When Churches Turn to Gambling to Raise Funds
“10 Arrested at Gambling in a Brooklyn Synagogue.” Thus read the heading of a report appearing in the New York Times, August 12, 1974. There had been quite a crowd present, between 250 and 300 patrons, but the police arrested only those who seemed to be in charge of the various games. A spokesman for the synagogue said: “We don’t understand the reasons for the raid. We did nothing that is not done by many other churches and synagogues. Why did they select us?”
But, according to a police official, religious organizations had been advised that if such gambling operations did not stop, “we‘d step in and take them.” This raid, then, was a police crackdown on elaborate gambling affairs known as “Las Vegas Nites,” which often operate from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. While the police had been very indulgent about churches’ putting on illegal gambling affairs, ever since last March they were wondering to what extent members of organized crime were operating such affairs. In August came the evidence that the police could no longer ignore. Early on August 4, in the basement of a synagogue in Brooklyn, stood a reportedly notorious underworld figure, Steven Cirillo. The purpose of his presence was not certain—whether he was in control of the gambling operations or was just watching. Suddenly a gunman shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Later the police found both a handgun and a shotgun in the bushes of the playground adjoining the synagogue.
The place had been filled with people gambling, but when they witnessed the murder they fled, all except one man and the wife of the victim. In the days to come the police interviewed fifty of the patrons, hoping to get a description of the killer. The victim was reported as having a record of seven arrests for crime, ranging from car theft to murder, and as belonging to a Mafia gang that operates in the city.
What was behind the murder? The police speculated that it was an execution by a rival gang, as there had recently been a number of murders and attempted murders owing to such gang warfare. The police had felt that they could look the other way when churches and synagogues engaged in modest gambling operations, but when they sponsored such elaborate gambling affairs as the “Las Vegas Nites,” operated by underworld figures, that was another story. In this connection the police complained about “hungry” religious organizations that “never bother to look into the background” of those they hire to run their gambling operations. As a result, “Police precinct commanders throughout the city were contacting clergymen . . . and warning them to cancel Las Vegas nights in parish and synagogue halls.” Evidently the synagogue raided on August 11 failed to heed such a warning.
Why do churches and synagogues sponsor such gambling affairs? According to the president of one Jewish Center: “For us, it makes the difference between solvency and insolvency.” And a spokesman for another group stated: “Let’s face it. We can make $1,500 to $2,000 on a good night. It pays for Talmud Torah, youth dances, children’s activities,” and so forth. And a spokesman for another Jewish community group stated: “We will have to examine what other religious institutions in the neighborhood do. As long as the police condone it, we’ll probably wind up running it. It’s an essential method of raising funds. But if the police prohibit gambling, we’ll comply.” Evidently some did not comply soon enough!
But how can such gambling activities be justified when they involve religious organizations with the worst criminal elements of society? Gambling certainly makes strange bedfellows! A New York Times editorial (August 14, 1974) stated: “The police cannot do it alone. It is up to the religious institutions to drive the mob out of the temple.” The course of the latter calls to mind the condemnation uttered some three thousand years ago to religious groups living then: “If you meet a thief, you choose him as your friend; you make common cause with adulterers.”—Ps. 50:18, New English Bible.
But even if religious organizations did not get involved in dealings with the criminal element of society, is there any justification for their resorting to such means for raising money? According to a newspaper report, the police have been receiving “numerous complaints from spouses of the persons losing money” at these religiously sponsored gambling games. Should not religious organizations be helping married people to solve their problems rather than contributing to their having still more problems as a result of gambling?
Further, it is a well-known fact that, time and again, gambling becomes an addiction, a “fever,” resulting in the committing of crimes to pay gambling debts, to the breaking up of homes and even to suicides. The folly of trying to get something for nothing or much for little by gambling is forcefully stated by John Scarne, an authority on gambling, in his book The Woman’s Guide to Gambling: “Any woman who plays the one-armed bandits . . . [slot machines] for any purpose other than that of fun, dispelling boredom or frittering away expendable cash needs to have her head examined.”
Underscoring the immoral aspects of church-sponsored gambling, especially as it relates to gambling by the poor, is the letter a Philadelphia Roman Catholic pastor once wrote to his fellow priests and which was published in The Evening Bulletin in that city: “Church-organized gambling in the inner-city is a countersign to our mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the poor. At its worst, it takes on the aspect of the anti-Christ, a wolf in sheep’s clothing that Jesus warned about.
“We [thereby] project ourselves as a church statisfied to keep the poor poor by feeding on their human weaknesses and financial vulnerability. Our bingo games, 50-50 drawings, and car and seashore-house raffles exist not in textbook isolation, but [are] interwoven with parasitical devices deadening the quality of life in the inner-city. . . . We teach our children respect for law, then scandalize them with our illegal operations: some get their first infection of the gambler’s itch [or, gambling “fever”] at our children’s bazaars. . . . That the poor gamble is bad news enough: our sponsorship compounds the evil by supposedly giving legitimizing baptism to a cruel deception.” Such gambling functions are indeed a cruel deception for the poor.
Jehovah’s witnesses too have expenses to meet in order to maintain their places of worship. But they sponsor no gambling, hold no bazaars, pass no collection plates, have no paying of dues. Contributions are all voluntary and unsolicited. How is this possible? Why not attend their meetings and see for yourself.