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Bahamian Pastors: Legalizing gambling in The Bahamas would only cause more impoverishment and would add to the nation’s social ills
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Pastors Scoff At Plan For Nat’l Lottery:
By Viraj Perpall -
Nassau, Bahamas:



A group of pastors on Tuesday scoffed at a bid by education officials to fund education’s future needs through a national lottery.

The most recent draft of a new plan for education – which was obtained by the Bahama Journal – says the government will over the next 10 years fund education through a national lottery.

It’s an idea many religious leaders have long rejected.

"Wherever a national lottery is introduced crime goes up and there are social problems you have to address," said Lyall Bethel, senior pastor at Grace Community Church.

He said it is the church that would have to come to the rescue of the people detrimentally affected by a national lottery.

"It irritates me when people say that we are just concerned about the tithe being lost, but nothing can be further from the truth," Pastor Bethel said.

"We know that it’s us who are going to fix those families that will be destroyed. Money that should go to some social ministry here [at the church] will now have to be diverted to deal with families that are shattered by an addicted father or mother whose money is lost in the gambling hall."

He said that legalizing gambling in The Bahamas would only cause more impoverishment and would add to the nation’s social ills.

"You cannot build a nation off of greed, covetousness, chance, indiscipline and irresponsibility," Pastor Bethel said.

Speaking of a woman who left her children in a car for the entire day while gambling in the United States, Pastor Bethel said "gambling produces a fantasy" that causes citizens of a nation to act contrary to their responsibilities.

"No prime minister and no cabinet ought to put that out as an acceptable alternative because the money never goes where they say it will go," Pastor Bethel said.

He said that because of the moral and ethical implications surrounding the issue of gambling, leaders of the church can "in no way agree with it."

Chairman of the National Advisory Council on Crime and Senior Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church Bishop Simeon Hall also said the idea of a national lottery is not a good one.

Bishop Hall charged that a national lottery would hurt the poor more than anyone else in the society.

"Middle class people can take $100 and just waste it on the lottery, but the fellow making just $200 a week who spends $100 on the lottery will only exacerbate the social and crime problem," he said.

Bishop Hall said the argument against gambling goes far beyond a moral disagreement on the issue.

"It’s lazy legislation," Bishop Hall said. "These MPs should go to the House more often and be on time and be a little more creative."

He said there are better ways to fund education and a national lottery would not help Bahamians.

"A national lottery will not help us in the long run," he said. "And that is not coming from a moral sense, that’s coming from a sensible perspective."

Bishop Hall said The Bahamas is at a stage where leaders from all sectors need to be more responsible for the people they lead.

"We cannot lead our people into temptation and that’s what that kind of legislation does," he charged.

The proposed 10-year strategic plan for education states "effort must be made to seek legitimate and creative sources of funding which will be needed for the construction of educational facilities, the further development of instructional programmes and the purchase of tuition supplies."

The plan says the government will install closed circuit TV systems in secondary schools; review policies on suspension and expulsion; further develop alternative educational and training programmes for at-risk students; establish safety protocols at all education facilities and improve pre and in-service training for security personnel.

The plan also commits to outfitting all secondary schools with cafeterias and auditoriums, and expanding the role of school boards in the maintenance of schools.


June 4, 2008

June 4, 2008 | 11:26 PM Comments  0 comments

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