wfn.org | TCN:Churches participate in religious rally opposing casinos

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3004 Edition

>September 21-27, 2009

Churches participate in religious rally opposing casinos

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Penghu Island will hold a referendum on whether to allow casinos  on September

26th. In preparation for that day, Anti-Gambling Legislation  Alliance is making

use of every moment to publicize the negative effects of casinos  in hopes that

>residents will cast a “no” vote.

A big rally opposing casinos was held in Makung on the afternoon  of September

20th and many religious organizations and gambling opponents took  part. They

took to the streets again on the evening of September 21st to  distribute

pamphlets and educate the public about the perils of casinos and  the evening

ended with an inter-religious prayer ceremony. Another event was  scheduled on

August 25th on the eve of the referendum and opponents made one  last effort to

>encourage residents to vote against gambling.

Anti-Gambling Legislation Alliance members convened on the evening  of August

21st to walk the streets of Penghu and raise awareness against  building casinos.

Kaohsiung Presbytery’s Makung Church and Chih-Ming Church,  along with

Baptist churches in Penghu Island, also joined alliance members.  In total, over

100 people walked from downtown Makung to a renowned local port  and many

held signs displaying their concern and opposition for the public  to see.

As the group passed by shops, some shopkeepers expressed agreement  while

others responded coolly. Lu Shiou-Ching, wife of Makung  Church’s pastor,

commented that big rallies such as this one were seldom organized  in Penghu.

Though many residents hope the referendum will not pass,  vote-buying is a

serious problem and a bad custom in Penghu and may even overturn  predictions

>at the last minute.

Makung Church’s pastor, Rev. Shia De-huei, remarked that even  if the outcome

of the referendum favored building casinos, there were no  guarantees that

casinos would be built in Penghu because businesses were also  eyeing other

locations such as Kinmen Island which, because of its proximity to  China, may be

a better location for simultaneously luring Chinese and Taiwanese  tourists.

Shia reiterated God’s command against coveting and urged  Penghu residents

who opposed casinos to come out and vote and cautioned them  against

assuming that one vote wouldn’t make a difference.

According to reports, casino opponents have grown in numbers  recently and

many anti-gambling organizations have teamed up in recent days to  encourage

Christians residents to cast their “no” vote. Opponents  and supporters of casinos

seemed neck-to-neck in the race leading up to the referendum.

At the end of the street rally, participants arrived at a renowned  port in Penghu to

hold an inter-religious prayer ceremony. Each religious group took  its turn to pray

and bless Penghu according to its own faith tradition and  Christians used

worship songs and prayers. Participants also wrote prayer cards  and posted

them on a wall and prayed for the island to maintain its original  beauty.

According to Penghu Against Gambling Alliance, Penghu Island  boasts beautiful

scenery and marine life and tourism should be the island’s  focus instead of

casinos when it comes to drawing visitors. The alliance urged all  residents to

cast their vote against gambling on September 26th and ban casinos  from the

>island.

Editor’s note: The referendum on September 26th failed to  pass. For continuing coverage,

stay tuned to next week’s edition of Taiwan Church News  online.

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