Monday, 13 October 2008

• Legalizing Slot Machines: Yay or Nay?

   by mr pine

  

  In the state I'm in, Maryland, there will be a referendum on legalizing slot machines on the November ballot.  This has been the source of much debate.  A portion of the money gained from slots will go toward education and balancing the state's budget.

  Proponents of legalizing slots say that it will raise money for the state without raising taxes.  They also argue that people who want to play slots are already going to surrounding states to do so, which siphons revenue from this state to those.

  Opponents say that it will victimize the poor and uneducated for the sake of the state's coffers and that it will increase crime and corruption.

  I was solidly neutral on the subject until recently.  The reason I was neutral was that, practically speaking, I didn't think any of the arguments, pro or con, held water.

  Against the pro side, I thought that though it may increase the state's revenue, I know that this state is abysmal at spending money efficiently and will probably find some way of squandering it anyhow.  This was the same arguement that they used to pass legislation to allow for the lottery... and if that was what was going to save us, why, just a few years later, do they need this revenue AND my state taxes seem to get higher every year (besides the fact that I live in a very liberal tax-and-spend state).

  Against the con side, I didn't see how slots were any different from the lottery as far as victimizing the poor.  In fact, to play slots, you actually have to go somewhere instead of just being able to pick up lottery tickets at the corner store.  And since the slots would only be allowed at racetracks and similar venues, it would probably be in those facilities' best interest to try to minimize crime around those places themselves.

  So what was left was whether I thought that, in and of itself, it was wrong.

  The Bible doesn't speak directly to the matter of gambling.  Yes, people mention passages about materialism and coveting and hoarding, but I think these apply more to other areas than to gambling itself.

  Then in a lunchtime debate (I have a lot of these in my office), someone said something that made me shift my thinking a little.  I was saying that though I didn't like the idea of slots, I didn't see how it was any different than the lottery in the way that it could "victimize" the poor.  He responded by saying, "Yeah, but with the lottery, you don't see people spending the whole day spending dollar after dollar at the convenience store playing until they have no money left."

  It's true.  The lottery sort of polices itself in the sense in that in any "Pick Three" or "Pick Four" or Mega Millions jackpot, you have to wait until a certain time of day to find out if you've won or not.  And with the scratch-offs, after some point, you're just going to get tired of scratching all those tickets... plus, you can visually see just how much money you've squandered as the tickets pile up.  But with slots, (especially with ATMs available in the room) you can just keep playing until you completely empty your bank account.

  This is when I also realized that gambling, to me, is not really as much about how you use your money, but rather about the addictive nature of it... the idolization aspect.  It's that you could spend so much of your thought, as well as your money, devoted to a game of chance.  Professional gamblers will tell you that it's not about how much they win but about the chase of the next "big win" - the money is just how you keep score.

  I've played slot machines before and know first-hand that it's not that I think I'm going to get rich from playing slots.  The occassional payout is just really enticement to keep playing.  Thankfully, I don't have an addictive personality, but if I did, I could see how addiction to gambling could literally ruin my life.

  So, is gambling wrong?  In general, I don't think it's any more wrong than buying a car you can't afford, or coveting that electronic gadget that you don't need.  We are all called to be good stewards of our money and flee from materialism.  But I don't think that the act of pulling the arm (although they use buttons now) on a slot machine is, in itself, sinful.

  However, as a Christian, I should oppose gambling because of its nature.  By nature, it is addictive and directly encourages idolatry and greed.  And as a Christian, I should discourage anything that can directly lead to stumbling believers and the taking advantage of the poor.

  This is why I'm voting no on this referendum.

  What do you think about this referendum on legalizing slot machines? Yay or nay? 

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