News
Cayman ChurchMinisters Statement on Gambling
The Cayman Ministers Association (CMA) opposes legalized gamblingin all forms, for both moral and pragmatic reasons. Our oppositionto it has been stated on several occasions. We are therefore deeplydisappointed and saddened that our government is considering thelegalization of the lottery in Cayman. In a statement to the pressthe Hon. McKeeva Bush, Leader of Government Business, said thathe believes "the country needs a lottery."
While we recognize that many in our societyare presenting what appears to be reasonable arguments to supportthat position, we believe it would be a grave mistake for us totake such a position considering the negative consequences sucha decision will have on society. There is abundant and overwhelmingevidence that clearly demonstrate the serious and disastrous effectsof legalized gambling on society, and when governments embracegambling the net effect is the same.
Gambling is primarily driven by and subsistson greed. For this reason, the activity is morally bankrupt fromits very foundation and violates Biblical principals. Gamblingis also an activity, which exploits the vulnerable - the young,the old, and those susceptible to addictive behaviors. Further,gambling entices the financially disadvantaged with the unrealistichope of escape from poverty through instant riches, thus ultimatelyworsening the plight of our poorest citizens.
Also, gambling undermines the work ethic.It is based on the premise of something for nothing, a conceptthat sanctions idleness rather than industriousness, slothfulnessinstead of initiative. The more tangible downsides to gamblingare similarly disturbing. Legalized gambling breeds a host ofsocial ills, as has been demonstrated time and time again in areaswhere gambling has been introduced on a widespread basis.
Legalized gambling creates gamblingaddicts
An abundance of research and expert testimonyin the United States demonstrates that as gambling expands, sodoes the number of those with serious gambling problems. Millionsmore have developed devastating gambling addictions over the lastfew years, as a direct result of gambling's rapid proliferation.Further, these newly created addicts are the lifeblood of theindustry. Preliminary research indicates that a third or moreof gambling revenues come from problem and pathological gamblers.
Gambling and crime
Communities that welcome gambling also welcomean increase in crime. Recent history in communities ranging fromAtlantic City to Deadwood, South Dakota, to the Mississippi GulfCoast indicates that the sheer number of crimes skyrockets inan area once gambling is permitted. Much of this is attributedto the newly created gambling addicts who, in desperation, turnto crime to finance their addiction. Also, legalized gamblingmakes an attractive target for career criminals. Organized crimehas also infiltrated numerous legal gambling operations in recentyears. The crime rate in gambling communities is nearly doublethe national average, according to a 1996 U.S. News & WorldReport analysis. Three years after casinos arrived, Atlantic Citywent from 50th to first in the nation in per-capita crime.
Gambling's negative economic impact
Many communities embrace gambling as a meansto generate additional revenues for good causes as well as toinspire economic growth, boost tourism and create jobs. Gambling'sability to do all of these is either greatly exaggerated or nonexistent.For instance, gambling often hurts, not helps, existing businessesby siphoning away discretionary dollars that might otherwise havebeen spent at local shops. Also, the social costs associated withgambling - such as losses due to crime, additional law enforcementcosts, gambling addiction treatment costs, and lost work productivity- are staggering, often far exceeding a state or community's totalrevenues from gambling.
Legalized gambling devastating effecton families
Authorities in gambling jurisdictions reportdramatic increases in divorce, suicide, bankruptcy, and childabuse and domestic violence related to gambling. Research showsthat children of gambling addicts experience lower levels of mentalhealth and physical well-being. Given these and other considerations,it is unconscionable that our government would now be giving considerationto allow - and even promote - gambling activities. Legalized gamblingis ravaging the lives of untold thousands of individuals and families,and contributes substantially to the moral decay of communities.The National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported: "Childrenof compulsive gamblers are often prone to suffer abuse, as wellas neglect, as a result of parental problems or pathological gambling."
Legalized gambling breeds politicalcorruption
Gambling "has more of a history ofcorruption than any other industry," former Illinois SenatorPaul Simon testified at the opening meeting of the National GamblingImpact Study Commission in June 1997. Indeed, Simon's statementhas abundant basis in fact. Gambling-related political corruptionbecame so widespread in the 1800s that every state in the unioneventually outlawed lotteries and all other forms of gambling.Today, history appears to be repeating itself. The recent waveof gambling expansion in the United States has spawned anotherepidemic of political corruption.
It is of interest to note the observationof John Kindt, Ph.D. a University of Illinois professor of commerceand legal policy who asserts that for every $1 of revenue generatedby gambling, taxpayers must dish out at least $3 in increasedcriminal justice costs, social-welfare expenses, high regulatorycosts, and increased infrastructure spending. Countless studiesshow a direct link between legalized gambling and gambling addictions,as well as drug and alcohol abuse and suicide.
Based on these and other facts, the CMAbelieves legalized gambling, in all its forms, should and mustbe vigorously opposed because it is harmful to society. A lotteryis certainly one of the things that the country does not need.
· Cayman MinistersAssociation