A Long Face in Mississippi
By Rob Hood (10/05/05)
It was a sad day for Mississippi conservatives and church members across the state. For two weeks we had been waiting on the verdict about the casinos on the Gulf Coast. When the casinos were first brought to Mississippi there was much opposition and it was decided that the casinos could only be built on the water for docking cruise ships and such to stop at.
Well, here came Hurricane Katrina. It wiped out the whole casino marketplace and displaced thousands. The argument was that the revenue from the casino taxes could be used for education. Well, that worked out as planned. HA! Most of the money was used for education as it was planned, but for only the counties in which the casinos existed or some of the counties surrounding the area. So that failed as a primary purpose.
Once assessments were made, it was up to the Mississippi legislature ( democrat controlled ) to vote on what to do next. Two proposals were made. One consisted of rebuilding the casinos as were previously which was on water only. The other was to let the casinos build on shore. Naturally the churches ( including myself ) had an overwhelming opposition since we knew that casinos would eventually pop up everywhere like mushrooms after a rain.
It was voted on today and the decision was reached 29-21 that the casinos build on land and Governor Haley Barbour ( Republican ) made the decision to approve that bill. So if you go to Mississippi soon and see someone with a long face , you now know the reason.
The Christian Action Commission of Mississippi sent out letters to numerous church officials asking the leaders and members to contact their state representatives and voice their opinion since we knew that it would already be a close vote and nerves were on edge.
Well, apparently we lost this round. People applauded in the Southern part of the state because this meant thousands of jobs and state revenue. However, you never seem to hear the other side of the story. You always hear of someone winning big time, how great the food is, and how fun it is. What they never show you is the man on the streets drunk and begging for something to eat or some money because gambling cost him his wife and kids, his home, and his job. His addiction cost him his life. They never show us that side of it. After all they don’t call it a caSINo for nothing.
It is often disputed that the Bible talks about gambling and the critics are somewhat right. The Bible says very little about gambling but it is viewed by the Southern Baptist denomination as a type of idol worship since the gambling is putting his/her faith in materialism above his/her faith in God to make a living therefore breaking the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me”. All we can do now is pray and hope for the best because it may be a long time coming.
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