Comments on: Silent Killers and Silent Christians

By: Redeeming the Time » Is Gambling a Sin?

Redeeming the Time » Is Gambling a Sin? — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:40:51 +0000

[...] Silent Killers and Silent Christians [...]

By: What are you really gambling on? « God Is My Constant

What are you really gambling on? « God Is My Constant — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:17:58 +0000

[...] Silent Killers and Silent Christians by Kevin DeYoung [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:56:11 +0000

“The slot-machine is not a toy, or as it is so often dubbed, a bit of harmless entertainment. It is a learning machine intent on finding your weakness and exploiting it. Casinos exist to take your money. They make no product. They do not create wealth. They do not contribute to the public good. They hurt communities, hurt families, and by design try to hurt people by making them into coin-dropping addicts.”

With very few changes you could easily apply this critique to the modern credit-card industry. The so-called loyalty programs or points cards are really marketing surveys – likewise looking for your weakness. They are working to put you in debt to them.

I suspect that treating casinos with kid gloves is partly a phenomenon of Christians being aware – consciously or unconsciously – that casinos are merely an extreme case of what is wrong with our broader consumer culture. A culture that we often uncritically embrace.

I play friendly games of poker for pocket change with friends sometimes and I find that to be fun, since it’s a form of community and since poker is, arguably, a game of skill with a sort of gambling element (ask Bill Belichick if there are elements of gambling in other games of skill). When I’m in a casino though I feel an unease – like I need to guard myself, I have Obi Wan’s admonition about Mos Eisley in the back of my mind.

By: Weekly Links (11/20/09) « The Beacon

Weekly Links (11/20/09) « The Beacon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:03:44 +0000

[...] On the topic of gambling, it was a very busy week. Over at the Pyromaniacs teamblog, Phil Johnson started by declaring his intention to show that Biblically, gambling is a sin. He followed that by defining his terms, answering some common objections, and clarifying an economic myth. And that series isn’t done yet, so keep checking back to see how he finishes the series. Kevin DeYoung also dealt with this issue this week, although his focus was more on the broader implications to society and the local community. [...]

By: chris

chris — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:02:56 +0000

“The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog.” — GK Chesterton

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:50:24 +0000

I agree with Andrew. Also gambling is only wrong if you abuse it. Why do Christians want to take away freedom from other U.S. citizens but they get angry when those same people try to take away their religious freedoms like praying in school.

By: D.J. Williams

D.J. Williams — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:45:39 +0000

Andrew,

Good advice, thanks for sharing.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:55:06 +0000

I was born and raised in Las Vegas. My parents taught me that gambling is a lot like using alcohol – it isn’t inherently sinful, but it can be easily misused. We learned how casinos make their money (multi-billion dollar hotels are payed for by gamblers) and how some people can become addicted and cause harm to themselves and their families. With this instruction, I grew up without ever gambling or wanting to gamble.

Now that I am an adult living in the South, I have met people who believe that gambling is inherently sinful. One person even said that if you take your child into a casino, they will fall in love with the flashing lights and become an addicted gambler when they grow up. I have stayed away from such extreme ideas, partly because my family went to the arcade at one of the hotels for one of my birthdays as a child. We also went to restaurants and movie theaters in casinos.

It seems like education is very important when it comes to gambling and casinos (regardless of what you believe). It is easy to say that gambling is bad and that your children will be ruined if you go to the casino buffet, but it is harder to explain why gambling is inappropriate for Christians. Education probably works better than fear. Taking the time to explain the details helped me grow up in “Sin City” without the snare of gambling causing me harm.

By: David Axberg

David Axberg — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:41:26 +0000

Here is a quote from C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters. “…All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy (God) has produced, at times, or ways, or in degrees, which He (God) has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula…To get man’s soul and give him nothing in return – that is what really gladdens our Father’s (Satan) heart….” If the world says it is right and good then turn 180 degrees and look where you should be headed. God Bless Now!

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:09:13 +0000

It is amazing that we can afford to gamble in this country but can’t afford health care and basic human needs.