No To Gambling

House Speaker Robert DeLeo recently introduced a bill which allow for the creation of two casinos in Massachusetts along with allowing slot machines at the four racetracks. Speaker DeLeo intends on pushing through the bill without a public hearing. I encourage you to contact your state senator and representative to stand in opposition to this bill, if no other reason than the tactics that are being used to get it through.

Here is the text of the letter I sent to Rep. Thomas Conroy and Sen. Susan Fargo, who represent Sudbury and the surrounding towns:

I am writing to encourage you to stand in opposition to increasing legalized gambling in Massachusetts, especially the bill proposed by House Speaker Robert DeLeo. The fact that Speaker DeLeo does not want to even hold public hearings on the merits of the bill is deeply troubling, and is just another sign to me of the dangers that legalized gambling holds for society and good government.

Gambling is a regressive form of taxation which prays on those who can least afford the price, especially during troubled economic times. When I lived in New Mexico, I watched as casino gambling was brought to that state and witnessed the devastation that it caused in so many communities. The common refrain was that casinos would bring in more tourists who would spend their money there, increasing revenues to the state. Of course, that is not what happened. Instead day after day, and night after night, the parking lots were filled with cars with New Mexico plates driven there by people who had dreams of striking it rich but who all too often went home empty handed.

The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church state that “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, destructive of good government and good stewardship…. The Church’s prophetic call is to promote standards of justice and advocacy that would make it unnecessary and undesirable to resort to commercial gambling – including public lotteries, casinos, raffles, Internet gambling, gambling with an emerging wireless technology and other games of chance – as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue of funds for support of charities or government.”

We as the church, and I personally, stand in opposition to any measure to push for casinos or other forms of gambling in the Commonwealth. I know that in the past you have voted against increasing legalized gambling in the Commonwealth and I encourage you to keep that as your position.

Thank you for your service to this community and to the Commonwealth.

Blessings,
Rev. John W. Nash
Associate Pastor
Sudbury United Methodist Church


Here is the full text of the church's position from the Social Principles:
Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, destructive of good government and good stewardship. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the Church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual's energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends. The Church acknowledges the dichotomy that can occur when opposing gambling while supporting American Indian tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Therefore, the Church's role is to create sacred space and to allow for dialogue and education that will promote a holistic understanding of the American Indian's historic quest for survival. The Church’s prophetic call is to promote standards of justice and advocacy that would make it unnecessary and undesirable to resort to commercial gambling – including public lotteries, casinos, raffles, Internet gambling, gambling with an emerging wireless technology and other games of chance – as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue of funds for support of charities or government.

For more information, visit the Massachusetts Council of Churches.