goofiness on gambling from some of the professional clergy

From the C-J, Peter Smith on some church leaders uniting in their public opposition to expanded gambling in Kentucky...

Gov. Steve Beshear's bid to bring casino gambling to Kentucky has made for strange pew-fellows. Every major religious advocacy group has united in opposition -- Catholic and Protestant, black and white, conservatives who view gambling as a destructive personal sin and liberals who see an industry that preys on the poor.

This overstates things quite a bit-- as if the opposition is unanimous and equally comfortable with a vocal approach. That said, it is interesting that the groups who publicly oppose expanded gaming run the range that Smith notes.

Despite religious groups' disagreements on other issues in Frankfort, "this is the one thing that seems to galvanize everyone," said Hershael York, a Frankfort pastor and past president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. "That ought to say something to the political world."

Sadly, the political world will see it mostly as one interest group trying to influence politics in a democracy. For those inclined to look a little deeper, they will see an incoherent-- and ultimately unbiblical-- approach to politics from within a Christian worldview.

To note, even if "gambling" were universally wrong (and it's not), it simply does not rise to a level where government is an ethical, appropriate, or practical means to the ends sought.

But what it says to the people in the pews is another question. Surveys and other data indicate that while the religious leadership is united against the gambling initiative, lay people's views and practices are mixed.

Whether through apathy or, ironically, through a better (probably intuitive) understanding of the nature of Christ and what He would ask of us within the political realm-- these laypeople have arrived at a more coherent and biblical position.

Most frequent churchgoers and evangelical or born-again Christians oppose casino gambling, according to a September 2007 Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll. But unlike their leaders, more than three-quarters of each of those groups favor putting the casino question on the ballot....

A key distinction (and one not made often enough): gambling is not good, but that does not equate with Christians expending resources in the political arena to combat it.

The Rev. Bruce Williams, a Louisville minister and member of the African-American Fellowship Against Expanded Gambling, said he wasn't fazed by the large numbers of religious people supporting a casino referendum.

"It's not so much they're in favor of casino gambling," he said, maintaining that people he's spoken to see it as a choice between "let the people decide" or "let the casinos decide."...

Bingo! Pastor Williams gets it...

From there, Smith turns to a C-J survey on the prevalence of gambling within subsets of the religious and non-religious population. The results are interesting...

Even among the most devout anti-gambling group -- evangelical or born-again Christians who also go to church almost every week or more -- 35 percent had gambled at least once in the 12 months before the September survey. They either bought lottery tickets, bet on horse races or went to casinos. That's below the state average of 54 percent.

But evangelicals and born-again Christians who attend worship less often, as well as the non-evangelical or born-again population that does attend worship frequently, gamble at the same rate as the state population as a whole.

Those who fit neither religious category gambled the most.

Notice, also, that there is no reference to bingo-- or other types of "gambling".

"I don't think there's the kind of gut-level, utter resistance to all forms of gambling," said Beau Weston, a Centre College sociology professor....Weston said even devout Kentuckians are open to compromise on regulating other people's vices. He cited the growing success of "moist" votes -- allowing restaurant alcohol sales in formerly dry rural counties....

Again, the key distinction...Now, to the Catholics:

But even within the coalition there are differences. While some oppose gambling outright, the Roman Catholic catechism "says games of chance or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice," said Ed Monahan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, which represents the state's bishops....

Catholic parishes and schools often rely on charitable gaming for fundraisers. And Monahan acknowledged this produces its share of problem gamblers, and "we prefer not to have to use (gaming) as a source."

And then there's the appeal to justice...

The Kentucky Council of Churches says rejecting casinos is a matter of social justice...

But even if so, there are far larger issues of social justice-- and issues where coercion is being used (typically by the govt) instead of gambling which is (largely) voluntary.

Conservative evangelicals' opposition is partly rooted in their "strong view of what sin is," York said. But he agreed with economic liberals on the social impact...

Actually, it's a misguided notion of sin caused by defining an activity poorly. For example, what is gambling? What makes it sinful? Is it always sinful? What other activities-- not typically labeled "gambling"-- are, in fact, equivalent?

Nancy Todd Tyner, a Las Vegas-based consultant who helped bring legalized gambling to such socially conservative states as Indiana and Mississippi, said some religious voters are open to arguments that casinos can bring them jobs and economic growth.

Well good for them-- there are benefits and costs. Good public policy analysis starts with a full (or at least fuller) understanding of both!