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CHURCH LEADERS OPPOSE GAMBLING PLANS
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Written: 9/19/2007
The news media has been covering the casino initiative in Massachusetts extensively. Church leaders from across the Commonwealth are voicing their opposition to Governor Patrick�s plan to expand gambling in the state. Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference is strongly opposed to this plan. �The United Methodist Church has a long history of opposing gambling,� he stated. �Our Book of Discipline states �gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government.� I pray that Massachusetts avoids heading down this path that lessens the quality of life for all our citizens.�
The Massachusetts Council of Churches is working with secular and religious partners, including Bishop Weaver and the New England Conference, to organize opposition to the legislative proposal. The Massachusetts Council of Churches is the state ecumenical body of 17 Orthodox and Protestant denominations, with more than 1700 local congregations and parishes across the Commonwealth.
The Rev. Jack Johnson, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, quoted a report on the Prevalence of Problem
Gambling, stating that �about 4% or nearly 250,000 Massachusetts residents had a gambling problem within the past year.� That number is equivalent to the entire population of the towns of Middleborough, Raynham, Taunton, Plainville, Palmer, Revere, and New Bedford combined. With Governor Deval Patrick proposing the addition of three new casinos, that 250,000 number is likely to increase dramatically. �The National Gambling Impact Study, created and funded by our Congress, stated that gambling addiction rates double within fifty miles of a casino.� Rev. Johnson says. �Our state government will be creating a new population of addicted gamblers, affecting their spouses, children, dependents, employers and wider community.� 
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Gambling can bring devastation to lives and families
Adding his voice, The Rev. David Milam says the effects on people�s lives can be devastating. Rev. Milam is the rector of Church of Our Savior Episcopal in Middleborough, MA, one of the proposed sites for a new casino. �Clergy see the people who don�t make the front page of the newspapers. We already see too many people who are struggling to pay their bills, struggling to keep their marriage together, struggling to keep their job,� Rev. Milam commented. We don�t need to create more problem and addicted gamblers struggling in this region by bringing a casino to our town. �
The Inter-Church Council of Greater New Bedford is an ecumenical organization of 43 congregations around New Bedford that is also fighting the casino expansion. The Rev. David Lima, executive minister of the Inter-Church Council has spoken of the harm that gambling will bring to his community, saying �If expanded gambling is allowed, we believe that the gambling industry will be the big winner and the soul of our Southcoast communities will suffer greatly Once slots and casinos are established, they will continue to multiply and it will be next to impossible to be rid of them. A casino culture will define our community. A predatory industry will exploit our people and change our way of life forever.�
Some initial resources on the opposition to casinos in Massachusetts can be found at the Massachusetts Council of Churches web site at www.masscouncilofchurches.org. More information will be coming soon from the New England Conference on this issue, and new alerts and updates will be sent via Conference communications.
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Source material used from Massachusetts Council of Churches press release, Sept. 17, 2007.