Winning the Wrong Game (Article 4 of 6)
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- Created: Monday, 02 January 2006 18:43
- Written by Tom Lipp
She brutally murdered her roommate and then dismembered the corpse. He defrauded a Calgary charity for autistic children of $96,000. In another case a mother of four with no criminal record stole $350,000 from her employer. Why?
All these unrelated crimes had the same root cause: Gambling Addiction. There are thousands of Canadians with serious gambling problems. The website GAMBLING has been established by Gamblers Anonymous as part of a 12 step program to assist anyone trapped by compulsive gambling.
The problem is worse than you may realize. Have you noticed the number of new casinos opening in Alberta recently? This is the fourth article in a series contrasting Biblical and secular financial strategies for success.
In past months we looked at open versus closed systems and the use of prayer in financial management. Last month we learned that prayer does not mean, “O Lord, please let me win this lottery. Winning the lottery won’t spoil me!”
Did you know that before 1963 lotteries were illegal in Canada? This was a surprise to me. Imagine, it was illegal a generation ago but now the government not only supports it but even uses lottery revenues for its own purposes.
Did you know that professional gamblers avoid lotteries since they know the odds are heavily stacked against them?
The aforementioned incidents in Western Canada during the past few years prove that gambling hurts society, yet governments prefer to ignore this. Why would a democratic free government make an activity illegal and then a few decades later actually promote it?
The sad truth is we have seen a deadly decay in ethical standards in Canada. In the moral realm, legalized common-law marriages, abortion and same-sex marriages have all received government approval.
At the same time, foolish economic policies were being passed, including the heavy promotion of lotteries.
Governments justified this policy by giving some of the revenues to charities and hospitals; as if the end justified the means.
Since rulers are ministers of God, this is a bad sign. When a government passes legislation that the Bible condemns, it implies that God is allowing His ministers to pass laws to the detriment of the residents of a nation. Sobering.
In other words, God is allowing the stage to be set for some serious discipline to come our way. Now the Bible does not say directly anywhere, “Thou shalt not gamble.” Admittedly, it’s hard to find fault with a little office pool on the hockey game but that’s often where it starts.
It starts small, very small. Gambling is usually born out of boredom, discontent or financial despair. Often those who can least afford it are the ones caught by compulsive gambling.
Recently the Alberta Government euphemized the activity by calling it gaming. There are many problems with gambling. Call it what it is - gambling.
Gambling weakens a healthy work ethic and undermines the entrepreneurial spirit that has contributed to Alberta’s success.
I believe that one of the biggest problems with gambling is the win-lose structure. For you to win, other must lose. For you to win millions, millions of others must lose.
Think about it. The lottery jackpot is really earnings of other people. Nothing new is added to our economy. It does not increase Canada’s Gross Domestic Product. It does not build a future for our children. It does not make us more competitive with other nations.
As a matter of fact it probably does the exact opposite, making us less competitive. I do not believe it is God’s preferred way of generating wealth or blessing an individual. He has other ways. You can bet on it…er...believe it.
Next month I hope to tackle a subject that I have avoided for years - insurance.