Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

"Betting against Kentucky's future: Casino Gambling in KY"  

Matthew Singleton

The question of legalizing casino gambling has become a hot topic in state politics.  I believe that the introduction of casino gambling is a rationalization crime and would damage the commonwealth.

   Over the past few years many state across America have given up previous laws concerning the practice of gambling and the casinos.  Governor Steve Beshear has considered joining this movement to use the Casinos to raise tax money to pay off  the debts of the state.

    Many conservatives and libertarians have begun to question the seriousness of casino gambling as well as the morality of it.  Even many Christians and conservatives who feel that this is wrong, are not sure how as to argue this point. This is due to the fact that our theology philosophy and even scholarship of morality has severely decayed, leaving modern people almost morally handicapped/retarded. 

   So why is gambling morally wrong?  For starters, it breaks the tenth commandment of covetousness.  The beginning of the gambling process is for two parties to covet their neighbor’s possessions.  Covetousness is the source of virtually all addictive behavior that we have today.  When we do activities that encourage mankind to break the law of covetousness, then we get society "hooked" or addicted.  Addictive activities have the ability to weaken or decay our free will and keep us away from freedom.  Finally, when a contestant wins a game he commits a small form of theft.

  In the book of Ephesians 4:28 "not stealing" is defined as working with your hands.  When people go about acquiring money without really working, they are to a certain degree stealing.  This act could also be applied to social welfare.  When you go to acquire welfare that you have not worked for, in many ways that is a form of stealing from tax payers.  Welfare has also been known to be hazardous to its recipients.

    The Kentucky Lottery can easily be seen as a form of super welfare since the government arbitrarily gives one massive amounts of money and takes it away from others.  The recipients of Lottery winnings have typically been cursed with massive failures in their lives following.  Many have had money stolen, divorced, been murdered committed suicide etc.

   Casino Gambling then is obviously immoral.  But it needs to be legislated against for several reasons.  It has no positive benefit, even though it destroys the community.  Many families and lives have been destroyed because of the addiction of Gambling.  I once worked at a gas station where people would spend up to an hour buying lotto tickets.  Sometimes they spent an entire weeks rent and suddenly did not know how their kids would be fed.

  The moral lines over what is and is not stealing become blurred.  Whenever people have the lines blurred, they are encouraged to become law breakers.  Just look at any major gambling city in American and you find a bad reputation for Mafia and organized crime (Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Reno etc) why?  Because of the enticement; this is the same reason why we see prostitutes operating around strip joints.

   Finally, the idea of the government endorsing it or encouraging are tyrannical.  The government can't be a force for justice if it is focused on transforming its own citizens into criminals.  This leaves us with the question as to the purpose of government.  In Romans 13 the government is in place to establish God's Justice.

  Many may give the libertarian argument that we should have the choice to do this.  However, if winning at gambling is a form of stealing, then why should you have the right to steal from your neighbor?  On the opposite end, why should your neighbor have the right to steal from you? 

   Plus, how can we be free if our ability to be responsible has rotted away?  In the midst of this there are people profiting off of taking advantage of others and they are taking millions from their community. 

  Casinos can never earn anything for KY, only redistribute its wealth.  Bill Lamb of WMYO fame argued that Beshear's plan would not even attract tourists due to their proposed locations in impoverished areas.  So it is obvious that the purpose of Casino gambling in KY is for Government to take from the poor and give to the rich.  Maybe, Beshear ought to run for Sheriff of Knottingham next.

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest /  White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN