Sunday, October 22, 2006

Southern Baptist public policy specialist Richard Land, clearly delighted with the ban on online gambling financial transactions that passed into US law recently, has commended President Bush and Congress for their commitment in pushing the legislation through.
 
In the process he painted a pretty extreme and unsubstantiated view on the industry. "All friends of families should be pleased with this measure," said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "It will certainly help insulate homes from a parasitic addiction to gambling that sucks the life out of families and destroys marriages.
 
"Thousands of families have faced financial ruin and bankruptcy because of one of the fastest-growing addictions in the county," he said. "This legislation will make it more difficult for these Internet gambling predators to reach into the pockets of America's families and steal the future of children and spouses."
 
The Baptist Press goes on to list the commercial fall-out following the new law, with particular emphasis on damage sustained by publicly listed companies, and then claims that the private nature of Internet gambling has resulted in its widespread use by minors and young adults, as well as addiction problems for people of all ages. It alleges that online gambling sites frequently act as fronts for money laundering, drug trafficking and financing for terrorists, but produces no evidence or sources to back this claim.
 
What the Baptist Press did not mention in the article was the carve-outs for Internet betting on horse racing, fantasy sports and state lotteries.  It does briefly point out that the new law does not include a provision passed earlier by the House that would have updated the Wire Act 1961 law to widen its current prohibition on sportsbetting over telephone wires.