Article March 25, 1996 Issue

"Gambling is entertainment," says Vic Taucer, casino program...

"Gambling is entertainment," says Vic Taucer, casino program director at the Community College of Southern Nevada. This describes the way gambling is most often presented, both to the public at large and to communities where casinos, riverboats, and other gaming sites are being considered.

Despite concerns raised by organizations such as the National Council on problem Gambling in the United States, the argument that it's just good fun seems almost irresistible—until one looks behind the glitz and false hopes. This deeper look reveals that gambling tends to take over in many people's lives, that even in a busy casino, isolation may surround the individual staring into the face of a slot machine, that the expectation of a "big break" tends to be false.

Is the answer then simply to forbid gambling? History shows that gambling doesn't yield readily to prohibition. The answer lies in offering something better, in cultivating a desire for higher goals and satisfaction. The articles that follow provide spiritual resources that will move us and our prayers in that direction. They look first at the gaming industry, then at the temptations associated with gambling itself. They tell us that God's plan for man is one of abundant good, but that chance and luck aren't the way He gives that plan to us.

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