Play Meter

FROM THE EDITOR Is it wrong to gamble? 0 Valerie Cognevich Editor PLAY METER ambling seems to be the topic of conversation everywhere from barber shops and drug stores to congressional hearings and local legislative sessions. There 's casino gambling, lotteries, bingo, pull-tabs, video poker, to name but a few ways to make a wager. While some protest on moral grounds, others shrug off that idea, saying that if you don't want to gamble, don't, but make it available to those who want it. Others argue that it preys on the poor in unfair proportions. Whatever the viewpoint and no matter how much individuals protest, gambling is gaining momentum just about everywhere. Back in 1958, some 35 years ago, a reader sent a question into the "Catholic Digest" questioning the acceptance of gambling by the Catholic Church. Since opponents of gambling often cite religious beliefs as their basis for opposing it, I thought it would be interesting to see exactly what the Catholic Church had to say back then. The answer began by explaining that many Catholic churches found bingo to be a practical way of raising money for their churches, schools, and charitable works . It went on with a brief history: gambling was frequently forbidden by Canon Law from very early times, when excommunication was the penalty. Then, in 306, gamblers could come back into the church after a year of penance. In the 13th century clerics could not be present where games of chance were played. In the 16th century the clergy was strongly forbidden to take part in unlawful games, but left it up to each bishop to decide which games were unlawful in his diocese. Here are some excerpts: "History shows that the desire to bet is a native trait ofman ...The Church has learned well from her 20 centuries of human experience that man is perversely capable of using any of God's creatures for evil purpose. The grape and the dice can join with the lyre and the lyric to lead men to sin. The Church 8 has never found the fault in the enticing creatures themselves, but rather in man's misuse of them. " "Catholics have no serious argument with sociologists who point out the public evils of gambling: graft and gangsterism, dishonesty, and delinquency. We offer our support to efforts to control these evils by law . But when the police step in on our private little game of penny ante we resent it as an infringement of our natural rights and freedom. " "There are certain rules of morality which must be followed in any type of gambling or betting; otherwise it is a sin . It must be honest and fair . Gambling should be a recreation, not a career; a relaxation , not a cause of emotional turmoil. You should neither gamble to live nor live to gamble . If gambling becomes your master, you are a sinful slave. The compulsive gambler is like the alcoholic; he should never draw the first card nor take the first look at a form sheet. " "Usually laws seek to suppress gambling as a source of graft, a breeder of gangsters, and a tool of syndicates. But sometimes we find that the hidden menace, lurking behind bribed officials, is worse than the patent problem, rightly licensed, regulated, and controlled. " "Throughout history gambling has been associated with various vices , especially drinking, swearing, fighting, loafing, thievery , and prostitution . However, we must not put the primary blame on gambling. Often it is only a by-product of the other vices ; something to do while getting drunk or awaiting an assignation. Take away the gambling and the other vices will remain unmitigated." "The lawmaker courts futility if he seeks to suppress in man his normal urge to take a chance when the stakes are good and the odds are fair . The good God who made us put deep down inside us a certain thrill in suspense, an intoxication with danger, which we should never try to escape, but rightly use and control." While these comments were made three decades ago, they make a lot of sense. Gambling has been here and it will proliferate one way or the other-in backstreet corners or in brightly lit casinos-either under control or out of control. D JUNE 1994