Skipping Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage Read Free Book Online

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    Considering the long tradition of antigambling sentiments and agitation (see Guys and Dolls ) among Christian conservatives, it’s strange that gambling rarely comes in for criticism from the Bill Bennetts and Robert Borks. The gambling issue doesn’t get a lot of play with reliably conservative members of the U.S. House or Senate either. How did something that was once viewed as a sin comparable to adultery become so widespread in a country filled-to-bursting with self-appointed virtuecrats, moral scolds, a Christian Coalition, and hundreds of conservative members of Congress? Do they all agree with the gaming industry when it argues that gambling isn’t a moral issue at all, and certainly not a sin?
    Or is it the money, honey?
    House Speaker Dennis Hastert visited Las Vegas in August of 1999. “Hastert rarely missed an opportunity Wednesday during his visit to Las Vegas to rip vocal gaming industry opponent Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.,” the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.
    â€œThey are (his) own personal views and certainly not the views of the party leadership,” Hastert, R-Ill., told Las Vegas reporters. . . . Hastert repeated the line during a private meeting with Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn and a midday fund-raiser with gaming industry executives, who donated an estimated $600,000 to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. . . . “The consensus in the Republican conference is anti-personal gaming but pro the right to choose,” said one House observer. “A majority in the Republican conference do not personally like to gamble and do not gamble, but most of them don’t want to restrict the rights of others to do so.”
    So let me see if I have this straight: Republicans are pro-choice, pro-personal-freedom, and anti-restricting-the-rights-of-others when it comes to gambling, but not when it comes to anything else. When it comes to gambling, conservative Republicans will ignore thousands of years of moral teaching, Scripture, and tradition to support “personal gaming” because adults have a right to choose. Hey, Dennis: How about the right of adults to choose to have an abortion? Or commit adultery? Or listen to rap music? Or visit a prostitute? Or smoke pot?
    â€œGambling has become accepted as part of America’s mainstream culture, alongside leisure activities such as attending movies, athletic events, and the theater.” So begins Keeping It Fun: A Guide to Low-Risk Gambling, a pamphlet produced by the American Gaming Association. “The vast majority of Americans who gamble do it recreationally without any adverse consequences. . . . Keep gambling what it should be—entertainment. Know how to set limits, and, most importantly, know when to stop.” According to the American Gaming Association, no one should gamble alone, no one under age should gamble, and no one should gamble to compensate for feelings of depression or low self-esteem. It’s good advice—in fact, it’s the exact same advice I would give pot smokers, adulterers, and gluttons.
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    â€œB et with your head, not over it. 1-800-BETS-OFF.”
    That message was brought to me courtesy of a cash machine in Dubuque, Iowa. Gambling long ago left Las Vegas, and I figured it was about time I did, too. Las Vegas is an overwhelming place, and the longer you stay in the city the less it charms. Two days is the ideal length for a visit to Las Vegas, and I had been spending weeks at a time in the city. So I decided to leave Nevada and visit the first American city to welcome riverboat gambling. Only after making that decision did I learn that city was Dubuque.
    Iowa and I have a rather unpleasant history. During the 2000 presidential primaries, I went undercover as a volunteer for Gary Bauer’s campaign while I had the flu (where I may or may not have licked Bauer’s doorknobs, staplers, and officer supplies in an attempt to give him the flu), but