“What is right with gambling?ﾔ asked Pastor Cedric Moss on Thursday.
Pastor Moss is the senior pastor of the Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre on Chesapeake Road, and his question was posed at the release of Kingdom Life’s ﾓposition paperﾔ on gambling. The paper was written by Mr Moss.
The pastor said he was aware that “this question is the opposite of the common question being asked; ‘what’s wrong with gambling?'” However, he maintained that his was a “much better question.”
His remarks come at a time of heated debate over issues relating to gambling legislation, including proposals for a national lottery and calls for a referendum concerning gambling restrictions on Bahamian citizens in general.
The ﾓposition paperﾔ aims to defend “the position of the church on gambling from a Biblical point of view.” To this end, the paper argues the issue of gambling law reform, from the position that while no specific prohibition against gambling may be found in the Bible, “we are obligated to consider what it says as a whole to find the principles that speak to the specific issue or situation. Such is the case with gambling.”
From this position, the pastor identifies seven “Biblically grounded reasons to support my view that gambling for money is wrong in all forms.”
The paper argues that:
ﾠﾠﾕ Gambling promotes greed, in the sense that “one who gambles is greedy for materialistic gain above what he presently has.” The pastor said that gambling appeals to “the love of money” which, he said, is Biblically “the root of all sorts of evil.”
ﾠﾠﾕ Selfishness is also promoted by gambling, according to Pastor Moss, in the sense that “the objective of gambling is…to try to enrich oneself at the expense of others.”
ﾠﾠﾕ Laziness, which is “condemned in numerous places in Scripture “is exhibited by those who gamble with the aim of escaping the necessity of earning a living. In relating the distaste for honest labour to its frequent outcome, the pastor claimed that “gambling is stealing, even if it is a state sponsored lottery.”
ﾠﾠﾕ The pastor cited the Biblical injunction which names man as merely a “steward” in terms of physical possessions, as “all material goods belong ultimately to God.” He concluded that “throwing away hard earned money on the contrived, artificial chance of gambling is a foolish use of our material prosperity; it is not responsible stewardship.”
ﾠﾠﾕ Pastor Moss also pointed out that gambling is addictive, that “self-control is a clear teaching in the Scripture” and that individuals should avoid activities that ﾓcarry an inherent risk of enslaving people to them.ﾔ He also claimed that ﾓa state sponsored lottery will increase the addiction of those who are currently addicted to gambling because the stakes will be higher.ﾔ
ﾠﾠﾕ The pastor also said that gambling is deceptive, in that ﾓpeople are not warned that thousands lose their moneyﾔ and that ﾓthe big jackpot is dangled before them and they are encouraged to play to win.ﾔ He stated that ﾓdeception is at the heart of gamblingﾔ and observed that ﾓdeception, in all its forms, is clearly taught as being wrong in Scripture.ﾔ
ﾠﾠﾕ Gambling also ﾓhurts the poor and vulnerableﾔ, said Pastor Moss, claiming that ﾓdrawing on a broadly reported experience of the United States lotteries, it is generally accepted that a disproportionate number of lottery players are very poor.ﾔ He characterised such gamblers as individuals who would ﾓtake the food out of their childrenﾴs mouths in their weekly pursuit of the virtually impossible dream of winning the jackpot against incredible odds.ﾔ He also pointed out that ﾓScriptures teach that we should help and protect the poor and vulnerable, not hurt them.ﾔ
The ﾓposition paperﾔ released by Pastor Moss also dealt with the proposed referendum on gambling.
The Pastor clearly stated his opinion: ﾓIs a referendum necessary to determine whether we should legalise gambling for Bahamians? I do not think so. Furthermore, the constitution does not require it.ﾔ
The pastor said that dictating to government on such issues ﾓdefeats the system of governanceﾔ in that we should only get to dictate to them once every five years by determining who will represent us.ﾔ
In light of this, Pastor Moss considers it necessary that Bahamians ﾓallow those whom we elect to governﾔ so that they do so ﾓwith a conscious awareness that they will ultimately answer to God.ﾔ
By Paco Nunez, The Tribune
