In this sense, gambling exemplifies a reversal of American values. Individual enterprise, thrift, effort, and self-denial are set aside for chance gain, immediate satisfaction, and self-indulgence. The philosophy of gambling undercuts one’s ability and desire to defer gratification in order to accomplish a goal. They only consume and receive less and less satisfaction from it. Many Americans no longer work for future earthly or spiritual rewards. Americans want more, and they want it now. The ethic of self-denial, saving, and capital accumulation is being replaced with a hedonistic consumerism, what Christopher Lasch called the “culture of narcissism.” 11 Deferred gratification is shelved in favor of instant demand. The notion that government has no business in our bedrooms relates to the notion that government has no business telling us how to spend our leisure time and our own money as long as we are doing so without coercion or harm to others.” 10 There certainly is a connection between attitudes about lifestyle, sex, pornography - even abortion and occasional drug use - and attitudes toward gambling. Thompson observed that “the era of expanded legalized gambling has coincided with a trend toward increased permissiveness in society. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, professor William N. The acceptance of gambling into everyday life is a historic shift in cultural philosophy. Polls indicate that at least 89 percent of the American population approves of casino gambling. About 74 percent of the American adult population have gambled in casinos. Approximately 26 percent have bet on sports events. About 82 percent have played the lottery, 75 percent have played slot machines, 50 percent have bet on horse or dog races, 44 percent have gambled with cards, and 34 percent gamble via bingo. Some 95 percent of American citizens have gambled at some time in their lives. Business Week observed that gambling outlets are becoming “almost ubiquitous” as “mob-affiliated bookies and numbers runners are being supplanted by state governments, charitable and religious groups, and blue-chip entertainment-leisure conglomerates that say they’re in the ‘gaming’ business.” 8 Off-track, parimutuel, jai alai, keno, and video betting are also increasing. Riverboat, dockside, and other off-shore gambling enterprises, including cruise ships, are being proposed in several states as “limited” gambling.
With the exception of horse and dog racing, gambling is increasing in every form. It’s about $1.5 billion per day or an increase of roughly 3,000 percent in the past 20 years. 6 That’s more money than Americans spend per year on films, books, amusements, and music entertainment combined. Gambling expenditures now top $550 billion per year. About 30 casinos are opening per year, 4 and additional tribes are vying for a stake in what some have called “the new buffalo.” 5 Nearly 300 Indian-run casinos now exist in 28 states with 186 of the 557 federally recognized tribes participating. What began as a trickle with state lotteries became a flash flood in 1988 when Native American tribes began taking advantage of the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which permitted them to operate casinos on tribal lands. 2 Some 55 million Americans play lotteries once per month, spending $88 million per day - more than they spend per day on groceries. State lotteries began in 1964 with New Hampshire, and now bring in $30 billion per year in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Gambling is the newest Great American Pastime. Mark Twain shrewdly observed that “the best throw at dice is to throw them away.” 1 Americans no longer agree. Gambling is a bankrupt abandonment of reason and religion, and in the long run everyone loses. Informed Christians will challenge such social evils as state-sponsored gambling and the use of gambling for fundraising. Even without a direct commandment, “Thou shalt not gamble,” the Bible offers numerous principles that militate against the practice. Most Christian churches have been silent about gambling. Beneath its glittery surface lurk the parallel tragedies of increasing addiction and a decreasing devotion to spirituality.
Gambling feeds the self-indulgent, instant-gratification mindset that has plagued America in recent decades. If baseball once was America’s national pastime, it’s been replaced by a $550 billion-per-year obsession - gambling.
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