June 2003 - Tower - Page 7
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Church and Society
Russell Fox, Chairman
Recently the "Schadenfreudes" have been having a great time. These are people who get pleasure from other persons misfortunes. You may encounter one or more who have been enjoying the recent news of Mr. William Bennett's gambling habit. This report discloses that Mr. Bennett is a compulsive gambler and reportedly has lost several million dollars at the slot machines in Reno. What has created all this "schadenfreude" is due to Mr. Bennett's recently published best seller book, A Book of Virtues. Since this publication Mr. Bennett has made quite a reputation lecturing on virtue. So it is somewhat interesting if not amusing to see this champion of virtue having feet of clay with an obsessive gambling habit. Now gambling may or may not be a vice, but it can hardly be classified as a virtue. He, as a good Catholic, became acquainted in his early years with the weekly bingo sessions held by his church.
Most protestant churches denounce gambling and do not condone bingo parties. The United Methodist Church booklet on "Social Principals" has this to say, "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interest of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice." Further, it decries the ever increasing use of public lotteries by the states as a means of raising revenues for a variety of state-funded programs, including education.
State operated lotteries is a form of taxation that is regressive. Studies have shown that the largest numbers of those playing the lotteries are generally those that can least afford it. Not only is it bad economics, it promotes an encouragement of the search for quick wealth or "strike it rich." The argument that the revenues from state sponsored lotteries go for the public good is misleading when one considers the source of the revenues.
The Bible has nothing to say concerning gambling. But Jesus had much to say about stewardship and the wise use of money. Of course gambling can take many forms; stock market investments, real estate investments, business investments, in fact anything that carries risk. Of course it is impossible to go through life without taking risks. In fact it is the engine that drives progress. So we have to weigh the risks involved against the potential pay-off. In fact Jesus, in his parable of the talents, has the owner berating the servant who took no risks and buried his talent. When we have limited resources and limited talents, it behooves us to be prudent in how we use them.
At Virginia Wesleyan College, the only United Methodist affiliated college in Hampton Roads, the Adult Studies Program was created for the working adult. Classes are held in the evenings and on weekends. There are four summer sessions -- it's not too late to register for summer or fall! They offer undergraduate degrees in Management, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, and Liberal Studies. Teacher Certification is offered in post-graduate classes. Visit our website at vwc.edu, or call 455-3263.
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If you have any comments on any of these pages, please email me: Robert W.(Bob) Mckitrick, thanks.
Last update: May 25, 2003
