Article June 26, 1978 Issue

Freed from the influence of gambling

CHARLES BERTRAM SPANGLER

"Lady Luck, be good to me tonight!"

Such is often the gambler's fervent prayer just before the roll of the dice or the spinning of fruit on a slot machine. And yet the gambler would probably be the first to admit the utter fickleness of his favorite goddess—chance. Today this particular idol seems to be enjoying increasing ascendancy over the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Ex. 20:3;

It is not only the compulsive gambler who would bestow unwarranted powers on chance. Well-meaning individuals and whole communities have bowed to pressures to make gambling an integral part of their lives. However, people are beginning to recognize that legalized gambling, far from helping the community, fosters an unhealthy moral climate, subsidizing organized crime and adding to city and state welfare rolls. It doesn't even bring in the expected income to the state. In fact, a community's dependence on games of chance not only carries a high economic and crime risk but entrenches people more firmly in the destructive belief that well-being and the enjoyment of good are subject to the whims of chance.

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