We Are Against It

The talk at general conference that caught the most attention from the media was certainly President Christofferson’s talk on gambling. It is not a topic that is referenced a lot in general conference, and the last talk dedicated to the subject was by President Hinckley in 2005. The prevalence of gambling has only grown since then as President Christofferson commented: “The growth in worldwide gambling is primarily driven by three new online markets. First is online sports betting, which involves wagers on sports scores, statistics, or events. Second is online casino-type games, sometimes referred to as internet or iGaming: slot games, roulette, blackjack, poker, and so on. A third, relatively new platform is what are called ‘prediction markets’ that allow participants to bet on whether something will or will not happen and when. It could be tied to anything: interest rates, elections, sports, wildfires, or even, if you can imagine, the timing of the Second Coming. (Where would you go to collect on that bet?)” I looked that up and sure enough, you can place a wager on whether or not Jesus Christ will come again by December 31, 2026 (apparently “the implied probability hovers around 1% to 4%”). How ridiculous! Indeed, the logic behind gambling as a whole is twisted as it is—which one of us would invest in a stock if we knew that the expected return was negative? And yet that is what people who gamble do. President Christofferson related, “Surveys reveal that people know that in gambling the odds are stacked against them, and the house always wins—they just don’t think it will win against them personally.” He quoted one prominent journalist, McKay Coppins, who highlighted how suddenly tens of millions of people have casinos in their pockets. Coppins commented, “As a society, we are making an enormously risky bet: that we can reap the rewards of a runaway gambling industry without paying any price; [we are betting] that the litany of social ills long associated with this vice—addiction and impoverishment, isolation and abuse, cheating and … corrosive idleness—can, this time, be kept in check; [we are betting] that, unlike every civilization that came before us, we can beat the house.” And, of course, we certainly will not.   

In addition to discussing the terrible effects of gambling through addiction, wasted time, and wasted money, President Christofferson taught that it is simply morally wrong. He said this: “For us as Latter-day Saints, overarching all other concerns is the fact that gambling is morally wrong. Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing. Its structure requires that any gain comes at others’ expense. It’s hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. In addition, our resources are stewardships, and the question is not merely whether a purchase is legal but whether it builds anything—in us, in our families, or in those around us. In the end, gambling produces nothing of value and enriches only its purveyors.” The Savior taught, “And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:40-42). Gambling does the exact opposite, seeking to take money from others without any benefit to them. With gambling there is no value created; money simply is taken from one and given to another. In his notes to his talk, President Christofferson addressed the false idea that gambling is just another form of investing. He wrote, “It is troubling that some people consider gambling a form of investment. A recent survey of 1,000 retail investors in the United States found that approximately 12 percent view sports betting as a deliberate part of their long-term investment strategy…. Bets and investments both carry risks, but there is a big difference between them. Investments tend to make money on average over time, while bets tend to lose money. The returns on investment come from the creation of value to others. In contrast, the winnings from betting come from the losses of someone else.” Investing in other companies through something like a mutual fund enables those companies to grow using that money, and in the expected case the companies are benefited through the money and the investor makes a return on their investment. On the other hand, putting money into gambling does neither of those things: no value is created for another and there is no positive expected return.   

President Christofferson introduced the topic with this memorable anecdote: “President Gordon B. Hinckley, in addressing this subject over 20 years ago, mentioned a story about former United States President Calvin Coolidge, known as a man of few words. As Coolidge returned home from church one Sunday, his wife asked him what the preacher spoke about. He replied, ‘Sin.’ ‘Well, what did he say?’ she asked. ‘He was against it,’ replied Coolidge. President Hinckley said, ‘I think I could answer the question concerning gambling just that briefly. We are against it.’” As more and more people around the world get caught up in gambling, Latter-day Saints must continue to avoid it completely, whether in casinos or on our smartphones, and declare with the prophet: “We are against it.”