Thanks to blogger Jon Swerens, who has found this story on Mississippi’s debate about rebuilding casinos on land, on water or at all. The story touches on the religion angle of this debate, but in a regrettable parade of characters from central casting, Bible Belt division:
Religious leaders carried signs and shouted about the evils of gambling outside the Capitol on Tuesday as hordes of casino execs, Coast leaders and lobbyists courted lawmakers inside.
Hurricane Katrina is spawning a new storm, this one political, as Mississippi lawmakers in special session ponder whether to let destroyed casinos rebuild on dry land instead of the floating barges to which they were previously restricted.
“I’m here representing my lord and savior, Jesus Christ,†the Rev. Kendall Boutwell of Brookhaven told the House Gaming Committee at the start of a lengthy hearing. Boutwell said gamblers are covetous, in violation of the 10th commandment, and are idolaters.
“What do you suggest we do about the thousands of people displaced, without jobs, from that industry?” Rep. Leonard Bentz, R-Biloxi, asked Boutwell.
Boutwell responded that the Coast should create more wholesome tourist attractions, like Dollywood.
Reporter Geoff Pender of The Sun Herald’s capital bureau summarizes the clash this way: “Mississippi, with its Bible Belt roots, and its Legislature have had an uneasy relationship with casino gambling.”
I cannot fault Pender for reporting what he witnessed — including signs, shouting and invocations of Dollywood — but to reduce opposition to gambling to “Bible Belt roots” is to miss a far more complicated and interesting story.
For decades, opposition to gambling has been one issue on which conservative and liberal believers have worked together.
About the art: Dice, posted by RobW on Flickr (Creative Commons Deed).
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Comments (3) |
September 30, 2005, at 11:21 pm
I am a Christian and have no problem with casinos. The folks in the above mentioned article do not represent all of Christianity. I have a friend who works for one of the casinos effected. I have used the hurricane to witness to him. These extremists don’t show the love of christ just their own personal moral agenda.
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October 1, 2005, at 10:31 am
Isn’t it possible that in Mississippi, that this is a “Bible Belt” issue and there really isn’t any liberal involvement? Unlike in some places, if you are in Mississippi or Alabama, the term “Bible Belt” is used with pride and not as some implied sneer.
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October 1, 2005, at 10:54 am
Gambling fall into the “all things are lawful but not all things edify” category. Assuming only moderation on the part of the gambler, I would be hard-pressed to argue from Scripture that gambling is sin. But the stated assumption is enormous because - as with drinking - the line between moderation and excess is not easily drawn. So for a Christian the real question becomes “Why tempt your brother to sin?” We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that gambling destroys some small percentage of gamblers.
Combine this attitude with all of the prudential concerns related to gambling - crime, vice, the economic cannabalism of other local establishments - and you understand Christian opposition to gambling. It is by and large prudential, and not prohibitive. If this were not the case, Liberal Christans and Conservative Christians would not be able to work together to oppose it.
Reporters (who don’t really understand Christian theology, and frankly don’t really want to understand it) don’t get this, and instead gravitate to the flashy, easily-comprehended image of Elmer Gantry. It’s ever so much more easy than trying to find 1st Corinthians 10 on a map. But we must be honest and admit we make it easy for them by juxtaposing “Dollywood” with the enormous money-making machine that is gambling. If you are going to make a public spectacle of yourself, you can’t really complain when people notice.
ECJ
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