New rules relaxing gambling restrictions announced by the United Kingdom government on March 26 "are going to encourage more people into the gambling habit that will destroy lives and families," warns Seventh-day Adventist Church leader Cecil Perry.
New rules relaxing gambling restrictions announced by the United Kingdom government on March 26 “are going to encourage more people into the gambling habit that will destroy lives and families,” warns Seventh-day Adventist Church leader Cecil Perry. Previous laws restricted the availability of gambling, the places where it could occur, and what games could be played. Now Las Vegas-style casinos are being planned in vacation resorts and major cities in what critics are calling a gambling “free-for-all” that will have a negative impact upon society.
“We already have too much gambling, with families in crisis,” Perry adds. “In a materialistic society with a get-rich-quick mentality, gambling can easily become an addictive behavior. This can lead to an increase in crime as gamblers seek to feed their habit. In addition gambling tends to hit those who can least afford it. As a church we take a strong stand against gambling as being destructive—damaging individuals and families. Gambling brings nothing but problems to society.”
A statement issued by the Adventist Church in 2000 calls gambling “a modern curse,” affirming that “gambling violates Christian principles,” and “does not generate income; rather it takes from those who often can ill afford to lose and gives to a few winners, the greatest winner of course being the gambling operator.” The statement also notes that “the addictive quality of gambling is clearly incompatible with a Christian lifestyle,” while “the church seeks to help, not blame, those suffering from gambling or other addictions.”
In the statement the church urges its members not to participate in gambling activities and “calls on all authorities to prevent the ever-increasing availability of gambling with its damaging effects on individuals and society.”
