Category: philosophy/religion topics
This is a question for people who follow religions which oppose gambling. Why is gambling against your religion? What are the arguments in your religion that explain how gambling is wrong?
When answering these questions, please state your religion. I want as many religious perspectives on this subject as possible.
i'm a born again southern baptist. however, all my life i've been against gambling. i've only been a christian for 17 years and I've been alive for 52.
gambling is adictive. we have compulsive gamblers in my family. it can destroy life.
i've worked too hard for my money. i don't want to give it away foolishly.
Does Southern Baptism say that gambling is wrong? What are the arguments used by Southern Baptists to support their stance?
I am a Church of Christ believer, and we believe that gambling is wrong. The bible teaches us who are believers that we are to be good stewards of what we are given, and this includes money. The bible also teaches us that if we take the money that we would be using for bills and use it for gambling then we will not be good stewards, and that is not right; not only morally, but biblically. I also agree with turricane in the fact that gambling is addictive. People who are in bad financial difficulty think that if they gamble with what money they have something will happen and they will get rich, They may get a little money, but in the end all it will bring is financial destruction and this will also lead to having addictive behaviors, in which you will have to go to gamblers' annonymous to get help withi addiction to gambling with money. If people who want to gamble would forget the gambling and take the money they use to gamble with to help someone in need they would find their life would go better for them.
PGG - Do you have any Biblical quotes to support what you are saying?
Does what you're saying apply to gambling when the money is used to support good causes, such as gambling on raffles or the lottery?
I would guess there's gambling and then there's gambling ... I've been a convert for a few years now and the thing is slots and stuff were never attractive to me anyway. I guess I chalked up the anti poker / cards thing with some as cultural / I still can have a good time with poker or Blackjack with friends - it's just a game.
But I know some get upset over even a bet ... just a gentleman's bet ... but yeah, with people like that I wouldn't do it but don't see any harm in it if, like people have said, you're not doing it with money that ought to go to taking care of the fam and stuff ... it's no different than girls goin' to the mall and blowin' it ... to me anyway but I have no Christian reason for it, they just have not convinced me it's more than cultural. I don't think it's binary but probably analog ... but at this point that's just a guess
I have no problems with gambling, religious or otherwise, so long as it's done in moderation. Personally, I can't spend hours in front of a slot machine but my grandmother can and does. I'd love to play the wheels, cards or roulette, providing the bets are extremely low. When you'd rather make a bet than feed your family or yourself, and play cards rather than clean your house etc, is when it's really bad. The philosophers aside, I've never heard anything in traditional Hellenic Polytheism against gambling. In fact, it's common practice to pray to Hermes, as luck bringer, when doing it. But I'm wondering if, perhaps, Hesiod in Works and Days, says something bad about it, since he makes a lot of statements on morality. Interestingly enough, gambling became such a problem in ancient Rome that most forms were banned, but many people, including the emperors and their families, still did it. I'm not sure if modern followers of Religio Romana are against it or not.