The Methodist Church has responded to proposals to open a casino. Rev Brian D Griffin, District Superintendent Midlands and Southern District of the Methodist Church in Ireland, in a statement issued from Roscrea comments:
The Methodist Church has a long tradition of unwavering opposition to gambling. In the 1950’s it disapproved of Hospital sweepstakes and Football pools. In 1987 the Church deplored the introduction of the National Lottery declaring that the investing of the lottery with the prestige of government sponsorship was “morally unacceptable”. Methodists believe gambling lowers the tone of a nation. It is a form of the love of money which the Bible defines as the root of all evil. 1 Timothy 6. v 10.
Much is being made of the jobs that will be created in North Tipperary by the casino and the “boost” it will give to the whole region. Evidence from the USA and Australia suggests that whilst such enterprises themselves boom, the impact on existing businesses and infrastructure is less positive. One researcher called a casino “a black hole sucking money out of a local economy” . Gambling is, in its ramifications a vast social disease:
• It has a damaging impact on people’s lives; jobs, relationships and families. It becomes an addiction. Problem gamblers are more likely to divorce, drink excessively, abuse spouses and children and attempt suicide.
• Children of problem gamblers are more likely to do poorly at school, use drugs, run away, attempt suicide or become gamblers themselves.
• The gains of the winners are made at the expense of the losers. Gambling enables people to gain money without rendering any real service whatsoever to society and without the investment of any personal skill.
• When gambling becomes the social norm, children are indirectly taught to believe in the importance of random chance and fate and thereby lose the belief in useful values of diligence, industriousness, studiousness and deferred gratification. Work discipline and service are the real ways to independence and fulfilment, not dumb luck.
• Problem gamblers are more likely to miss, or be late for work. Their preoccupation with mounting debts results in lack of concentration impacting on their productivity which ultimately becomes less effective.
• Studies like ‘The Social Implications of Casino Gambling’ (Brown and Fisher) show that with the increased availability of gambling facilities, crime rises, both organised crime within casinos and crime as a result of the need to feed and fund this disastrous habit.
The Department of Social Development in Northern Ireland have recognised that 1 in 50 of the population there has a gambling problem. This is a significant number of people and 4 times higher than in Britain. In this period of recession, there is more pressure on individuals to turn to gambling in order to ease their financial burdens. Inevitably, the North Tipperary casino will produce some winners but a lot more losers with disastrous consequences for their families.
The ethos of the Methodist Church from its inception in the 18th century, is to reach out to the poor and marginalized and has a long history of engagement with society on social issues. The Bible teaches us to ‘love our neighbours’ so for Methodists, Christians cannot countenance any activity such as gambling which will hurt our neighbours by transferring money from their pockets to that of others. Gambling ultimately, by appealing to blind chance is a denial of faith in God.