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United Methodists in Maryland have a choice. 'We can act to stop the governor's proposal to bring legalized slot machines to the state or we can wring our hands and lament the ills that will inevitably follow. Act or lament -- the choice is that simple,' said Sandra Ferguson, director of justice ministries for the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

In September Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, proposed legalizing slots as one measure to close the state's $1.7 billion shortfall.

The governor's plan for slots is based on one approved by the House of Delegates in 2005 that calls for 9,500 state-owned machines in Anne Arundel, Harford, Frederick and Allegany counties. He estimates that this would gen-erate approximately $550 million annually for school construction, education and other needs.

Bishop John R. Schol has joined religious leaders from across the region in opposing such measures.

'The state should not depend on gambling expansion for resources to pay for needed services,' the leaders said in a written statement.

'We speak not only because of our collective conscience as religious leaders, but also as citizens of Maryland concerned about the serious long-range consequences gambling will have on the quality of life of all the citizens of our state.'

Among these issues, the leaders said, are increases in divorce, suicide, bankruptcy, child abuse, domestic violence and the poverty that accompanies addictions to gambling.
As United Methodists, we oppose gambling as 'a menace to society and a regressive tax on the poor,' Ferguson said.

The religious community has also voiced opposition to the special session of the Maryland legislature, which O'Malley has proposed to consider his budget plan. The General Assembly traditionally convenes in January.

'The danger in this is that a special session will not include the normal hearings and input from citizens that the regular session will provide. The bigger danger is approval of a non-specific slots proposal, without knowing where and how many parlors will be established,' said the Rev. Bryon Brought, pastor of Cavalry UMC in Annapolis, the United Methodist Church closest to the state capital.

Brought actively opposed slots when Maryland's previous governor, Republican Robert Ehrlich, proposed them each year of his four-year term. Now he's standing up to the Democrats.

'We've been fighting slots for more than a decade,' Ferguson said. 'Each year our opposition must be renewed.'

Opposition to the slots this year is being played out in rallies around the state. On Oct. 4, at a rally at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore that several United Methodists attended, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot warned that if slots are legalized, 'casinos in downtown Baltimore and slots in a neighborhood near you will follow.

'The predatory gambling industry goes where the money is,' he said.

Franchot revealed that Penn National Gaming recently produced a private report for state legislators that claimed that a slots casino in downtown Baltimore or at the Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George's County could generate $2 billion in annual revenue.

Penn National Gambling recently struck a deal to purchase Rosecroft Raceway. It currently owns Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia. The 5,000 slot machines at this track, located within the bounds of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, generated $448 million in gross revenues in 2006, the Baltimore Sun reported.

'The profit that can be made from slots is a huge temptation,' Ferguson said. 'But it in no way makes up for the suffering that legalized gambling leaves in its wake. It destroys lives and communities.'