The church comments on gambling
Church Code Book
http://www.pcq.org.au/pcq-code
Gambling
12.106
All forms of gambling on premises which are the property of the church or in connection with any functions held for the church or by any committee or organisation thereof are hereby expressly forbidden.
Amusements- 12.107
While the church recognises the liberty of Christians in matters not expressly forbidden by the Word of God, her ministers, office bearers and people are enjoined to discourage all forms of amusement which are injurious to the moral and spiritual life, either in themselves or in their associations. They are also enjoined not to permit questionable forms of amusement to be used as a means of raising money for church purposes.
1979 B.B. Min. 53
11. Express to the Queensland Government its opposition to the introduction of poker machines or casinos, or any other extension of facilities within this State for gambling, which it considers a grave social sickness and a contravention of the tenth commandment.
1981 B.B. Min. 109
8. Record its disapproval of the establishment of a casino or any other increased gambling facilities in this State, and express the opinion that the Government has no mandate to introduce them.
1984 B.B. Min. 212
13. View with deep concern the ominous growth of gambling in our community.
14. Regard any increase in gambling facilities as most inappropriate in this “Year of the Family”, believing that the stability of family life may be affected by further gambling opportunities.
1989 B.B. Min. 279
25. Advise the Premier, the Minister for Justice, the Leader of the Opposition and the Media that the Presbyterian Church of Queensland is strongly opposed to gambling in all its forms as a means of revenue collection and personal activity because it is based on a covetous attitude and greedy behaviour, contrary to the Word of God.
1991 B.B. Min. 203
15. (a) Re-affirm the following past resolution opposing gambling, interalia:
“1979 BB Minute 53:
11. Express to the Queensland Government its opposition to the introduction of poker machines or casinos, or any other extension of facilities within this State for gambling, which it considers a grave social sickness and a contravention of the Tenth Commandment.”
“1981 BB Minute 109:
8. Record its disapproval of the establishment of a casino or any other increased gambling facilities in this State, and express the opinion that the Government has no mandate to introduce them.”
“1984 BB Minute 212:
13. View with deep concern the ominous growth of gambling in our community.”
(b) Note that the Commission of Assembly of November 14, 1990 expressed its concern to the Premier anent gambling.
(c) Note that the Clerk of Assembly has advised the Premier, the Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Racing, Leader of the Liberal Party and Media that in light of the above re-affirmed resolutions, the Assembly continues to oppose the introduction of poker machines, or other new forms of gambling to the State; and opposes approval of additional casinos in the State.
1992 B.B. Min. 116
14. Direct the Clerk to write to the Premier with copies to the Leader of the Opposition, the Parliamentary Liberal Party, and the Media expressing the grave concern of the Assembly that the extent of gambling in this State is being further extended by the establishment of another casino in the State.
1996 B.B 55
5. Commend the book “A Gambling-Led Recovery? Don’t Bet on It!” from The Presbyterian Church of Victoria, to Sessions and congregations for study and educational purposes.
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2005 B.B. MIN. 98
17. Request the representatives of PCQ as the ordinary member of Drug Arm to take all appropriate action to change the policy of Drug Arm in relation to accepting support from funds generated by gambling.
2006 B.B. MIN. 134
4.(a) Note the following facts in relation to gambling in Queensland;
(i) more than 100 poker machines a month are being added to pubs and clubs, and that at the end of February there were 40,171 poker machines in Queensland – up 539 from 39,632 in September 2005.
(ii) the Government expects to collect $527 million in gambling machine tax in the 2006-07 financial year, rising to $657 million in 2008-09.
(iii) the average rate of growth in real per capita expenditure on gaming in Queensland has been 7.0% per annum from 1993-94 ($508.14) to 2003 04 ($866.25).
(iv) in 2003-04 the total gambling expenditure in Queensland was $2.79 billion, or 17.23% of the total gambling expenditure in Australia, the highest level of real gambling expenditure recorded in Queensland to date, up from $1.16 billion in 1993-94 and $2.17 billion in 2000-01.
(b) Write to the Premier of Queensland, with copies to the Leader of the Opposition, the Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, and the Media;
(i) Commending the Government for the positive steps which it has taken to reduce the amount of gambling in Queensland by its “Responsible Gambling” programme,
(ii) Expressing concern that it is hypocritical for the Government to try to reduce the amount of gambling when it expects to collect $527 million in gambling machine tax in the 2006-07 financial year, rising to $657 million in 2008-09.
(iii) Advising that the Presbyterian Church of Queensland is totally opposed to gambling as it is an expression of the sin of covetousness and that it has made the following statements in its publication, The Christian and Gambling, http://www.pcq.org.au/docs/Christians_Gambling.doc
The calling of the Christian is:
(a) to be a steward of God's gifts and to offer the service of his possessions to his Lord.
(b) to affirm belief in the Providence of God and to trust his life to God’s care.
(c) to seek first the Kingdom and to refrain from covetousness.
The gambling scene spells concern for Christians because what is at work in this gambling craze is a massive, soulless economic exploitation which cares nothing about the harm that can be done to people. It is an exploitation which encourages the acquisitive attitude to life, an attitude fast becoming socially acceptable to the unthinking.
(iv) Including copies of The Christian and Gambling, by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland,
http://www.pcq.org.au/docs/Christians_Gambling.doc, and A Gambling-Led Recovery – Don’t Bet On It, by the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. http://www.pcvic.org.au/candn/books/gambling.doc
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The Christian and Gambling
Christians are constantly called upon to formulate decisions regarding the relationship of their faith to the many attitudes and practices of the world in which they are placed. Realising the difficulties that can be encountered in defining Christian attitudes to one of today's gravest of social problems, the question of gambling, the 1976 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland commended the following theological principles as guidelines to assist members in their thinking.
The calling of the Christian is
(a) to be a steward of God's gifts and to offer the service of his possessions to his Lord.
(b) to affirm belief in the Providence of God and to trust his life to God’s care.
(c) to seek first the Kingdom and to refrain from covetousness.
It is important that individual communicants, Sessions, and congregations give some thought to the implications of these basic tenets.
THE GAMBLING CRAZE
No one can deny there IS a gambling craze and that the practice of gambling is rapidly becoming socially acceptable to Australians everywhere. It was reported to the 1976 Assembly that "the prevalence of gambling in our country is evident in the large financial turnover of the racing 'industry', various lotteries, poker machines, a casino, and a host of raffles and sweeps … Altogether, gambling in these forms constitutes one of Australia's biggest financial 'industries'."
Indeed, the mass circulation of raffle tickets through newspapers offering fantastically high prizes, such as houses, expensive cars, boats, and even station properties, is a cause for concern. Hundreds of bingo sessions draw literally thousands of patrons; and the Government has now introduced poker machines into Queensland clubs and casinos into the State.
This is a scene which spells concern for Christians because what is at work in this gambling craze is a massive, soulless economic exploitation which cares nothing about the harm that can be done to people. It is an exploitation which encourages the acquisitive attitude to life, an attitude fast becoming socially acceptable to the unthinking.
DEFINITION Of GAMBLING
The term ‘gambling’ generally covers those activities mentioned above and others similar to them. It is the GREEDY DESIRE for gain by the exercise of chance and at the expense of another. It is the endeavour to obtain certain benefits, not by minimising the element of risk, but by maximising risk. It is the attempt to obtain gain mainly by the exercise of chance.
A notable definition of gambling is this one by Canon Peter Green of Manchester, England – “A gamble is a transaction between two parties, whereby the transfer of something of value is made wholly dependent on chance in such a way that the whole gain of one party is the whole loss of the other”.
When the full implications of this definition seep into our minds, our gambling win makes us feel somewhat shabby. We have not earned our win. Nor have we exchanged it for merchandise. Nor have we received it as a gift of goodwill. Our win has come to us as the LAW OF THE JUNGLE – every man for himself. The Christian, who has the welfare of his brother at heart, would not want to contribute to his brother’s loss.
Still another useful definition is the following by Gordon Moody –
“A gamble is (1) a redistribution of wealth, (2) on the basis of an artificially created risk, (3) involving gain, without service rendered, for one party, (4) at the loss of another party, (5) on an appeal to chance.”
WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT?
Whichever definition we adopt as a true description of the term, it will be seen at once that for the Christian, there is much that is wrong with gambling. The Christian is called to exercise a life of outgoing love. Concern for others, rather than greedy concern for self, is one of his basic considerations. He is committed to follow the commandments of His Lord and deny himself.
And even though most Christians probably practice this concern for others rather imperfectly, yet it is of the essential nature of the Christian faith because it was an attitude lived out so obviously in the life of the Lord Himself. It is impossible to imagine Jesus as a gambler.
How can a man DENY himself when he gambles? Gambling fosters the contrary attitude: the ELEVATION of self. The gambler is seeking gain without service rendered and that at the loss of somebody else.
Nobody enters the TAB to deny himself and seek the benefit of his fellows. He is there because he is concerned with private gain. “Prevalent gambling is a symptom of prevalent selfishness” (from a report presented to Assembly).
People often say, “I’m not hurting anyone when I gamble”. That is a statement open to question. As the same report highlights, “Christian welfare agencies can provide many stories of people who have suffered because the breadwinner denied them their needs by futile gambling. It is not unknown for big-time gambling to produce hatred, blackmail, and even murder”.
Gambling has been known to leave behind a trail of human tragedy which makes great demands on the resources of any community. There is evidence that the practice of gambling DOES hurt people: it hurts the individual gambler as well as society as a whole.
ASSEMBLY GUIDELINES
It is our conviction therefore that the Assembly's guidelines referred to at the outset are highly significant and that the Church as a whole must take a fresh look at the whole question of gambling in a day when the practice is reaching the epidemic proportions of an insidious national disease.
As Christians, we must reaffirm our belief that:
The gambler is not acting as a steward of God's gifts and is in fact, opposing the Christian philosophy of life. The Bible teaches so clearly that our possessions are, given to us on trust from God and that they must be used responsibly. It is not a responsible use of money to gather it into huge amounts and distribute it by chance to the few at the expense of the needy. Since gambling seeks the most gain for the least outlay it is an unworthy response to the Christian’s calling as a steward.
2. THE CALLING OF THE CHRISTIAN IS TO AFFIRM BELIEF IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD AND TO TRUST HIS LIFE TO GOD'S CARE.
The gambler bases his activities purely on chance or “Lady Luck”, whereas the Christian is called to relate the whole of his life to God. “All of life is a gamble” is the untrue cry of the gambler. His rule of life is in the chance throw of the dice. Just as some believe their fate is in the stars, so the gambler believes that one day his number will turn up. Such an attitude is a denial of the providence of God.
The gambler is essentially motivated by gain: the greater the odds the bigger the gain. Whatever his gambling preference might be, the basic motivation is to get much for little. This is covetousness. And Racing, the Pools, Bingo, the TAB, the Casino and all forms of gambling seek to exploit this motive.
Archbishop Temple once said, “The persistent appeal to covetousness is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which Christ taught. The attempt (which is inseparable from gambling) to make a profit out of the inevitable loss and possible suffering of others is the very anti-thesis of love of one’s neighbour on which the Lord insisted.”
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
- How far can it be said that the gambling craze, with its insistence on something for nothing, has contributed to the huge rise in white collar crime in modern Australian society?
- Is it possible to imagine Jesus as a gambler?
- Why is it untrue to say “All of life is a gamble”?
- Does the practice of gambling act as an anaesthetic to deaden the ‘pain’ of giving? What are the likely effects of gambling on the charitable instincts of man?
BIBLE PASSAGES –
I Timothy 6:6-10
Luke 12:15
II Corinthians 9:6-15
Proverbs 15:27, 21:25,26
2006 B.B. MIN. 134
12. Note that the Moderator, the Clerk and the Convener of the Public Questions Committee, issued a statement in the name of the Church, commenting on gambling expenditure and related concerns in the light of the Churches opposition to gambling. (COA November 2005, Minute 38).
38. STATEMENT ON GAMBLING EXPENDITURE
It was moved, seconded and approved that the Commission of Assembly note the action of the Moderator, Clerk and Convener of Public Questions and Communications, commenting upon gambling expenditure and related concerns in light of the Churches opposition to gambling and that this decision be inscribed in the minutes of the Commission as follows:
The media reports, (The Australian, 31October 2005, page 6), that statistics from the Government’s Office of Economics and Statistical Research show gambling expenditure in Queensland increased by 12.7% between 2002-03 and 2003-04. This increase was higher than any other State and more than double the national average of 4.95%. It was also reported that the Government has decided to make available a further 1150 poker machines next year, generating an extra $20 million in revenue.
The Presbyterian Church of Queensland is opposed in principle to gambling as it is an expression of the sin of covetousness. Any benefit is at the expense of others. It is also bad public policy to fund good projects such as schools and hospitals at the expense of struggling families and the misery imposed by compulsive gamblers.
The Church calls on the Government to revise its decision to increase gambling outlets and to fund project from other sources.
2004 B.B. MIN. 134
24. Request the representatives of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland, as an ordinary Member of the Drug
Awareness and Relief Foundation (Australia), (Drug Arm), to take all appropriate action to change the policy of Drug Arm in relation to accepting support from funds generated by gambling, and to bring a report to the 2007 Assembly.
2007 B.B. MIN. 99
(d) Request the representatives of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland, as an ordinary Member of the Drug Awareness and Relief Foundation (Australia), (Drug Arm), to take all appropriate action to change the policy of Drug Arm in relation to accepting support from funds generated by gambling, and to bring a report to the 2008 Assembly.
2009 B.B. MIN. 106
8.Request the Representatives of the Presbyterian Church of Queensland, as an ordinary member of the Drug Awareness and Relief Foundation (Australia) (DrugARM), to take all appropriate action to change the policy of DrugARM in relation to accepting support from funds generated by gambling, and to bring a report to the 2010 Assembly.