partnership network that receives regular prayer updates.  You can contact the League office, (207) 622-7634, to become part of the network. 

May we be found faithful and fully committed to the cause of Christ here in Maine. May we be willing to endure persecution as we stand unashamed for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus.

Check out our Citizen Action Center.  This is a very easy and quick way to communicate with your legislators and others who you select.  It can be done from the comfort of your home or office. 

To further help you, a message has been prepared for you to use or, even better, you can write your own.  An initial registration is required and then you can use it on a regular basis.  You will see a list of issues the League is interested in bringing a Christian/Biblical influence to. 

Please pass this information on to others you regularly communicate with.  Check the CAC often for current issues of importance. 

And finally, if you are not aware of it, Mike Heath regularly speaks on current issues of today, from a Biblical perspective.  He speaks at regional conferences and radio programs, and also speaks in churches across Maine bringing an update of the work of the League.
 
Please consider having Mike Heath speak at your church for a "League Sunday". He teaches adult/teen Sunday School classes, using multimedia and leading a discussion.  Mike also preaches on the subject of Christian citizenship, bringing a Biblical sermon in morning and evening worship services.  He is glad to provide pulpit supply for pastors.
 
You may contact Paulie Heath to schedule an event with Mike. Email:
paulie@paulieheath.com