wfn.org | Missouri United Methodists vote against "boats in moats"

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 15, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

United Methodists in Missouri unanimously voted to fight the state's
"boats in moats" gaming initiative, which would allow casinos to be
built on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Nearly 1,000 delegates at the Missouri East Annual Conference, May
29-June 1, voted unanimously to oppose a Nov. 3 referendum pushed by
gambling proponents to change the state's constitution.  The ballot
would allow "boats in moats" to continue operations and casinos to be
built within 1,000 feet of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. Last
November, the state's supreme court ruled "boats in moats"
unconstitutional.
 
The Missouri West Annual Conference, meeting June 5-8, also acted on the
gambling issue. The 984 delegates unanimously pledged their efforts to
defeat any constitutional amendment expanding off-river gambling in the
state. The actions of both conferences signal the start of a grassroots
effort to defeat the gaming industry's ballot issue.

"We are going to battle," said the Rev. Tom Grey,  a United Methodist
pastor and executive director of the National Coalition Against
Legalized Gambling in Washington.

The presence of gambling in Missouri "has caused pain, invited more
crime and corruption, created addictions, driven people to bankruptcy,"
he told delegates. "When people recognize this, the measure will be
soundly defeated.

"What Missourians are really deciding is whether the constitution of
this state belongs to its people or to the gambling industry," he said.

His remarks prompted several delegates to describe their experiences.
One man told of a neighbor who committed suicide the day before his
family's home was repossessed because of gambling debts.

A former casino worker, shaking with anger, recounted a conversation
with his employers during which he was encouraged to get people drunk
because "when they're drunk, they're more likely to lose everything."

At the Missouri West conference meeting, a man remembered his mother
once telling him that she had lost enough money in her lifetime to buy
two homes.

Grey told the annual conference to be prepared for a fight.

"These people (the gambling interests) are desperate to own you and your
constitution," he said. "They know that when they won four years ago,
they still lost 46 percent of the vote. We don't have that far to go,
and they know it."

Missouri Bishop Ann Sherer, who leads both conferences, said she would
join other religious and civic organizations in mobilizing against the
gaming industry.

"For the sake of the people, it is important that we throw ourselves
fully into this task," she said. "I'm confident when people fully
understand the harm gambling does to their state, their communities, and
to their individual lives, they will choose to reject any constitutional
changes that favor the gambling industry."

In addition to the bishop's efforts, Missouri Methodists will help
spearhead a statewide grassroots campaign to defeat the measure. The
effort will include holding such events as town hall meetings, debates
and group studies of the issue.

# # #

Information for this article was provided by Lois Ford Long, a writer
for FACTA News in St. Louis.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/