Religious groups unite against gambling
By Amy Green
A UMNS REPORT
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. For complete text of "News Briefs" and other United Methodist stories, visit our "National & World News" page.
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