Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Kaieteur News article captioned "Govt MP blasts church on opposition to
'casino' legislation" (Jan., 12, 2007) reported the Rev. Alphonso Porter as
saying, "...the church was not against casino gambling from a theological
standpoint, but was against it on moral grounds and also based on studies
done in other Third World countries." If this is indeed what the good
reverend uttered, and not misreporting on the part of the newspaper, then it
is revealing. Is Rev. Porter tacitly admitting that there is no theology
against gambling? If morality is not based on theology, then on what is it
based? Moral relativism? Studies done in other Third World countries? To
strengthen his case, the good churchman should have quoted the chapters and
verses that prohibit gambling. Sadly, there is none. From my extensive
reading of the Bible, I know that the casting of lots - admittedly a form of
gambling - to make important life-decisions was an ancient practice. When
Joshua entered the land of the Canaanites, he cast lots before God to divide
the land among the Israelites. At the crucifixion, the Roman soldiers cast
lots for Jesus' garments, and it was called a fulfilment of scripture. To
find a replacement for Judas Iscariot, lots were cast and Matthias' lot was
drawn. Unfortunately though, the Bible is silent on the casting of lots as a
form of entertainment or as a means of financial gain, and thus gives no
guidance on the matter. So it would seem that the good brother is right to
say that the church is not against casino gambling from a theological
standpoint, since there is no biblical point upon which it can stand. This
is not to say that gambling should be encouraged, but that arguments against
it must be based on non-theological, i.e., logical, grounds. I do not gamble
for one simple reason: it is unprofitable. I only take part in financial
ventures in which the probability of making a profit is more than fifty
percent. This means that I can make a profit more than fifty percent of the
time. By definition and by practice, in gambling the chance of winning is
less than fifty percent. Therefore, you have a greater chance of losing more
often than winning. Take the Lotto, for example. The probability of winning
the jackpot with one ticket is 1 in 736,281, that's about 0.00014 percent.
Only a very lucky person can win it; often no one does. So instead of
wasting $100 on a Lotto ticket, I prefer to buy a Sunday newspaper and read
about the arguments for and against casino gambling, and let the chips fall
where they may. Who knows? Maybe God does play dice with the Universe.