wfn.org | Close Up: Religious groups unite against gambling

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Oct. 1, 2002 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71BP{439}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this report.

A UMNS Report
By Amy Green*

The Rev. Skip Armistead believes Tennessee voters are facing their state's
most important ballot question in years, and he's praying hard and working
tirelessly to ensure they decide against a lottery.

Tennessee is one of just three states with no legalized gambling, and the
United Methodist minister has teamed with all sorts of religious leaders -
from Baptists to Muslims - to try to keep it that way. For months, the group
has been preparing quietly for an aggressive campaign leading up to the Nov.
5 vote.

"Tennessee is looked upon as the place to stop the national expansion of
gambling," says Armistead, chairman of Religious Leaders for a Gambling Free
Tennessee and a pastor in Madison, just north of Nashville. "To defeat this
in Tennessee would be a major stake at turning back the expansion of
gambling."

Gambling unites religious leaders like few other issues, and United
Methodists like Armistead have joined with a variety of opponents across the
country in fighting the powerball games and slot machines that many state
leaders hope could boost revenues, which have lagged with the nation's
economy.

With a vast network of members who can organize easily with little funding,
these religious groups stand to be a formidable force in what many view as a
moral, not political, fight against something that only encourages addiction
and crime. They believe their efforts are especially important now, since
states are expected to continue to struggle with budget deficits next year,
making the push for gambling even stronger.

"You're talking about a very potent, pivotal voting block on gambling, and
the politicians I think are aware of that," says the Rev. Tom Grey, a United
Methodist minister and spokesman for the National Coalition Against
Legalized Gambling.

Besides Tennessee, voters in Arizona and Idaho will be asked in November
whether they want to expand their state's gambling activities or begin new
ones. In Iowa, voters in 10 counties will be asked whether they want to keep
riverboat gambling and racetrack casinos. In North Dakota, voters will be
asked about joining a multistate lottery.

Pennsylvania and Washington joined multistate lotteries earlier this year.
New York joined a multistate lottery and expanded other forms of gambling
shortly after last year's Sept. 11 attacks.

In its Book of Resolutions, the United Methodist Church condemns gambling as
"a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social,
economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government."

Church members are working hard to convince voters that gamblers are most
frequently the poor. Mark Harrison, a program director for the
denomination's public policy arm, the Board of Church and Society, says
gambling teaches that hard work is not important. He worries that gambling -
and gambling addictions - have grown more rampant now that betting on the
Internet is so easy.

Many United Methodists have put together Web sites and e-mailed newsletters.
Others are organizing prayer vigils and rallies. Some plan to bolster their
ranks of registered voters by supplying churches with registration forms.
They are trying to approach their campaigns as educators, fearing they might
turn off undecided voters by appearing to preach on the issue.

In Nebraska, United Methodists teamed with other religious leaders to
successfully challenge in court the legality of a petition putting slot
machines and video slot casinos on the November ballot. An appeal is
pending. Nonetheless, Gov. Mike Johanns has said he will work with lawmakers
in January on a casino bill. The state has had a lottery since 1983.

"We know the gambling debate here in Nebraska, it will go on," laments the
Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, a pastor in Lincoln who has opposed gambling before the
legislature.

Bellwether state

Tennessee's gambling vote will be among the most closely watched in
November. Besides Tennessee, only Hawaii and Utah have no legalized
gambling. Some fear if Tennessee voters agree to lift the state's
constitutional ban on lotteries, the game will quickly spread to North
Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming, which currently don't have that
type of gambling.

"Tennessee is sort of a bellwether," Grey says.

United Methodists are working closely with the Nashville-based Southern
Baptist Convention and a variety of other religious groups, and also have
teamed with the secular Gambling Free Tennessee Alliance. They believe their
potential is impressive. The state is home to some 335,000 United Methodists
and 1 million Southern Baptists.

Several times a week, religious leaders e-mail a newsletter mixing scripture
with anti-lottery rhetoric to some 3,000 voters, and Armistead believes many
churches are using the letter in their bulletins. Baptists have distributed
3.2 million bulletins to be used by congregations throughout October.

The effort has been quiet, primarily because high-profile gubernatorial and
congressional races have drawn most of the political contributions, leaving
little for the lottery debate. Opponents also have refused contributions
from neighboring states, fearing accepting them would compromise the
integrity of their campaign. For example, casino operators in Mississippi
would rejoice if Tennesseans were to vote against a lottery, since a lottery
would compete with the casinos.

Can religious leaders succeed? They believe they can if they work together.

"What I see different about gambling is the kinds of groups that work
together, groups that don't usually work together," Harrison says. "You
might see Southern Baptists and the Mormon church, that type of religious
coalition."

Gambling supporters are not worried. They are betting on the "tens of
millions of Americans who recognize gambling for what it is: a form of
entertainment that they enjoy responsibly," says Dean Hestermann, a
spokesman for Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates 26
casinos nationwide.

"The moral opponents are a tiny minority of the American public," he says.

Creating jobs, revenue

Supporters argue gambling creates jobs and generates tax revenue. The
industry employs more than 1 million people nationwide, according to the
American Gaming Association. The association notes that in Mississippi,
where the industry employs 3 percent of the state's work force, welfare
payments have dropped in counties with casinos, while payments have risen in
other counties.

"One reason states legalize new forms of gambling is to capture the
significant tax revenue streams that gambling can create, and so it
shouldn't come as any surprise that during times of fiscal crisis that
states look at lots of new revenue sources, gambling being just one of
them," Hestermann says.

In Tennessee, proponents argue the state's residents have been gambling for
years - in neighboring states. By organizing a lottery, the state finally
can capture that revenue and use it to fund college scholarships,
pre-kindergarten programs and school construction. They point to Georgia,
where the lottery generated $726 million for education programs this fiscal
year, according to the Georgia Lottery Corp.

"Tennessee is way, way behind in education," says state Sen. Steve Cohen,
who sponsored legislation putting the lottery question on the ballot. "I
think it's the only way we're going to help education in this state, because
we don't have any new money."

Harrison acknowledges gambling supporters tend to have easier access to
funding and other advantages, but he has faith in religious leaders' ability
to organize successfully.

In Alabama, Gov. Don Siegelman was elected in part by promising to create a
lottery that would fund education programs. Lottery supporters spent $4.1
million before the 1999 lottery vote, but a religious coalition that spent
one-third that amount defeated their effort.

Armistead feels that defeating a lottery in Tennessee will take more than
teamwork. He is among those organizing a prayer vigil the night before
voters cast their last ballots and is encouraging opponents to leave their
lights on throughout the night to show their feelings.

"We believe prayer is the only solution," he says. "It takes lots of
prayer."

# # #

*Green is a free-lance writer in Nashville, Tenn. She formerly covered
religion for the Associated Press.

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United Methodist News Service
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