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BY BYRON BROUGHT

The strife is o'er,
the battle done;
the victory of life is won;
the shout of triumph
has begun:
Alleluia!

In this glad Easter season, we can confidently sing the great Palestrina hymn celebrating the mighty act of God in raising Jesus from the dead. The strife is over. The battle is won. Christ is alive, and because he lives, we too shall live.

I wish we could make the same claim with the recent victory in the Maryland General Assembly and the defeat of slots. Yes, the battle is won, and we can celebrate. Slots ? predatory, addictive, and malignant ? have been defeated. Alleluia!

But unlike the victory over death, this battle will need to be fought again. There is so much pro-slots money pouring into the campaign funds of our senators and delegates that you can be sure that slots will be back again.

What happened this year? Slots legislation passed both in the Senate and the House, yet slots were defeated.

Why? The immediate answer is that the Senate and House bills were vastly different and could not be reconciled. They therefore died in their respective houses. But I believe there is more to the answer.

The religious community, especially The United Methodist Church, made a very strong witness against slots. Led by our bishop, John R. Schol, the Cabinet, conference staff, and countless clergy and lay people, United Methodists flooded both state and local politicians with visits, calls, letters and e-mails expressing our opposition. Colleagues from the Peninsula- Delaware Conference also contributed a powerful presence.

What helped clinch the victory was the outcry from local jurisdictions. The Senate bill would have placed slots in Baltimore, Prince George's County and other locations to be named by a committee. But from Baltimore and PG County came the cry, 'We don't want slots here.'

The House bill would have placed slots in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Frederick and Harford counties. But from these areas came the same cry, 'We don't want slots here.' This outcry arose because United Methodists voiced their strong opinions.
We were actually assisted in our battle by the greed of the slots proponents. The race track owners, the big casino companies, senators and delegates could not come to agreement over who would get how much. Avarice is one of the seven deadly sins, but on this occasion it worked in our favor.

Celebrate the victory in Maryland. But look out West Virginia, where efforts to expand 'racinos' to full-blown casinos was defeated this year. Ironically, the reason given by proponents of this measure was that because Maryland and Pennsylvania were getting slots, West Virginia would have to expand their operations.

So, you see, slots really are malignant. We must stay vigilant. They will be back. Like the 'minutemen' of the American Revolution, United Methodist men and women must be ready 'at a minute's notice' to stand firm against this 'menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government' (Book of Discipline, 163.G).

The Rev. Byron Brought is pastor of Calvary UMC in Annapolis.