Can a Christian play poker?

[Passaman]

Well, I think we can cross alcohol off the "automatic sins" list since 1) Jesus drank wine 2) Jesus made wine....which was the best anyone tasted 3) Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his upset stomach. Paul, of course, also said to not be drunk. This verse, which I won't bore the whole message board with, is the one from which the principle of not being controlled by any outside factor comes from.

If I drink a margarita or a glass of wine, I am not out of control, nor being controlled by it. I'm not saying stupid things, doing stupid things, putting people's lives at risk on the road, etc. If I spark a spliff (ha ha) I have immediately broken the law and put myself under the control of a foreign substance (note, I've never done the chronic, so I can't really say if I'd be more "out of it" than I would following a bottle of beer....note no. 2: I've also never been drunk) Maybe a fuzzy line as far as you're concerned, but not for me.

Bigger problem for me: it seems the US considers online poker is now illegal. Luckily for me, I haven't played in over a month since I don't have any money online.

[Luckboxer]

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Well, I think we can cross alcohol off the "automatic sins" list since 1) Jesus drank wine 2) Jesus made wine....which was the best anyone tasted 3) Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his upset stomach. Paul, of course, also said to not be drunk. This verse, which I won't bore the whole message board with, is the one from which the principle of not being controlled by any outside factor comes from.

If I drink a margarita or a glass of wine, I am not out of control, nor being controlled by it. I'm not saying stupid things, doing stupid things, putting people's lives at risk on the road, etc. If I spark a spliff (ha ha) I have immediately broken the law and put myself under the control of a foreign substance (note, I've never done the chronic, so I can't really say if I'd be more "out of it" than I would following a bottle of beer....note no. 2: I've also never been drunk) Maybe a fuzzy line as far as you're concerned, but not for me.

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Well if what makes a substance sinful is the amount to which it affects your thought processes, then theres definitely a grey area.
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Bigger problem for me: it seems the US considers online poker is now illegal. Luckily for me, I haven't played in over a month since I don't have any money online.

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Considering that christianity was founded anti-establishment types, I would think that you would consider ignoring silly laws a virtue.

[Passaman]

Good one

[MikeyPatriot]

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In times of strife like this, we should step back and ask, What Would Negreanu Do?


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His smile reminds me of that Phil Ivey paint drawing.

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Ask and ye shall receive...

[ALReturnsLOL]

haha nh mikey

[Hawklet]

Isn't the common understanding that gambling or poker in general is a sin if it causes you to neglect more important things like family/God to a severe extent?

[Passaman]

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Isn't the common understanding that gambling or poker in general is a sin if it causes you to neglect more important things like family/God to a severe extent?

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Of course. That's what I mean by biblical principle. However, I disagree with the general American Christian understanding that gambling is a sin, period. I think it's an issue to be discussed/debated.

[Lori]

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I find myself constantly torn up with inner debate alot about this subject. I am Christian as well

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I seem to remember seeing that betting on who would be the next pope was specifically outlawed for Christians/Catholics (excuse my ignorance of such things) which would imply that betting on other things would be fine.

I'll see if I can dig it up, it's some ancient 16th century edict or other.

Lori

[Lori]

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I find myself constantly torn up with inner debate alot about this subject. I am Christian as well

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I seem to remember seeing that betting on who would be the next pope was specifically outlawed for Christians/Catholics (excuse my ignorance of such things) which would imply that betting on other things would be fine.

I'll see if I can dig it up, it's some ancient 16th century edict or other.

Lori

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"Betting on Pope Futures
John Tierney offers a refreshing look at the efficient markets hypothesis.

Many of the traders probably know little about Vatican politics and are basically recreational gamblers, perhaps sentimentally betting on their local contender. But these amateurs serve a purpose in the ruthless ecosystem of the market.

They are the sheep who attract the wolves. The amateurs' money entices serious investors to spend time scouring cardinals' past statements and other sources. The sheep's money also offers a temptation for those with inside knowledge to cash in, even though that's against the rules of Intrade - not to mention a 1591 papal bull forbidding Catholics from betting on a conclave.
"

link

Lori

[bills217]

I sent a PM to a poster in this thread with regard to Christianity and gambling and he seemed to appreciate it so I'll post it here as well:


There's no reason you should be conflicted about being a Christian and playing poker (assuming you are a winning player which I guess I don't know for sure but I'll assume you are).

It gets more questionable if you are a losing player, as that gets into stewardship of your $$$, but even then, I don't know very many Christians who don't spend any money on recreation.

If you are a winning player, I really don't see any problems. The "causing others to stumble" argument holds no water with me as it applies here. Winning players take money from losing players. You playing in the game generally has no effect on the losing player choosing to play (I would never encourage a losing gambler to gamble, but I don't need to).

Further, losing players are clearly not practicing good stewardship of their resources. Like an alcoholic with alcohol, they may need to hit bottom to realize they have a problem. You don't want to enable them. If anything, we are doing them a favor in the long run by taking their money (totally serious). Whenever someone asks me if I feel bad about taking other players' money, I reply, "No, but I feel bad for not taking all of it."

As for the argument that playing poker is unproductive other than financially, this is an argument I can see. But a large part of the reason I play poker is so I will have extra time and extra money to be used in Godly pursuits. In this sense playing poker for a living is far more Godly than giving the man 60 hours a week IMO.

Also, there is a very eloquent Christian apologist in SMP whose screen name is NotReady who I have a tremendous amount of respect for. He regularly holds his own with DS in religious debates. He does not object to poker. Here is a link to a list of posts he made on this topic, in addition to the linked post (and there have been many more, all say more or less the same thing):

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...ue#Post4631428

Hope this helped. God bless.

-bills217