Issues
The Christian Action Commission covers a host of issues. To the left you'll see several categories with related subtopics. Select the issue(s) you're interested in. Here you'll be able to read and even tell a friend about it.
Gambling
Tasting the Forbidden Fruit
By Bob Terry
May 14, 2008
God promised it would happen. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die,” God cautioned Adam in Genesis 2:17. But Adam and Eve did not believe the warning. They concluded they knew more than God did and ate the forbidden fruit.
You know what happened next. Their innocence died and they hid behind fig leaves. Their relationship to each other died, and Adam blamed Eve for his problems, while Eve blamed the serpent. Their relationship to God died, and they hid from Him. Their idyllic state died and they were driven from Eden.
Unintended consequences of an uninformed decision? Perhaps. But God told them what would happen. The problem was not on God’s part. The fault lay with Adam and Eve, who chose to ignore …
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A little honesty, please
By William H. Perkins, Jr.
June 12, 2008
Gambling has wrought many changes in Mississippi since it was legalized in 1992, but did you know that it has created employment for everyone in Tunica County and put a pickup in every driveway? That’s what the mayor of Biloxi apparently believes.
According to the May 14 edition of BaldwinCountyNow.com, a web site that covers south Alabama news, Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway addressed the recent Southern Gaming Summit in his fair city and said the following:
“[Legalized gambling] has been a big boom for Mississippi… [Tunica County] was the Sugar Ditch of the United States before casinos came in, and they have a new pickup truck at every house now… The casinos came and everybody in and around Tunica got a job…”
Well. That’s quite a mouthful, even for a reliable gambling apologist like Holloway. The problem is, Holloway’s …
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Gambling and Crime
By Chad Hills (Originally written by Ron Reno)
Data from gambling communities across the country indicates that gambling does indeed foster a significant increase in crime.
Polls show that most Americans assume an association between gambling and increased criminal activity. The gambling industry offers hearty denials and various statistical manipulations attempting to counter this perception. Data from gambling communities across the country, however, indicates that gambling does indeed foster a significant increase in crime. Read Full Article
No State Can Gamble Itself Rich
By Jimmy Porter
“We have one more shot,” pilot Captain Kevin Caffery yelled into his microphone. “Just drop the ring.” It was the one in a million shot that eventually saved the life of a man who had written a suicide note and then slid into the icy waters of Niagara Falls, March 19, 2003.
For two hours the man fought for his life, realizing that he did not really want to die. Rescue workers put their lives in danger to eventually pull the man to safety. As we often ask about similar tragedies, “Why would a person want to commit suicide? What could happen that would plunge an individual into such despair?”
Even though the police would not release the man’s name, his identity, in the Niagara region, is an open secret. He was a 48-year-old accountant with a gambling problem. That day he had lost a large …
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Gambling Facts and Statistics
The Case Against Legalized Gambling
Gambling costs far more than it benefits. Studies show that for every dollar gambling produces for a regional economy, $3 are cost because of the economic and social costs of gambling.
Gambling cannibalizes local businesses. A hundred dollars spent in a slot machine is a hundred dollars that is not spent in a local restaurant, theater or retail store.
Gambling triggers addiction. The more legalized gambling is available, the more addictive behavior is triggered. In 1989, only 1.7% of Iowaís adults were gambling addicts, but after riverboat casinos were legalized, the rate of addiction more than tripled to 5.4%.
Gambling addiction has become an epidemic among youth. Researchers now call gambling the fastest- growing teenage addiction, with the rate of pathological gambling among high school and college-age youth about twice that of adults. According to Dr Howard …
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House Bill 45
By Jimmy Porter
Remember HB 45! Why? Be-cause this bill has the potential to change the face of politics and politicians in Mississippi for years to come. This bill has made many Mississippi Baptists and non-Baptists alike realize control of this state is quickly slipping into the hands of the gambling industry and their allies.
On Monday before the special session, Jim Futral, William Perkins, Lee Yancey, and I met with Governor Haley Barbour and asked him to omit land-based casinos as a part of the special legislative session designed to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His vision is for them to come back “bigger” and “better.” His desire for the Gulf Coast is for it to become a resort area with the casinos being the anchors for future economic development. To Gov. Barbour, moving the casinos inland a few feet doesn’t matter because it is “good …
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