NOT WORTH RISK: Bennett's lesson on gambling

It might be difficult for Catholics who worship in parishes that are funded (albeit in a minuscule way) through Bingo, who live in a state that boasts the winner of last Saturday's Kentucky Derby and who belong to a Diocese that contains Saratoga Springs to get too worked up over William Bennett's gambling problem.

By "gambling problem," we don't necessarily mean that the well-known Catholic speaker and author needs treatment for an addiction (although that's a possibility he might consider weighing). In his case, the "gambling problem" is more of an image problem, caused by recent revelations that Mr. Bennett has lost millions of dollars via slot machines and other gaming while extolling the virtuous life through his books, speeches and TV appearances. Much has been made about not only his high-rolling lifestyle in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but also the joy his political opponents have taken in what they view as his hypocrisy.

Calling Mr. Bennett a hypocrite is a stretch. He has been open in the past about his passion for poker and other games; as a result, he has never inveighed against legalized gambling. But the bishops of New York State have done so for several years, and Mr. Bennett's plight provides an opportunity to reiterate those objections.

Casino gambling, often proposed for expansion in New York State, has been opposed by the bishops, including Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, for a number of reasons. Writing in The Evangelist in 2000, for example, Bishop Hubbard said: "Gambling is, in and of itself, morally neutral. It assumes a moral dimension, however, when it moves beyond recreation, affordable luxury or occasional pastime and becomes a necessity for anyone involved....The experience of casino gambling elsewhere and the research which has been done on such lead us [bishops] to conclude that casino gambling inevitably entails unacceptable negative consequences for individuals, families and society at large."

Those consequences, he continued, include crime, prostitution and political corruption; false promises of jobs; and an increase in compulsive gambling, which costs society millions. "It is estimated," the Bishop noted, "that just a one-percent rise in adult problem gamblers in New York would cost state businesses and taxpayers $1.4 billion annually."

Having weighed the few pros and multiple cons of casino gambling, Bishop Hubbard declared: "No longer can we pretend that a government which funds itself on the heartbreak of broken individuals, broken families and broken dreams is playing harmless games. It is a deadly game producing only losers, personally and socially."

Mr. Bennett has declared -- with much urging from his wife, it appears -- that his gambling days are over. The bishops would like all New Yorkers to ditto his decision.

(To read the Bishop's full column on casino gambling as well as related material, visit www.evangelist.org and type "gambling" into the search engine.)

(5/8/03) [[In-content Ad]]