Apparently, the proponents of Issue 4 on the 2018 Arkansas ballot have little good to say about casino gambling itself because, instead, to promote the measure, they speak only of the increased revenue kept or coming into the state to do things like fix roads and highways. No mention is made of the economic and social problems such gambling brings upon many an individual or family because of those who foolishly gamble away their paychecks in a false hope of getting rich. No mention is made of the destroyed lives or impoverished children or of the enormous and unearned profits to be made by the casino owners.
The arguments used in commercials supporting the constitutional amendment indicate that people are going to gamble anyway, so we may as well allow them to do so in Arkansas so that we can keep the tax money from their losses here at home and use it for good things like infrastructure needs.
All this reminds me of the state lottery, passed with an end goal to support education. And, while the lottery may provide many scholarships to students, it doesn't really promote education. Rather, it promotes lies and false hopes of winning big in order to steal the money of those uneducated and foolish enough to ignore the mathematical odds against them. Arkansas voters approved it, thinking that the ends (money for educational scholarships) somehow justify the means (ripping off the uneducated and foolish with false and deceptive advertising); and, I fear, they may approve casino gambling for the same reasons.
Do the ends justify the means? If so, then why not legalize bank robbery (providing no one gets hurt) in cases where the stolen money is used for a good cause like to build a new medical facility or a new school? Such bank robbers could even dress like Robin Hood if they like. Is there a difference between such foolishness and the theft and deception which goes on in connection with gambling? Think about it. We arrest and prosecute people for crooked business dealings and theft by deception, but then we propose allowing it in gambling casinos!
Years ago, when I lived in Iowa, a lottery measure passed allowing the state to sell lottery tickets -- for a good cause, of course. Since the state already owned and operated all the liquor stores there, my tongue-in-cheek question was: "When is the state going to open and operate houses of ill repute?" -- for a good cause, of course! Thankfully, things never got that bad.
For those who still care, there is a commandment in the Bible which says, "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15). It prohibits taking our neighbor's property or goods by any unjust means, including deception and crooked dealings. That is why God expanded on it in Leviticus 19:11, 35-36, telling us: "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another ... Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have." Certainly, this applies to the deceptive advertising and crooked dealings of gambling casinos to obtain the money of those foolish enough to think they will come out ahead by gambling.
Of course, there is also the commandment against coveting: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's" (Exodus 20:17). It forbids desiring what rightly belongs to another -- those things for which we have not worked and which God has given to another. So, isn't it sinful to desire to win the earnings of others through a gambling scheme? Instead, the Bible commands us: "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" (Ephesians 4:28).
And, just in case there are those who insist they only gamble for fun and do not seek or take the property of others, no one questions whether gambling casinos or lotteries are not in it for the money. The goal is to make a huge profit and return only enough to keep the gamblers coming back to lose more. Casinos and lotteries do not give anything of fair value in exchange for the money they take -- just a hope of winning a small portion of the scam's profits. To this, too, the Bible speaks: "Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul" (Proverbs 29:24).
Good or righteous ends do not justify sinful means! Rather, we ought to do what's good and right and trust in the Lord God who created us to bless our labors and provide for our needs.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 10/17/2018