By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PASTORS calling for gambling to be legalised in the Bahamas are at odds with the Christian Council, a prominent religious leader said yesterday.

The comments of Pastor Lyall Bethel, Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church, follows reports that Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe has been meeting with several church leaders who believe gambling should be legalised so they could help him in his dialogue with religious leaders that do not share this view.

Last month, Bishop Simeon Hall, of New Covenant Baptist Church, called on the Christian community to engage in civil discourse on gambling “without demonising one another.”

In a statement released to The Tribune yesterday, Pastor Bethel said: “It is reported that some religious leaders are giving the PM ‘some encouragement’ to go ahead and legalise gambling. Who are they representing? Rev Patterson stated the official position of the council as being still against gambling, he has authority to speak on the behalf of the denominational heads.”

He asked: “Who do these religious leaders represent? And why would they believe that they can arbitrarily override, undo, dismantle the expressed wishes of the entire Bahamian people in a legally called referendum/opinion poll? The so-called “gambling pastors” took their beliefs on to the campaign trail - they were heard on radio and TV and were quoted in the newspaper, and their surrogates dominated the radio talk shows and still the people summarily rejected this confused message and said no!

“I believe I represent the many who are mystified that they have the audacity to co-opt the people’s victory and turn that into a yes vote! Even if they believe they represent some Christians, they know they don’t represent most and they certainly don’t represent the non-religious who find their attempts to undermine their vote presumptions and arrogant!”

Pastor Bethel, who co-chaired last year’s vote-no campaign, said gambling “hurts the most vulnerable,” including women and children, “especially those from lower income homes”.

He said web shops and gambling will produce social problems, including an increase in unpaid mortgages, rent and school fees as well as increased money borrowing and stealing in order to support one’s gambling habit.

“Such persons end up being a burden on social services, churches, family, and friends, and some even resort to crime,” he said. “Gambling promotes negative lifestyles,” he said, adding that it “encourages laziness, greed, and not saving for the future.”

He said: “People desperate for money to gamble commit crimes to obtain it - stealing from employers, armed robbery, prostitution, housebreaking, etc.”

He added that web shops could harm the economy because they produce “no goods or services and are a parasite in the economy because they suck money that people would normally have spent on goods and services (legitimate businesses) that actually help to grow the economy.”

Lastly, he said gambling dishonours God. “We who believe in God also believe that He provides for all of our needs, so we trust Him. Gambling, however, demonstrates a lack of trust in His loving provision,” he said.

He added: “Since the PM cannot/ought not in good faith go against the expressed will of the people in a referendum that he called for of his own will and volition, and since we can all agree that the country needs money, and since the government cannot be seen as being influenced by the numbers men, and since the numbers boys cannot be grandfathered in for breaking the law over these last couple of decades, then there is only one reasonable solution. The numbers men, in a bid to save/ salvage the country and to fulfil their desire for a clean record, need to publicly renounce their nefarious ways and turn in their ill-gotten gains that can then be used to pay down on the national debt and/or part proceeds used to rebuild the inner city. They cannot be allowed to masquerade as good corporate citizens kindly coming to the aid of the poor.”

When asked about his thoughts on survey results published by a marketing company which claims to show an increase in support for gambling legalislation, Pastor Bethel questioned the credibility of the survey.

He said: “Until he stops sounding like a pitch-man for the Vote Yes campaign rather than a neutral pollster, I believe it is safer to trust those tens of thousands who took action and voted in January of 2013 than the 606 persons polled.”

He said he encourages Prime Minister Christie to honor the results of last year’s referendum.