OUTLINE:
Intro:
Incorporate political opinions from Dr. Kirch and Rep. Driehaus to compare with religious perspective from students and to introduce continuation of topic

Utilize background information for religions to lead into conversations with students and to formulate questions for them:

Catholic stance on gambling:

Gambling, or gaming, is the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance. It thus belongs to the class of aleatory contracts which the gain or loss of the parties depends on an uncertain event. It is not gambling, in the strict sense, if a bet is laid on the issue of a game of skill like billiards or football. The issue must depend on chance, as in dice, or partly on chance, partly on skill, as in whist.
Theologians commonly require four conditions so that gaming may not be illicit.
• What is staked must belong to the gambler and must be at his free disposal. It is wrong, therefore, for the lawyer to stake the money of his client, or for anyone to gamble with what is necessary for the maintenance of his wife and children.
• The gambler must act freely, without unjust compulsion.
• There must be no fraud in the transaction, although the usual ruses of the game may be allowed. It is unlawful, accordingly, to mark the cards, but it is permissible to conceal carefully from an opponent the number of trump cards one holds.
• Finally, there must be some sort of equality between the parties to make the contract equitable; it would be unfair for a combination of two expert whist players to take the money of a couple of mere novices at the game.


Jewish stance on gambling:
Playing at games, especially games of chance, for money. Among the ancient Israelites no mention is made of games of chance, and no provision was made against them until the period of the Mishnah. With the introduction of foreign customs and amusements in the latter period of the Second Temple, playing with dice ("ḳubya," κνβεία), the popular game of antiquity, was adopted by the Jews. The Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion (see Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxvi. 10, which speaks of "those that play at dice, who calculate with their left hand, and press with their right, and rob and wrong one another"). The Mishnah disqualified the gambler from testifying before a court of justice (Sanh. 24b). Since robbery was defined in Jewish law as the act of violently appropriating something belonging to another against his will (B. Ḳ. 79b), the Rabbis could not make gambling a capital crime. They did, however, forbid gambling of any kind, and considered it a form of robbery; but since it was not actual robbery, money lost in games of chance could not be collected through the courts of justice (Giṭ. 61b; Maimonides, "Yad," Gezelah, vi. 7-11, 16; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 370).


Webster’s definition:
1 a : to play a game for money or property b : to bet on an uncertain outcome
2 : to stake something on a contingency : take a chance


United Methodist Church’s stance on gambling:
The Social Principles state that, "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual's energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends. The church should promote standards and personal lifestyles that would make unnecessary and undesirable the resort to commercial gambling—including public lotteries—as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government" ( 163G).
When asked which commandment is first of all, Jesus answered, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:29-30). Gambling feeds on human greed and invites persons to place their trust in possessions rather than in God. It represents a form of idolatry that contradicts the first commandment. Jesus continued: "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mark 12:31). In relating with compassion to our sisters and brothers, we are called to resist those practices and systems that exploit them and leave them impoverished and demeaned. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:9-10a: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
Gambling, as a means of acquiring material gain by chance and at the neighbor's expense, is a menace to personal character and social morality. Gambling fosters greed and stimulates the fatalistic faith in chance. Organized and commercial gambling is a threat to business, breeds crime and poverty, and is destructive to the interests of good government. It encourages the belief that work is unimportant, that money can solve all our problems, and that greed is the norm for achievement. It serves as a "regressive tax" on those with lower income. In summary, gambling is bad economics; gambling is bad public policy; and gambling does not improve the quality of life.
We oppose the growing legalization and state promotion of gambling.



Incorporate quotations from students to showcase a youthful perspective on religion and gambling:

Catholic- Krista/ Abby?- Abby’s quotes were pretty much used in the first article- Krista has a fresh perspective
Methodist- Molly/Janette (Ohio State)? - most likely not Janette because she does not represent this Uninversity
Jewish- Anna from Hillel- knowledgeable and has connection to the larger community here

Close similarly to other article by stating that the future is unknown- because this seems to be the common thread- so many opinions and no sound factual agreement

I took a slightly different approach with this article than I first anticipated but I think i had greater success because of it- at least I hope I did. At first I wanted to get authoritative information from the "higher ups" within each of the religious denominations. After that led almost no where and after talking to Anna at the Hillel, I realized a fresh new way to look at this article would be to talk to students who have a different perspective. I searched for good representatives of the religions I covered and sat down and talked to them. Not only was I able to ask them my questions but I also got some great real life stories from them. I hope that this article is more interesting because of my decision, but if not, well then I guess that was my lesson of the quarter!

Gambling, a leap of faith?
Blair Scanlon

Casinos are coming to Ohio that is a fact. But aside from the facts there are many opinions. The casinos will be new, but we already have some old gambling traditions, and opinions about those traditions, in some unexpected places.

Questions still remain and opinions are still varying. Critics are adamant about the negatives; “It (casino) will absolutely negatively effect people’s personal finances,” says Ohio University’s esteemed professor of Accounting Dr. David Kirch. Proponents insist this is a great decision; like Representative Denise Driehaus who has worked on this legislation in the past. She sees the casinos as a means of economic development.

But politics set aside there is another group whose opinion could be very interesting to dissect. That is the opinion of the religious believers.

On Ohio University’s campus there is a sampling of many different religions, each one with a different set of guidelines for what gambling is and how it should be addressed. There is also a different set of actual practices, a few which will be explored here.

It’s the beginning of June, and the muggy feeling is setting in throughout the state of Ohio and even more so in the riverside city of Cincinnati. But the beginning of June also marks the beginning of the festival season. This is the season when every Catholic Church sets aside one weekend to throw a church festival equip with corn on the cob, nauseating rides and the ever popular beer garden.

There is something else though, the overwhelming presence of gambling. Every other booth reveals an opportunity for participants to win anything from $10,000 to a gold fish that will last just long enough to flush when you get home.

I grew up in a Catholic household and we attended our parish festival every summer.

There was one summer in specific that I will remember for ever. I won $150 on the bars and bells pull and peel game. This five dollar rectangular piece of cardboard with four strips, begging to be peeled , revealed to me the most money I had ever laid my 10 year old eyes on. I believe I went to Toy’s R Us the very next day and proceeded to spend almost every penny (thanks Mom and Dad for instilling such financial savvy in me). But it was the most exhilarating feeling I had ever had. I was gambling and I loved it.

Today looking back on it I realize just how much gambling goes on at these church sponsored events; a lot. Huge white tents lure the people in with the promise of a rousing game of poker, spinning wheels and grown men shouting a promise of a great return if you simply place your quarter on the right number.

It may sound trite but what would Jesus think of this? After all he is arguably the most important figure in the Catholic Church (I say arguably because there are quite a few “important” figures in the Church).

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, any good Catholic’s go to guide for sins, gambling is “the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance.”

This definition is on track with the traditional definition but the Catholic Church does have a few stipulations: What the gambler stakes must be his and no one else’s, the gambler must act with free will and without compulsion, no cheating, and finally there must be some sort of equality between the gambling parties. These stipulations seem all but impossible to avoid in the game of chance that is gambling.

Gambling according to Gamblers Anonymous can become a very compulsive behavior often resulting in addiction. How responsible then, are these parishes if they shove the temptation in to the faces of the believers. I set out to find Catholic representation at Ohio University’s campus.

What are the real practices? What are the thoughts of the members of the Church?

Krista Meyer is a junior at Ohio University who actively participated in her Parish festival in the suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“I’ve been working the festival with my parents since I was able to count money,” she said. “The Dominic festival was the highlight of my summer.”

She never really considered gambling at festivals to be anything more than harmless.

“Is gambling even the right term?” she laughs. “ It just seems like the normal thing to do at these (festivals), I mean you see young kids in fourth and fifth grade spinning the wheel for prizes and you see adults sitting around playing poker and it’s just normal.”

For the Catholic Church it seems that if the gambling seems harmless, well then it is.

At the other end of the respective religious spectrum are those of the Jewish faith and according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, gambling is simply, “playing at games, especially games of chance for money.”

However, the early Jewish Rabbis did not find gambling to be as harmless as this definition would suggest. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that “the Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion.”

While they could not forbid gambling all together because it did not break any real law it was entirely frowned upon in the earliest Jewish communities.

Anna Schottenstein, an Ohio University student and member of the Hillel executive board, says that things have changed since the ancient Rabbis spoke on the subject.

“Most people of the Jewish faith in the world today are not of the ultra orthodox sect, so many of them are well adapted into modern culture and have the same varying opinions on the idea of gambling as any other person of any faith,” she says.

“If you are looking for a definite stance from the Jewish community it would most likely come from a Rabbi and it would be a stricter religious outlook but most reformed conservative Jews, in my opinion, are okay with gambling.”

There is even a festival very similar to those in the found at the Catholic churches, that takes place during the holiday of Purim and as Anna explains there are forms of gambling involved.

“On Purim there are, in both America and Israel, carnivals and festivals where there are traditional types of food, costumes and lots of games,” she says.

She continues to explain that while these games are intended for children, similar games exist in the adult world and such games are considered gambling.

Many people, even those barely familiar with Judaism, have at least heard of dreidel (even if it was from Adam Sandler). Dreidel is basically an ancient form of gambling that has been passed down through the generations. Today, as Anna states, almost every Jewish child learns how to play dreidel to win chocolate coins. The chocolate coins were adapted as a way to integrate both the orthodox and more modern Jewish people into the game.

Anna comes from a family with a rich heritage in the Jewish faith and she has practiced both the strict orthodox and as of late the more modern Jewish religion. Her father is the President of the largest synagogue in Columbus and her extended family has invested millions of dollars into the Ohio State University’s Jewish programs among other things. You may have heard of the Schottenstein Center?

She does not find any major disconnect with the modern day practices of gambling and Jewish beliefs and values.

“I personally know a lot of Jewish people from my synagogue who go to Las Vegas and Windsor,” she says.

“It’s just not a big deal.”

However for the strict Orthodox Jewish believers, the answer may be slightly different. It may resemble that of a member of the Methodist faith.

The Social Principles by which Methodists practice their religion states that, “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice.”

Methodist ideology suggests opposition to growing legalization and state promotion of gambling.

Molly Essel is a student at Ohio University and a practicing Methodist. While she has not found a parish in Athens to call her own, she actively participates in her hometown, West Chester, Ohio.

Molly had a very simple succinct way of looking at gambling form the Methodist view point, “In our religion we don’t choose to partake in activities that could have outcomes that will negatively affect our personal selves,” she said.

She explains that while growing up she had friends that were catholic and the festivals that they attended each summer intrigued her. Her church certainly did not have anything like that.

“We would have activities and gatherings but nothing like the Catholic festivals,” she said. “Our gatherings were, I guess you could say more faith based,”

So for the believers of the Methodist practices, casinos in Ohio could potentially be problematic.

It appears that religion does have the ability to shape someone’s opinion about gambling. On one hand it can be used in profitable ways to help a cause, i.e. church festivals bringing in revenue. Generations have learned to adapt to modern society and are becoming more accepting of the gambling world. And still some are wary of the unnecessary challenge it poses for our will power.

Perhaps in late 2012 we will see just what the casinos have in store for Ohio, believers and all.
SOURCES

Dr. David Kirch
kirch@ohio.edu
(740) 593-9321

Denise Driehaus
www.denisedriehaus.com
513-703-8400 (cell phone)

Anna Schottenstein
614-563-2838

Krista Meyer
513-227-3201

Molly Essel
513-478-3736

Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm

Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=G&artid=58

Methodist archives
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=833

Paige Alost: Executive Director of Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau

-(no email listed) 740-592-1819

-She could provide me with a great description of what tourism looks like in Athens- how it is successful and what could help to boost the economy.

Fr. Patrick E. Gaughan: Pastor St. Paul’s Church Athens Ohio

-stpaul@frognet.net

-Fr. Pat will be a great source for information regarding the catholic church- especially the catholic community in Athens- feels about Casinos and the morality concerning them.


Suzi Hawk: President Ohio University College Republicans

-sh302506@ohio.edu

-Suzi can give me an idea of the Republican perspective (at least on campus) on the new casino legislation

Liz Clark: President Ohio University College Democrats

-dems@ohio.edu

-Liz could give me the Democratic perspective on the legislation. And by having both sides ( rep.and dem.) I will be able to gain a better vantage point on the political assertions of the legislation.

Julie White: Political science professor

-whitej@ohio.edu

-After getting the perspective of the student political organizations, having the a more professional source with a perhaps more expert opinion will be valuable.