Churches differ on gambling
By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA Today
There's no virtue in excess.
Which may be one reason virtues-maven William Bennett — secretary of education for the Reagan administration, drug czar for the first President Bush, and author of best seller "The Book of Virtues" — is quitting his gambling habit.
Along with a wave of critics crying hypocrisy, Bennett, who was regarded as a devout Catholic and spoke frequently on conservative social values, had to face his own faith's teachings.
The Catechism, the book of collected teachings of the Catholic Church, spells out "the passion for gambling risks enslavement." It also says games of chance are not inherently immoral unless they deprive someone of essential support for life and family.
Bennett has said he never jeopardized family money, misused public money or failed to report winnings to the IRS. But after a decade as a public scold against drugs, divorce, sex outside of marriage and "unrestricted personal liberty," it all didn't square with his image to admit he gambled $8 million on casino slot machines in the last decade and accepted the free hospitality that hotels shower on high rollers.
Bennett acknowledged in a public statement: "... I've done too much gambling and this is not an example I wish to set."
His comments came after consulting with deeply religious friends, Catholics and Protestant, including born-again evangelical Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Bennett spoke only of his own behavior, without criticizing the multibillion-dollar gaming industry.
Many Catholic bishops have a different view. They have joined other denominations in lobbying against riverboat gaming parlors, casinos, slots and lotteries.
In Maryland, a coalition of faith groups including Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, and nondenominational churches recently helped block Gov. Robert Erlich Jr.'s push to legalize slot machines.
Religions differ in their views on gambling, but a 1998 survey found those who say their faith is "very important" in guiding their daily lives were nearly three times more likely than less-religious people to disapprove of casino gambling.
The Bible, unlike the Quran, does not explicitly ban gambling.
And not all Western religions see gambling as a personal sin, as do Southern Baptists and many evangelicals. Jewish tradition treats it as a private hobby unless it becomes addictive and harms the player or others.
But the major faiths are largely united in charging that state-sponsored gambling, such as lotteries:
• Entices the poor to gamble away scant money.
• Contributes to gambling addiction and organized crime.
• Competes for spending on other, taxable entertainments.
• Ties money for key services such as schools to a risky business.
In his support for Bennett this week, Colson chose to focus on something all Western religions promote — repentance.
"The best he can do is come clean and reform. Repentance is when you change your ways," says Colson, who went to prison in 1974 for obstruction of justice during the Watergate scandal.
But others bet against a quick recovery for Bennett's credibility.
"The average person will think like they did with Bill Clinton: He'll never be right in their eyes," says Mary Jane Wiseman, who teaches law, ethics and politics at Winona State University, Winona, Minn.
