Gambling is a SIN?

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Malachi4U

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I know many Christians that believe gambling is bad. Why? Anything done in excess is wrong but is all gambling wrong? Just because a few soldiers gambled for garments does that make all gambling wrong? Isn’t making all gambling wrong like throwing the baby out with the bath water?

There are numerous times in Scripture that talk about the good uses of casting lots. Why do some ignore those verses?

Would not the Soldier that gambled for Christ’s clothing and won be considered a very lucky and blessed man?

If gambling is wrong then shouldn’t birthdays be wrong since John the Baptist was beheaded on one? Shouldn’t wood be bad since it is what we used to crucify Jesus on? Should not nails and hammers be banned since they too were used to kill Jesus? Why is gambling singled out as bad?
 
It’s a good CCC day: 🙂
2413 Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.
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Scott
 
The apostles gambled. Look how they picked the apostle to replace Judas. They cast lots Acts 1:26 so at the very least they were familiar with dice games. How was that so. They probably had a lttle experience throwing the ol’ dice.
And of course Jesus and the apostle drank like any first century Jew would. And yet many denoms think any alcohol is a sin. Like with any pleasure in the world gambling and drink must be done to a moderation. But you need not take all the fun out of the world.
Gee a world withou bingo how boring.
 
Gambling in other words is not intrinsically evil, not bad in itself. Yet it can produce evil when we become beholden to it, which leads to the ruin of our lives and the lives of those around us.

Gerry 🙂
 
My mother taught me a valuable lesson about gambling, because I harassed her so bad after going to Canada and seeing the welfare recipients from Detroit pouring quarters, dollars into machines, the noise, the lights, the free alcohol to encourage more gambling it was the evilest sight I have ever walked into.

So when her and my dad would go, I would remind her about my sister, her daughter in the convent who lives on donations alone and give her a hard time.

She said to me if you are gambling and using no more money than you would to go to a show and dinner than you have had fun entertainment for the evening, it is when it is done to an excess of losing your money, for groceries etc. which by the way I have had friends and watched them gamble away hundreds of thousands of dollars always waiting for that big win, losing their homes stealing from their wives etc.

But in moderation I think my mom was right. But ask yourself first are you using money that belongs to bills, groceries, or making someone live without absolute necessities for you to throw money into a machine. If you can answer yes than it is evil and dangerous.
 
The Church taught that gambling was a sin, then it taught that it wasn’t but could be a sin.

go to www.newadvent.org and look under G for gambling. Lots of insightful information there.

The CCC doesn’t seem to me to be a comprehensive document. What it doesn’t explain in regards to gambling is what role it can play in the life of a faithful steward? It does say that you still have to be able to put food on the table and not jeopardize your home, etc. Certainly there are better things you can do with your money than dither it away playing poker, for example. And, scripture says that if you see something good that you could do but don’t do it, then you are sinning. What room, then, is left for gambling?

(I can’t quickly locate the verse I am referring to – but it’s in one of Paul’s letters.)
 
i was raised in puerto rico so iam use to casinos an hotel, also been in atlantic city a couples of times. personally i don’t think gambling is bad as long as you don’t use the money that is supposed to be use to support the family. if you have a little extra an you want to go ahead do it is fun to do it but be sure to know your limits. bless you all mayra
 
I agree myra.

I personally don’t see gambling as inherently evil if you treat it purely as a game, and purely for the sake of having fun, as long as you do it in moderation, and as long as no money is involved.

Gerry 🙂
 
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RobedWithLight:
I agree myra.

I personally don’t see gambling as inherently evil if you treat it purely as a game, and purely for the sake of having fun, as long as you do it in moderation, and as long as no money is involved.

Gerry 🙂
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Dude there is money invloved in Church Bingo!
That in and of itself does not make it a sin.
Gambling is like I said before like any secular pleasure it must be done in moderation.
However some people prone to addictive behavior shouldn’t gamble at all just as some alcoholics shouldn’t drink at all since some people cannot due these secular pleasures in moderation. THat does not make drinking of gambling intrinsically evil for those of us who can purse these activites without addiction.
 
gambling per se is not a sin, but becomes a sin in certain contexts. of cource, betting money that isn’t yours is wrong, borrowing to gamble, neglecting duties to support your family etc. It is also using discretionary money that could be used for charity or support of the church. My biggest objection to gambling in casinos is that most, especially in Vegas & Atlantic City have ties to organized crime and that money finds its way into supporting drugs, pornography and even illegal weapons and terrorism.
 
Bingo to support the parish school? Raffle for the senior center? Why not?

Jaunts to Atlantic City??? Hmm. As I stated in another post, the gaming industry is highly regulated, and there is no possibility that one’s money is in any way participating in anything shady or criminal . . .

And I am Marie of Romania.
 
Satan is looking for that little crack that says let me in so I can draw you away from God. Satan says gambling is ok, drinking is ok, lying is ok,ects ALL LIES FROM THE PIT OF HELL. Drawing lots for a rightious decision is not the same as gambling in a casino. Wake up christians. :eek:
 
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mercygate:
Bingo to support the parish school? Raffle for the senior center? Why not?

Jaunts to Atlantic City??? Hmm. As I stated in another post, the gaming industry is highly regulated, and there is no possibility that one’s money is in any way participating in anything shady or criminal . . .

And I am Marie of Romania.
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How about TITHING. Then you can close down the bingo halls. 👍
 
**Its like eating and drinking. You can become addicted to it. ****I’ve known lives and families destroyed by gambling. **

If you are trying to rationalize it you are hooked.
 
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SPOKENWORD:
How about TITHING. Then you can close down the bingo halls. 👍
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My constant rant! I never participate in the 50-50 or go to bingo or buy a lottery ticket – not so much because these things are evin in themselves but because I am appalled by the disregard for personal responsibility in giving in my parish. A very few families are generous givers, but $10 is considered by many to be acceptable. This is an affluent parish.
 
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Maccabees:
Dude there is money invloved in Church Bingo!
That in and of itself does not make it a sin.
Gambling is like I said before like any secular pleasure it must be done in moderation.
However some people prone to addictive behavior shouldn’t gamble at all just as some alcoholics shouldn’t drink at all since some people cannot due these secular pleasures in moderation. THat does not make drinking of gambling intrinsically evil for those of us who can purse these activites without addiction.
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Indeed it might, and that may be a possible exception.

But then too often, most of the worst evils result from people impoverishing themselves in gambling, spending their money uselessly instead of the money being used to buy food for your family’s table or medicine for your sick loved ones, and this, my friend happens often in people who are already highly addicted to it, in which case it becomes vice rather than mere entertainment. Which is why when gambling mutates into vice, and hence results is something evil, money is too often involved.

Gerry 🙂
 
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