On my cycling route today I passed the entrance to a marina and a boat with this unsettling logo close to the gate. I had to stop and take a photo because it blatantly says so much about the world of omni-present gambling we now live in. Notice I didn't write "gaming", the word which is now used almost exclusively to describe this multi-billion dollar industry. Someone decided that it is more playful than entering a den of thieves.
Gambling has been around forever -- soldiers drew lots for Jesus' garment at the time of his crucifixion in all four gospels -- but now you can play on your dumbphone using a little square of plastic instead of travelling anywhere or laying down actual cash. It's impossible to watch major sporting events without being inundated by ads. Little wonder gambling addiction is on the rise. We know that governments at every level are now dependent on gambling revenue although they still can't balance budgets. I just saw that our city received it's latest quarterly payment from the local casino to the tune of nearly $800,000. Yet our roads get worse.
I'm reading an excellent British murder mystery in which one of the key characters is the billionaire owner of an online betting company. He foresaw the opportunities for this form of gambling well ahead of the curve and ended up immensely wealthy. Along the way he went through a religious conversion and committed himself to ethical gambling because Jesus helped him find his moral compass. The detective n charge of the murder investigation quietly challenges the conceit of this "road to Damascus" experience for the CEO and his well-crafted rationales.
During my ministry I spent time with individuals leading lives of quiet desperation because of the financial mess they found themselves in because of gambling. In some instances they lost homes and jobs and relationships. They definitely weren't having innocent fun.
Here is the link to a Broadview Magazine article about online gambling from a couple of years ago. The illustration is perfect.
An Ipsos survey conducted in late 2022 suggests nearly half of Canadians believe the amount and volume of gambling advertising is excessive and needs to be reduced. Some observers also worry that the promotions could negatively affect young people, a concern that one former gambler echoes. “I think I would have been hooked at 18 rather than 24 if this is how I grew up,” he says.(Illustration: Sébastien Thibault)
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