Gambling availability increases

Like a surging tidal wave, legalized gambling is flooding the United States leaving many lives and families in ruins.

By Michael J. Vlach

According to the federally commissioned National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC), the gambling industry in the U.S. has grown tenfold since 1975. Gambling is no longer just limited to Las Vegas; today a person can make a legal wager in 48 states. Whether it is casino gambling, lotteries, pari-mutuel betting, or bingo—gambling has permeated all corners of the United States.

"Gambling has moved in, literally, to our very doorsteps," says Gregory Jantz, author of the book, Turning the Tables on Gambling.

For Paul Griffin Jones, pastor and expert on the social effects of gambling, the rapid rise of Internet wagering means that the floodwaters of gambling have not stopped at only the front doorstep—they have also poured into very heart of America's homes.

"Gambling, potentially, is in every home in the nation," states Jones. "On the Internet every person in America from their own home can wager and do it in complete anonymity and isolation."

Devastated lives
Fifteen million Americans have a serious gambling problem. The number grows larger each day.

For those addicted to gambling, the results are tragic. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling:

• the suicide rate is 20 times higher for pathological gamblers
• 47% of problem gamblers abuse alcohol
• 46% of problem gamblers are depressed
• up to 65% of pathological gamblers commit crimes to finance their gambling

The fallout from gambling addiction devastates spouses and children. The NGISC reports that compulsive gambling "introduces a greatly heightened level of stress and tension into marriages and families." The results are often wife and child abuse, divorce, and family neglect. Eleven percent of gamblers' wives commit suicide. Twenty-five percent of children of pathological gamblers have significant behavioral or adjustment problems.

A domestic violence counselor from Harrison, Mississippi testified that a local shelter reported a 300% increase in the number of requests for abuse intervention after the arrival of the casinos.

One wife of a problem gambler declared, "I lived in fear daily due to his agitation and outbursts of violence."

Not a problem for churches?
Are Christians and churches exempt from the effects of the gambling tidal wave? A study by the Barna Research Group has shattered the common misperception that gambling is not a major issue for Christians and churches.

According to Barna, there are "no differences between the unchurched and the churched" when it comes to gambling activity. While Christians have often been warned about the dangers of gambling, "millions do so on a regular basis." Astonishingly, 17% of born again Christians have purchased a lottery ticked in the last week.