San Diego, California, USA ... [ANN] Seventh-day Adventist Church ministry professionals meeting in San Diego studied the case against legalized gambling as a major aspect of family health problems.
Presenter Harvey N. Chinn of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling provided 12 prime reasons to reject gambling as either a social or economic benefit, as promoted by the gambling industry.
“Gambling creates no new wealth, depresses legitimate business, increases crime and increases welfare costs,” said Chinn at the January 17 meeting. “Gambling is a sophisticated form of legalized stealing which contradicts social responsibilities and produces human desperation. Creating artificial and unnecessary risks, gambling militates against the highest values of human welfare.”
“As a Church, we deplore the impact of gambling on families-their health, stability and success,” said DeWitt Williams, director of Health Ministries for the Adventist Church in North America. “Gambling addiction is literally killing people, and we cannot ignore the impact of this social evil. Gambling has no redeeming benefit, is economically detrimental, and is totally in opposition to Christian principles.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has maintained a strong position in opposition to gambling throughout its 136 year history. [Jonathan Gallagher]
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