BellaOnline Forums Family Christian Living Gambling. Should Christians do it?

My thoughts are Here: Should Christians Gamble?
I have friends who will disagree with me. What do you think?

Hi Lynne,
I read your article (which was great). I personally don't agree with it,but in a certain rim I do. I do if a person is playing just for 'the fun of it' once or twice but as far as when people make a habit of it and spend their last dime on it,that is a bit much. If someone in the game has the intention to take away all that they can get off of a fellow-gamer then no way do I agree with it.

Thats just my opinion of the situation,Im not really sure if its a clear opinion or not...Im sitting here at the pc about to fall asleep.Lol. But anyway,hope it makes sense. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I understand your point StarBurst and I'm not against playing a game for fun. Recently I've run into many people who are being pulled into more and more and some of who will actually borrow money to play with in the hopes of winning more.

Even if someone can afford to lose a lot of money, I wonder why God provided that money. (By providing a good income.) Wasn't it to help others?

Thats a very good question,Lynne. I had to think on that one for a little while. I think the answer to that question is,yes in some ways. I don't think that God wishes for a person to give all of their income to help others but I do think that if God has blessed someone with a good income to where they can give,then I think that God wishes they would. God does'nt want us to be greedy or selfish...he wants us to give freely from what I have read in the Bible.

Here in Georgia we are faced with the Lottery. And not only with the gambling itself, but with the fact that many "good" things come from the funds: public Pre-K, the HOPE scholarship for all GA Seniors who have a 3.75 average (I think, don't quote me) and wish to attend a public GA college - like UGA or Georgia Tech (not a bad school!)

But our pastor pointed out to us the realities of who is really funding these scholarships; NOT the people who will be using them, for the most part. Middle income families - mostly - do what we are talking about, play for fun, or wait until the lottery hits an extremem amount and then start playing. But people in extreme poverty, who feel like they have no other way out of their situation (they already work 2 or 3 jobs) they will play the lottery obsessively, just hoping for a chance to change their situation.

For the most part these are the parents that don't have time to spend helping their kids with schoolwork, or even paying attention to their kids- because they are too busy trying to keep a roof over their heads! So the chance that these kids will get to use the HOPE scholarship is very slim.

It just doesn't seem right that my son should take advantage of a scholarship from a gaambling program that I don't support, while another child whose mother plays all the time will never have a chance. So we will be looking for the "old fashioned" grade type scholarships. He better get A's! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

But it's just one more "un-rightness" of gambling. Even though it started out with the best intentions. Do you really think the wealthy in Georgia are helping to put the poor through college this way?

Very good points Michelle.

Not only with the scholarships but with other 'good works' that are done with gambling money - I wonder if these are really good works of eternal value. You know the verse that says if God doesn't build a house, the workers labor in vain.

I think God honors works done in truth, honesty, and according to His will not from funds made from something that might be hurting someone else.

I tend to think that most things done in moderation are fine. If you go to Vegas for a vacation and spend a little money playing black jack once a year...that's fun. I think gambling becomes a problem when it starts to rule your life and you omit other things so you can gamble. Good question!

I agree with that statement. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />