Gambling – Is It Good for

Society? A Christian
Perspective
Kerby Anderson looks at the harmful effects of both legal and
illegal gambling. He considers the negative impacts on
society, government policy, and the economy when gambling is
prevalent in a culture. From a Christian worldview
perspective, he considers how gambling introduces problems
such as covetousness, poor work ethics, and destroyed family
units.

This article is also available in Spanish.

Gambling used to be what a few unscrupulous people did with

the aid of organized crime. But gambling fever now seems to
affect nearly everyone as more and more states are legalizing
various forms of it.

Thirty years ago, gambling was a relatively rare phenomenon

with casinos operating only in the distant Nevada desert and a
few states with lotteries or pari-mutuel betting. Today,
legalized gambling is permitted in forty-seven states and the
District of Columbia. More Americans are gambling than ever
before, and they are also gambling more money.{1}

The momentum seems to be on the side of those who want

legalized gambling as a way to supplement state revenues. But
these states and their citizens often ignore the costs that
are associated with legalized gambling.

Types of Gambling
Gambling comes in many forms. Perhaps the most popular type of
gambling is state-sponsored lotteries. This would include the
weekly lottery games, as well as the daily lottery numbers and
scratch-off ticket games.

A second type of gambling would be casinos. Gambling in this

venue would include jackpot slot machines, video card game
machines, various casino card games such as poker and
blackjack, and other casino games such as roulette.

Sports betting is a third type of gambling. Someone can bet on

the outcome of a sporting event or a particular part of a
sporting event. Usually, bets are placed on a bookmaker’s odds
so that the actual bet is against the point spread. Sports
betting would also include illegal office pools and even
weekend golfers who bet dollars or cokes for each hole.

Pari-mutuel betting (horse racing, dog racing, and jai alai)

is another form of sports gambling. Horse racing is legal in
43 states with over 150 racetracks in the United States.

Convenience gambling (also called retail gambling) includes

stand-alone slot machines, video poker, video keno, and other
games. These are usually found in bars, truck stops, and
convenience stores.

Online gambling represents a new frontier in the spread of

gambling. The availability and accessibility of Internet
gambling appears to have greatly increased the number of
people gambling on a regular basis.

Bad Social Policy

Legalized gambling is bad social policy. At a time when
Gamblers Anonymous estimates that there are at least 12
million compulsive gamblers, it does not make a lot of sense
to have the state promoting gambling. State sponsorship of
gambling makes it harder, not easier, for the compulsive
gambler to reform. Since about 96 percent of those gamblers
began gambling before the age of fourteen,{2} we should be
especially concerned about the message such a policy sends to
young people.

The economic costs that gamblers themselves incur are

significant. The average compulsive gambler has debts
exceeding $80,000.{3} And this figure pales in comparison with
other social costs that surface because of family neglect,
embezzlement, theft, and involvement in organized crime.
Compulsive gamblers affect the lives of family, friends, and
business associates. Some of the consequences of gambling are
marital disharmony, divorce, child abuse, substance abuse, and
suicide attempts.

Proponents argue that state lotteries are an effective way to

raise taxes painlessly. But the evidence shows that legalized
gambling often hurts those who are poor and disadvantaged. A
national task force on gambling found that those in the lowest
income bracket lost more than three times as much money to
gambling (as a percentage of income) as those at the
wealthiest end of the spectrum.{4} One New York lottery agent
reports that “seventy percent of those who buy my tickets are
poor, black, or Hispanic.”{5} And a National Bureau of
Economic Research “shows that the poor bet a much larger share
of their income.”{6} The study also found that “the less
education a person has, the more likely he is to play the
lottery.”{7}

A major study on the effect of the California lottery came to

the same conclusions. The Field Institute’s California poll
found that 18 percent of the state’s adults bought 71 percent
of the tickets. These heavy lottery players (who bought more
than twenty tickets in the contest’s first forty-five days)
are “more likely than others to be black, poorer and less
educated than the average Californian.”{8}

Studies also indicate that gambling increases when economic

times are uncertain and people are concerned about their
future. Joseph Dunn, director of the National Council on
Compulsive Gambling, says, “People who are worried about the
factory closing take a chance on making it big. Once they win
anything, they’re hooked.”{9}

The social impact of gambling is often hidden from the

citizens who decide to legalize gambling. But later these
costs show up in the shattered lives of individuals and their
families. One study in The Journal of Social Issues found that
as gambling increases, there is an increase in “(a) proportion
of divorce and separation; (b) disagreement about money
matters with one’s spouse; (c) lack of understanding between
marital partners; and (d) more reported problems among
children of gamblers.”{10}

Psychologist Julian Taber warns, “No one knows the social

costs of gambling or how many players will become addicted . .
. the states are experimenting with the minds of the people on
a massive scale.”{11} Families are torn apart by strife,
divorce, and bankruptcy. Boydon Cole and Sidney Margolius in
their book, When You Gamble—You Risk More Than Your Money,
conclude, “There is no doubt of the destructive effect of
gambling on the family life. The corrosive effects of gambling
attack both the white-collar and blue-collar families with
equal vigor.”{12}

The impact on crime is also significant. The crime rate in

gambling communities is nearly double the national
average.{13} Researchers calculate that for every dollar the
state received in gambling revenues, it costs the state at
least three dollars in increased social costs (for criminal
justice and social welfare).{14}

Bad Governmental Policy

Legalized gambling is also bad governmental policy. Government
should promote public virtue, not seduce its citizens to
gamble in state-sponsored vice. Government is supposed to be
servant of God according to Romans 13, but its moral stance is
compromised when it enters into a gambling enterprise.

Citizens would be outraged if their state government began

enticing its citizens to engage in potentially destructive
behavior (such as taking drugs). But those same citizens see
no contradiction when government legalizes and even promotes
gambling. Instead of being a positive moral force in society,
government contributes to the corruption of society.

Ross Wilhelm, professor of business economics at the

University of Michigan, says,

State lotteries and gambling games are essentially a “rip-

off” and widespread legalization of gambling is one of the
worst changes in public policy to have occurred in recent
years. . . . The viciousness of the state-run games is
compounded beyond belief by the fact that state governments
actively advertise and promote the games and winners.{15}

The corrosive effect legalized gambling has on government

itself is also a cause for concern. As one editorial in New
York Times noted, “Gambling is a business so rich, so fast, so
powerful and perhaps inevitably so unsavory that it cannot
help but undermine government.”{16}

Legal and Illegal Gambling

One of the standard clichés used by proponents of legalized
gambling is that by instituting legal gambling, illegal
gambling will be driven out. This argument makes a number of
faulty assumptions. First, it assumes that people are going to
gamble anyway; and so the state might as well get a piece of
the action. Second, it assumes that given the choice, people
would rather gamble in a state-sponsored program because it
will be regulated. The state will make sure that the program
is fair and that each participant has an equal chance of
winning. Third, it assumes that if the state enters the
gambling arena, it will drive out illegal gambling because it
will be a more efficient competitor for gamblers’ dollars.

While the arguments seem sound, they are not. Although some
people do gamble illegally, most citizens do not. Legalized
gambling entices people to gamble who normally would not
gamble at all. Duke University researchers have found that the
lottery is a “powerful recruiting device” because one-fourth
of those who otherwise would not gamble at all do bet on
lotteries.{17}

Second, legal gambling does not drive out illegal gambling. If

anything, just the opposite is true. As legalized gambling
comes into a state, it provides additional momentum for
illegal gambling. The Organized Crime Section of the
Department of Justice found that “the rate of illegal gambling
in those states which have some legalized form of gambling was
three times as high as those states where there was not a
legalized form of gambling.”{18} And one national review found
that

In states with different numbers of games, participation

rates increase steadily and sharply as the number of legal
types of gambling increases. Social betting more than doubles
from 35 percent in states with no legal games to 72 percent
in states with three legal types; the illegal gambling rate
more than doubles from nine percent to 22 percent; and
commercial gambling increases by 43 percent, from 24 to 67
percent.{19}

Legalized gambling in various states has been a stimulator of

illegal gambling, not a competitor to it.

The reasons for the growth of illegal gambling in areas where

legalized gambling exists are simple. First, organized crime
syndicates often use the free publicity of state lotteries and
pari-mutuel betting to run their own numbers games. The state
actually saves them money by providing publicity for events
involving gambling. Second, many gamblers would rather bet
illegally than legally. When they work with a bookie, they can
bet on credit and do not have to report their winnings to the
government, two things they cannot do if they bet on state-
sponsored games. This explains why illegal gambling thrives in
states with legalized gambling.

Another important issue is the corrupting influence legalized

gambling can have on society. First, legalized gambling can
have a very corrupting influence on state government. In the
last few years there have been numerous news reports of
corruption and fraud in state lotteries. Second, there is the
corrupting influence on the citizens themselves. Gambling
breeds greed. Research has shown that the number of compulsive
gamblers increases between 100 and 550 percent when legalized
gambling is brought into an area.{20} Every day, otherwise
sane people bet large amounts of money in state lotteries
because they hope they will win the jackpot. Moreover, states
and various gambling establishments produce glitzy ads that
appeal to people’s greed in order to entice them to risk even
more than they can afford.

Government should be promoting positive social values such as

thrift and integrity rather than negative ones such as greed
and avarice. They should be promoting the public welfare
rather than seducing citizens to engage in state-sponsored
vice.

Economic Costs
Legalized forms of gambling (state lotteries, pari-mutuel
betting, and casinos) are often promoted as good economic
policy. Proponents say they are painless ways of increasing
billions of dollars in state revenue. But there is another
economic side to legalized gambling.

First, the gross income statistics for legalized gambling are

much higher than the net income. State lotteries are one
example. Although about half the states have lotteries and the
figures vary from state to state, we can work with some
average figures. Generally, the cost of management,
advertising, and promotion is approximately sixty cents of
each dollar. In other words, for every dollar raised in a
lottery, only forty cents goes to the state budget. By
contrast, direct taxation of the citizens costs only about one
cent on the dollar, so that for every dollar raised by taxes,
ninety-nine cents goes to the state.

Second, gambling adversely affects a state economy. Legalized

gambling depresses businesses because it diverts money that
could have been spent in the capital economy into gambling
that does not stimulate the economy. Boarded-up businesses
surrounding casinos are a visible reminder of this, but the
effect on the entire economy is even more devastating than may
be at first apparent. Money that could be invested, loaned,
and recycled through the economy is instead risked in a
legalized gambling scheme.

Legalized gambling siphons off a lot of money from the

economy. More money is wagered on gambling than is spent on
elementary and secondary education ($286 billion versus $213
billion in 1990).{21} Historian John Ezel concludes in his
book, Fortune’s Merry Wheel, “If history teaches us anything,
a study of over 1,300 legal lotteries held in the United
States proves . . . they cost more than they brought in if
their total impact on society is reckoned.”{22}

Biblical Perspective
Even though the Bible does not directly address gambling, a
number of principles can be derived from Scripture. First, the
Bible emphasizes a number of truths that conflict with
gambling. The Bible, for example, emphasizes the sovereignty
of God (Matt. 10:29–30). Gambling, however, is based on
chance. The Bible admonishes people to work creatively and for
the benefit of others (Eph. 4:28), while gambling fosters a
something-for-nothing attitude. The Bible condemns materialism
(Matt. 6:24–25) while gambling promotes it.

Gambling breeds a form of covetousness, whereas the tenth

commandment (Exod. 20:17) admonishes people not to covet.
Coveting, greed, and selfishness are the base emotions that
entice individuals to gamble. Christians should be concerned
about gambling if for no other reason than the effect it has
on the “weaker brother” and how it will affect the compulsive
gambler. State-sponsored gambling makes it more difficult for
compulsive gamblers to reform. Legalized gambling becomes an
institutionalized form of greed.

Second, gambling destroys the work ethic. Two key biblical

passages deal with the work ethic. In Colossians 3:23–24 the
apostle Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know
that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a
reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” And in 2
Thessalonians 3:7,10, he stated, “For you yourselves know how
you ought to follow our example. . . . For even when we were
with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he
shall not eat.”

The Twentieth Century Fund research group commented,

“Gambling’s get-rich-quick appeal appears to mock capitalism’s
core values: disciplined work habits, thrift, prudence,
adherence to routine, and the relationship between effort and
reward.”{23} These core values of the work ethic are all part
of the free enterprise system and are part of the Christian
life. Gambling corrupts these values, and replaces them with
greed and selfishness. Rather than depending on hard work,
gamblers depend on luck and chance.

Third, gambling destroys families. Gambling is a major cause

of family neglect. Many of the social costs associated with
gambling come from a get-rich-quick mindset. As people get
caught up in a gambling frenzy, they begin to neglect their
families. Money spent on lottery tickets or at racetracks is
frequently not risk capital but is income that should be spent
on family needs. According to 1 Timothy 5:8, a person who
refuses to care for his family is worse than an unbeliever.
Parents must provide for their children (2 Cor. 12:14) and eat
the bread of their labors (2 Thess. 3:12). When gambling is
legalized, it causes people to neglect their God-mandated
responsibility to care for their families, and many of those
families then often end up on welfare.

Fourth, gambling is a form of state-sponsored greed. Romans

13:4 teaches that government is to be a servant of God,
providing order in society and promoting public virtue.
Legalized gambling undercuts government’s role and subverts
the moral fabric of society through greed and selfishness
promoted by a state-sponsored vice.

Since gambling undermines the moral foundations of society and

invites corruption in government, Christians must stand
against attempts to legalize gambling.

Notes

1. Report of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, 18

July 1999, 1.
2. “Gambling in America,” Gambling Awareness Action Guide
(Nashville: Christian Life Commission, 1984), 5.
3. Sylvia Porter, “Economic Costs of Compulsive Gambling in
U.S. Staggering,” Dallas Morning News, 4 January 1984, 6C.
4. The Final Report of the Commission on the Review of the
National Policy toward Gambling, 1976, 65.
5. Charles Colson, “The Myth of the Money Tree,” Christianity
Today, 10 July 1987, 64.
6. Gary Becker, “Higher Sin Taxes: A Low Blow to the Poor,”
Business Week, 5 June 1989, 23.
7. J. Emmett Henderson, State Lottery: The Absolute Worst Form
of Legalized Gambling (Atlanta, GA: Georgia Council on Moral
and Civil Concerns, n.d.). 11.
8. Brad Edmonson, “Demographics of Gambling,” American
Demographics, July 1986, 40-41.
9. Curt Suplee, “Lotto Baloney,” Harper’s, July 1983, 19.
10. T. Dielman, “Gambling: A Social Problem?” Journal of
Social Issues 35, No. 3 (1979), 39.
11. Julian Taber, “Opinion,” USA Today, 14 August 1989, 4.
12. Borden Cole and Sidney Margolis, When You Gamble-You Risk
More Than Your Money (New York: Public Affairs Pamplet, 1964),
12.
13. Joseph Shapiro, “America’s Gambling Fever,” U.S. News and
World Report, 15 January 1996, 58.
14. John Warren Kindt, statement before a hearing of the U.S.
House of Representatives Committe on Small Business, 21
September 1994.
15. “State Lotteries and Gambling-Results Have Not Equaled
Expectations,” USA Today, April 1979 (Vol. 107, No. 2407), 1.
16. New York Times, 9 February 1980.
17. Charles Clotfelter and Philip Cook, Selling Hope: State
Lotteries in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1991).
18. Emmett Henderson, State Lottery: The Absolute Worst Form
of Legalized Gambling (Atlanta: Georgia Council on Moral and
Civil Concerns, n.d.), 26.
19. Final Report of the Commission on the Review of National
Policy toward Gambling, 1976, 71.
20. John Warren Kindt, “The Economic Aspects of Legalized
Gambling Activities,” Duke Law Review, 43 (1994): 59.
21. David Neff and Thomas Giles, “Feeding the Monster Called
More,” Christianity Today, 25 November 1991, 20.
22. Quoted by William Petersen, What You Should Know about
Gambling (New Canaan, CT: Keats, 1973), 37.
23. James Mann, “Gambling Rage: Out of Control,” U.S. News and
World Report, 30 May 1983, 30.

© 2005 Probe Ministries