THE PUBLIC MIND: GAMBLING DOESN'T SQUARE WITH SCRIPTURES

To the Editor:

Even though it seems that all that can be said has been said, just one more time, for Christians, a "yes" vote for riverboat gambling is not an option. It shouldn't take a biblical scholar or an assertive clergyman to convince us that gambling is anti-thetical to the tenets of Scripture, even though there are no direct references or statements regarding it.

When the great trumpet sounds in the sky, who would want to be at the gaming ~table or buying a lottery ticket, fumbling for an explanation to the Almighty. "You said, Lord, render unto ~Caesar the things that are Caesar's. After all, You wouldn't begrudge a person from having a little recreation while doi~ng Your will ... since part of the money from this gambling enterprise is going into all kinds of beneficial government programs, even education.

Then perhaps, that loving, disturbing look, and even a possible retort: "When I told you that the silver is mine and the gold is mine, and that you are simply the steward (or caretaker), using gambling as a gimmick is hardly what I had in mind."

Gil Degenhardt

Cape Girardeau