Toongabbie Anglican Church Blog

Weekly Blurb

The ...... that Stops the Nation

Saturday 10 November, 2007 · Posted by Simon Job

In this week where we have seen the Melbourne Cup, it would be appropriate for us to consider the impact of gambling in our nation. The NSW State Government alone draws $1.5b in annual gambling related revenue, but we must remember the impact on the 300,000 problem gamblers and their families.

I am told that Sydney is now the Poker machine capital of the world, having more poker machines per capita than anywhere else! Forms of on-line gambling are becoming more widely available. And, believe it or not, bookmakers can now extend ‘credit’ virtually on the spot.

The impact of a gambling addiction can be more severe than an alcoholic addiction. For the alcohol eventually causes someone to drop, but the gambler keeps returning and generally with increased amounts of money. It starts off small, sometimes as entertainment. But at some point the addictive process kicks in, and psychologists confirm that turning back becomes very very difficult. Many problem gamblers are in denial that they even have a problem.

It is the families of the problem gambler who are the innocent victims. 300,000 problem gamblers means there would be over 1,000,000 innocent victims!

Far more significant than the financial problem is the breakdown of relationship caused by the breakdown in trust. Generally, the level of deceit must increase over time to ‘cover’ the increasing amounts of money that can’t be accounted for. In extreme circumstances the pattern of lying becomes so second nature that nothing at all can be trusted.

Of all people, Christians must remember when we are told that the horse flu has caused the horse racing industry to lose millions of dollars, that is millions of dollars that is not coming from the pockets of problem gamblers. Without gambling, the horse racing industry would not exist in the way that we know it. Without poker machines, clubs would be forced to take quite a different shape, and we could go on.

Let us not forget what really lies behind the Melbourne Cup. It is unfortunate that it is the race that stops the nation, for it represents the problem that stops so many in our nation.

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