Lotteries Another Improper Gambling Target for Christian Right

It is far easier to find poor people who donate far more than they can afford to churches than those who spend too much on lotteries.

Focus on the Family may be the largest and most organized Christian group lobbying against gambling. But, when one takes the time to read its own publications of the reasoning behind rejection of casinos and wagering, the arguments are strained and without common sense.

On their website, Focus makes a statement against lotteries. First, the group asserts that it believes in the sanctity and permanence of marriage, and that anything that imperils that bond is a threat to be prevented. But somehow, the jump in thinking is made to accept that playing lotteries endangers marriages.

It is accurately written that many lottery players dream of a rags-to-riches story. It is also true that the lottery odds are far greater than the payoff. But what Focus fails to focus on is that lottery tickets generally cost one dollar.

Most, if not all, lottery patrons consider a dollar throwaway money. The chance to win a fortune for pocket change is what drives lotteries. Taken in relation to what mortgages and car payments cost, lottery money makes no difference in a budget.

Focus loves to go on endlessly about unproven assertions regarding gambling addictions, and lotteries are no different. Just like any other hyperbole, perhaps a minute fraction of lottery gamblers buy so many tickets they qualify as problem gamblers. But that is the extreme exception.

It is far easier to find poor people who donate far more than they can afford to churches than those who spend too much on lotteries. Would Focus advocate a ban on churches?

The website even argues that the revenue produced by lotteries makes state legislators financially irresponsible. The impact of this logic is twofold: states provide better services with less money, and church spending would be more responsible if people stopped donating.

Perhaps Focus should have written materials examined by thinking people before publication, to avoid the embarrassment of such poor reasoning.