The recent back-door legislation which outlawed online gambling in the USA has been championed as a moral cause. This is in direct opposition to a Gallup Poll taken earlier this year which found that 60 percent of adults believe gambling is morally acceptable.
Chief sponsor Jim Leach (R-Iowa) has called it one of the most important pieces of family legislation ever considered by lawmakers. Although by his own admission, gambling is not prohibited by either the Bible or the Quran, he sees a pastoral function in the new law, in that it will protect the rapidly-eroding values of family life.
Others see more of a self-promoting political function in the legislation, believing it was intended to gain support from the religious right for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist if he decides to run for president in 2008.
Gambling in itself is not inherently immoral. Many people enjoy a flutter, spending a small proportion of their leisure money on their chosen sport, whether it be poker, football or horse racing. At this level, it is little more than an innocent pastime.
It can, of course, become an addiction which then has serious consequences. When money earmarked for family welfare is wasted on gambling then it does becomes immoral. But it is no more so than any other activity which diverts money from its intended course.
And if gambling is so immoral, why is Las Vegas still allowed to flourish?