Sheldon and the Baptists

Go ahead...pull my finger...win a jackpot!

I spend a lot of time lately trying to understand things that baffle me.  I’m not sure if it’s because of advancing age, or if the world has gone completely batshit crazy.  You decide:

Why do teenage girls take up smoking nowadays?  The dangers are real, and we’ve known about them for decades.  You can shorten your life by years, bring on all sorts of nasty diseases, and, when you kiss your boyfriend, you taste like an ashtray.  Where is the upside here?

Why did thousands of American white males and an entire TV new network (I’m looking at you, Fox) go gaga in defending a deadbeat rancher who drapes himself in the American flag, rallies behind the 1st Amendment, and yet claims not to recognize the U. S. Government (proud sponsors of both the flag and the 1st Amendment…and the land he’s using for his cattle)?  Would this story have been any different if it wasn’t Cliven Bundy, but his neighbor, José Hernandez?

Why are Southern Baptists backing Sheldon Adelson?  After all, The Southern Baptist Convention, through its resolutions, has condemned gambling as “immoral,” “harmful,” and “devastating.” Sheldon Adelson is one of the most successful casino owners in the world.  For those of you hard of hearing, that means HE GETS HIS MONEY FROM THE VERY THING THE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS THINK IS IMMORAL.

Yeah, I don’t get this.

Adelson was quoted as saying, “My moral standard compels me to speak out on this issue…I don't see any compelling reason for the government to allow people to gamble on the Internet.”  Understand that if this sentence was three words shorter, it would be the stupidest sentence ever uttered by a casino mogul.  Drop the last three, and you have Adelson saying: “My moral standard compels me to speak out on this issue…I don't see any compelling reason for the government to allow people to gamble.”

Is that a WTF moment, or what?

There was more, but let’s do this one step at a time, beginning with the second sentence.  If there is no “compelling reason for the government to allow people to gamble on the Internet,” that means there should be compelling reasons to PREVENT people to gamble on the Internet, as opposed to preventing them from gambling, period.  And what are these reasons?

Sheldon’s coalition (the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling) has indicated that online gambling might be hazardous in allowing money laundering and collusion, perhaps even a way to sponsor terrorists. In the last few years there have been investigations into such practices and other illegal activities.  In casinos owned by Sheldon Adelson.

Another bullet from Adelson’s Coalition is the harm online gambling may have on our youth, causing teens to go out of control and gamble away their college funds.  Just recently a casino in Pennsylvania came under fire for underage gambling - with fines totaling $220K for four different infractions.  In a casino owned by Sheldon Adelson.

Finally, the Coalition deplored the idea that online casinos would be expanding gambling to make it “available in every college dorm room, every family’s house, every poverty stricken neighborhood…”  They even have the wonderful tag line “Click a Mouse and Lose your House.”  Speaking of famous mice, there was a casino company that was trying to expand land casinos in Florida, the land of Mickey Mouse and family entertainment. 

Anyone wanna guess who owns the company trying to do that?????

Hey Baptists, turn your good book to Matthew 23.  Or maybe Matthew 6.  Or Matthew 7 or a host of others spots in the Bible*.  Adelson is a hypocrite of the first order, and by getting into bed with him on this issue, you have opened yourselves up to scrutiny and further actions have to be viewed with one eye cocked askew.  The Washington Examiner said it best: “Whenever you see someone pushing a regulation for the environment, children or public health, it’s a good idea to sniff out the bootlegger funding the campaign.”

Sheldon is the rum-runner, BTW.

* is anyone surprised this non-believer knows his Bible?  I actually read the thing (it’s been a while).