Growing up Methodist, there were two things that set us apart from most Christians. One was our historic opposition to drinking alcohol – you can thank the Methodists, in part, for the 18th Amendment – and the other was concern about gambling. And gambling wasn’t just defined by what took place in hidden basements and Atlantic City, NJ; churches weren’t even allowed to raffle things off to raise money. I know this because I tried to do it once in my second congregation in the 1990’s, and you would have thought I had slapped someone’s mother! I didn’t grow up in a family that gambled (we weren’t Catholic, for G_d’s sake!), and I didn’t know anyone who went to the casinos. I did know, however, that gambling could be a very dangerous activity, if one wasn’t careful.
The only time I ever gambled was on a cruise ship 32 years ago. I didn’t realize how central gambling was to that industry, and I had nothing to do at the moment (my wife was pregnant and napping), so I went – unsupervised – to one of the slot machines. It was right next to this growling older woman who had commandeered three in a row – but I braved her menacing behavior and decided to try my luck. I put three quarters in the machine, pulling the handle after each one rolled away forever, and – nothing. No lights or bells or buckets of coins cascading out of the metal idol. My hard-earned cash lost forever. I shrugged my shoulders and walked away; no thrills, no desire to do it again – nada. In the years since, however, I have seen a growing national fascination with gambling; if Pete Rose were managing a team today, nobody would care one bit about his wagering. Gambling has become our obsession. And I think that should concern us.
It isn’t the casinos that are the primary problem anymore – it’s things like DraftKings, online casinos, and “trading” sites. The last group does not define itself as gambling, but there’s an awful lot of probability and risk-taking going on – not to mention insider trading. Disgraced former New York member of Congress George Santos is the latest politician to be charged with this crime. A lot of people are getting rich manipulating the market by placing bets on their own behavior. In fact, you can bet on anything now, and a lot of people will suffer from it, just like they did in the 1700’s when John Wesley took his stand. Wesley saw families crumble as the working men took their wages and spent it on gin and poker; it was a scourge to family stability and safety when it became an addiction, and it still is. I hope our elected representatives see this danger and act. I have no moral problem with gambling, but I do know just how damaging it can be when it is out of control. And it is – right now – out of control.
Prayer – Holy God, inspire us to have common sense, and to care about what happens to families. Lead our elected officials towards safety, so that families are protected. Amen.
Today’s art is “Caught up in Gambling” by Thomas Lange.