PREDICTABLY, A number of church leaders are railing against the decision to revisit the introduction of casino gambling as an added attraction to boost Jamaica's tourism product and as a source of additional direct revenue for the Government. The debate is a valid one but will deteriorate into emotional propaganda unless its terms are carefully defined and the issues sharply focused.
Except for acts which are intrinsically evil, like murder, life as we know it teaches that any proposed course of action will produce good effects and bad effects. To be morally acceptable, the good must outweigh the bad and be the principal motive for taking the action. Whether the good does in fact outweigh the bad is probably more the province of the sociologists and anthropologists than the parsons. Although by no means a panacea, we think the benefits which will flow from casino gambling are obvious so the focus of debate should be on the bad effects, if any.
The concerns of the Church seem to be twofold: that gangsters will take over the operations of the casinos, further corrupting the society, and that Jamaicans, many of whom are already impoverished, will use gambling as a crutch, a substitute for work and, in the process, lose what little they have. There was a time when gangsters did control casinos in America but this was hardly ever a problem in England or the rest of Europe. We think that a dispassionate study of present-day legislation and controls of the gambling industry worldwide will dispel any such fears.
As for the second objection, this becomes moot if casinos in Jamaica are restricted to visitors as they are in the Bahamas and other tourist locations which compete with us. The assumption of the churchmen that persons who gamble will ruin their lives does not seem to have any factual basis. There are exceptions, of course, but thousands of the elite flock annually to Monte Carlo to play roulette and chemin de fer and thousands of the less affluent flock to Las Vegas and Atlantic City to pump slot machines and play Black Jack. The vast majority keep mature control of how much they can afford to spend for a 'flutter', returning to their homes with digital pictures to remind themselves of a pleasant and relaxing vacation.
There are abundant opportunities for Jamaicans to gamble in Jamaica and we doubt that even in these circumstances a case has been made out that the privilege is being abused to any great extent. We advise the Church to await with open mind the proposed casino study ordered by the Prime Minister and we urge the Government not to bow to threats from any source on the basis of political expediency.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
