| Evils of gambling must be fought By Bill Heslop There is an old saying that for evil to succeed all that is required is for enough good people to do nothing. This is especially true when it comes to casinos and slot machines in Maryland. The powerful forces of the gambling interests, as well as professional crime families, can win the day if enough of us church folk sit around and do nothing except wring our hands about how bad things are getting. Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that gambling doesnt affect us is not how Christians respond to Gods call to help redeem human life. Unless local churches mobilize and inundate our elected officials with letters, phone calls and e-mails that indicate we will respond at the polls, casinos and slots will be in hotels, restaurants, gas stations and just about any place else where they can find the room. Dont be fooled by the assertion that they will only be at the racetrack. This is simply a ploy to get their foot in the door. Once they do, the ball game is over. Of course the big lie is how much revenue gambling will generate for the state. What they never tell us is how much it costs the state in additional expenses to deal with the devastation that gambling creates. I lived in southern Maryland when slots were everywhere and saw first hand the poverty, family problems and social upheaval that were created by gambling. The cost to local and state government was high. This is the little secret the government never talks about. Much of the revenue must be spent on the social problems that gambling creates. Now is the time for United Methodists and other concerned citizens to make a lot of noise. Dont put off writing that letter or making that phone call or sending that e-mail to let our state and local representatives know exactly where we stand and how we will vote if they ignore our concerns about this critical issue. We need to do it today. We all will feel better if we do. Every local church should have, or should form, a committee to help congregations stay informed and on top of the issue. We must be prepared to act again and again so that Maryland will be free of this cancer. The gambling industrys goal is to wear us down. Let us show them that Christians dont wear down, they rise up to meet and defeat the malignant forces that exploit peoples lives. I truly believe that this is what Jesus would want us to do. The Rev. William Heslop is a retired clergyman in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. | 
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