November 14th: House Judiciary Committee Hearing Thread

[whangarei]

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... there ios a lot more on gambling and examples as well, amazing how often God commanded using games of chance to settle matters, all overlooked of course by FoF and related groups.

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I do not really feel this is a convincing argument since games of chance in the bible (that I'm aware of) are used "to settle matters," thereby providing an important social benefit. We support gambling for fun. And we know what FoF thinks about that ...

[whangarei]

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Good Article by the associated press late yesterday, running in todays newspapers.

Link to article on Chicago Tribune site

Bryan Spadaro
Membership Relations, Manager
Poker Players Alliance

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Anybody have a link to a paper that doesn't require registration?

[whangarei]

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Is the 2% tax on deposits competitive with the tax rates of jurisdictions like Antiqua, Costa Rico and Isle of Man?

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I have no idea about other tax rates, but I would think the 2% tax would be more than offset by reduced costs to the sites from access to standard secure payment providers.

[oldbookguy]

Here is a start for you on gambling / Bible - you can easily search for more.

http://www.biblestudy.org/question/castlots.html

And the fact it was used, in the Bible, says all the more about the absurdity of the FoF and others position.

obg

[whangarei]

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Here is a start for you on gambling / Bible - you can easily search for more.

http://www.biblestudy.org/question/castlots.html

And the fact it was used, in the Bible, says all the more about the absurdity of the FoF and others position.

obg

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I don't understand your post. My point is that to my knowledge "gambling" in the bible is used as a social device to settle disputes. We favor gambling because it is fun, which by nomenclature is against what FoF believes in. So, the instances of gambling chronicled in the Bible has no bearing on the absurdity of FoF's position.

[oldbookguy]

As I stated, that is a start, YOU can easily research more.

From the dividing of land to many other uses.

For fun or settling disputes, gambling, is, well, gambling.


obg

[TheEngineer]

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Here is a start for you on gambling / Bible - you can easily search for more.

http://www.biblestudy.org/question/castlots.html

And the fact it was used, in the Bible, says all the more about the absurdity of the FoF and others position.

obg

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I don't understand your post. My point is that to my knowledge "gambling" in the bible is used as a social device to settle disputes. We favor gambling because it is fun, which by nomenclature is against what FoF believes in. So, the instances of gambling chronicled in the Bible has no bearing on the absurdity of FoF's position.

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Wikipedia says you're both right (of course, that's a bit of a circular reference [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ):

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Focus on the Family also supports prohibition of all gambling in America. This position has created some controversy within the Christian community, as gambling is not prohibited in the Bible[5]. This schism is evidenced by the fact that many churches hold gambling contests, especially bingo, to raise funds. Focus’ insistence on this position, as a result, has been interpreted as “extra-Biblical doctrine” that was created by some within the Christian Right who are personally opposed to gambling. At the November 14, 2007 House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers”[6], Family Research Council Vice President Tom McClusky testified that his organization favored banning Internet poker in the United States. When questioned further by Rep. Steven Cohen [D-TN] on how much gambling FRC advocated banning, McClusky testified that FRC wished to ban all gambling in America, including even poker[7]. Upon hearing this, Rep. Cohen incredulously asked "is there any fun you are for?", leading many in the blogosphere to nickname FoF “Foes of Fun”[8].

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[4_2_it]

FoF can make a Biblical case against gambling by using a definition that incorporates attributes associated with the sins of Greed or Coveteousness. Casting lots is a red herring. Do we really want to try and argue that playing poker is the same as rolling some bones or flipping a roman coin?

Bottom line is we aren't going to convince most politicians to change their views by making a Biblical argument that God is 'neutral' regarding gambling. For the politicians that can be swayed, I doubt they would take our word over Dobson's.

[oldbookguy]

This is true and no we do not want to, just a simple point, gambling is actually in the Bible, no matter what odd argument is used by those who say it is wrong according to the Bible.

obg

[Berge20]

I'm glad I just saw the last few days of posts today--it would have put me on tilt.