Religions and Gambling: What Are The Rules?
Gambling is something that pretty much everyone has heard of even if they haven’t tried it. Regardless of the country that you live, the city, the village, gambling is a term that many will be aware of. We all take risks in life, either knowingly or not. It’s a gamble to simply cross the road or choose which job to take. Of course, when it comes to actually gambling for money on unknown outcomes, this is a lot more specific.
Not everyone has an interest in participating in gambling and not everyone has the ability to. This could be for a number of reasons, but one of the reasons that stands out above many others is due to the person’s associated religion. There are various worldwide religions that ban gambling or at least frown on it. Indeed, in courtiers where the national religion is tied to government gambling can often be outlawed with serious penalties for those that do it.
We want to know more about the religions and cults of the world that prohibit gambling, and why this is the case. Furthermore, are there religions that specifically allow gambling, and why do they do so? Why does religion have such an impact on peoples’ daily lives and restrict them from participating in gambling with their own money? Join us as we take a closer look at these religions and the countries that ban gambling due to such.
Gambling in Hinduism
Anyone following the Hindu religion will likely be under the impression that gambling is viewed in a negative light. This is despite the fact that a dice game forms a large part of one of the major texts in Hinduism. However, gambling for entertainment purposes is likely to be frowned up in the general belief system, and in some Hindu practices, it is forbidden in any format. It is the case that some branches of Hinduism consider the motivations and outcomes of gambling in order to determine how moral an activity it is.
The second book of the Hindu text known as the Mahabharata, which is thought to have been written in the 8th and 9th centuries BC, speaks of the previously mentioned dice game. In this book, entitled the Sabha Parva, the king Yudhishthira was challenged to play a game of dice in order to conquer the kingdom. During the game, the king is tricked into ceding his entire kingdom, resulting in he and his family being exiled for 12 years. How is this possible in a religion that largely looks upon gambling negatively? Well, the rules of Dharma (the cosmic law of Hinduism), dictate that a king was expected to accept any challenge of his counterpart, be that a war, duel or devastating game of dice. Yudhishthira was challenged by his enemy king Dhritarashtra, and thus was tricked this way.
Yet in today’s practice of Hinduism, gambling is conditioned by the ideas of karma and reincarnation. Gambling is therefore heavily forbidden, according to the laws of the religion. However, this does not stop some locations in India (where Hinduism is a primary religion) from providing options like sports betting, poker gameplay, and more.
Gambling in Buddhism
You can pretty much look at Hinduism and take many aspects of Buddhism from it. Siddhartha Gautama is responsible for founding Buddhism, and he is known as the Buddha, or “The Enlightened One”. This religion does not believe in any existence of a supreme divine being, so there isn’t really any kind of god in the faith. Therefore, little is written on the sinfulness of gambling, although the religion does incorporate some of the concepts of Hinduism, including karma and reincarnation.
That being said, amongst Buddha’s teachings, a definitive recommendation exists against the practice of gambling. This, it is said, relates to the suffering that gambling causes to the human society, and the text regarding this can be found in Sigalovada Sutta: The Layman’s Code of Discipline.
In that text, it is written:
“There are six dangers of being addicted to gambling. In winning one begets hatred; in losing one mourns the loss of one’s wealth; one’s word is not accepted in court; one is avoided by both friends and officials; one is not sought after for marriage because people say a gambler cannot support a wife”.
This was finalised with a teaching that
“squandering wealth on dice leads to one’s decline”.
Generally speaking though, recreational gambling would be considered harmless from a Buddhist perspective. That being said, because all gambling actually surrounds a certain level of greed, it is not becoming for Buddhists to raise funds this way, while habitual and addictive gambling are very much considered harmful and outlawed.
Gambling in Christianity
Christianity looks towards the teachings of the Lord, Jesus Christ, for any sort of life guidance. Yet there was very little mentioned in the Bible about gambling, be that by Jesus or anyone else. It is frequently mentioned in the Bible about “casting of lots”, though. This is the practice of using methods like rolling dice to make decisions without any kind of bias.
Perhaps the most notable mention of this is in the book of Exodus. Joshua determines where 12 tribes will settle their disputes by this method. Additionally, some gospel writers speak of lots being cast at Jesus’ crucifixion by Roman soldiers, which was done to decide upon who would be the benefactor of his clothing. The replacement for Judas Iscariot as one of the disciples, St Matthias, was also chosen by casting lots.
Christian churches today often make use of certain gambling methods to raise money for repairs and maintenance of churches, chapels, and so on. This includes hosting raffles and other prize draws, while church fetes and gathering frequently offer tombolas and similar fundraising options.
Gambling is not specifically prohibited in Christianity by any means, and many Christians do involve themselves in the activity at different levels. This is because there are various branches of Christianity – Catholicism, C of E, Methodist etc. – and the Bible and other teachings are very much open to interpretation by the faithful. While it would not be common to see Christian nuns, monks, and so on partaking in gambling due to taking vows of poverty, Christian people are not restricted.
Gambling in Islam
Gambling is very much considered to be a sin and highly forbidden when it comes to the Islamic faith. Known as haram, it is common across the vast majority of Islamic countries for gambling to be strictly prohibited. That being said, the Quran does allow gambling under certain specific situations, and this is usually when it is guaranteed to provide a winning outcome.
In those circumstances, the belief of not being wasteful with money is very much supported, and so is the teaching of appreciating hard work that is involved in acquiring wealth.
In the Sunan Abu Dawud, the Prophet Muhammad spoke of wagers only being allowed for “racing camels or horses, or shooting arrows”. This does seem to go directly against the idea that gambling is very much prohibited in Islam, but they are very specific exceptions. Those exceptions were also thought to have been included so as to encourage early Muslims to be prepared to defend themselves, rather than specifically for entertainment purposes.
Gambling is banned in many Muslim countries though, and failure to comply with these religious laws can result in people being fined and even imprisoned. Strict anti-gambling laws exist in countries like Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Libya. The Islamic faith is one of the least tolerant of its followers participating in gambling activities. And even though its texts have certain loopholes that can be exploited, rules in many Muslim countries have become a lot stricter over time.
Gambling in Judaism
Judaic texts are not specifically very informative when it comes to the topic of gambling. Playing for money has historically been frowned upon by the authorities, while professional gamblers were not considered to be very reliable witnesses when it comes to evidence in courts of law. Why? Because they weren’t deemed to be able to provide anything of worth.
That being said, the Torah does make mention of the casting of lots, just like the Bible. The utilisation of throwing dice or different length sticks is mentioned as ways of making decisions. You only need to turn your attention to the story of Jonah and the Whale to discover that this is the case.
Further to this, if you were to experience a traditional Hanukkah celebration, the likelihood is that you would see the spinning top game using the dreidel. Usually utilised in a family scenario, players will participate in placing small bets on a particular outcome occurring.
You can even see some synagogues encouraging gambling during the celebration of Purim. This commemorates Esther’s saving of the Jews located in Persia. Beliefs suggest that providing gambling for a good cause, such as fundraising via lotteries or raffles for example, is absolutely fine. This was further backed up by Rabbi Louis Jacobs, former leader and founder of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He said that playing cards, placing bets on horse races and engaging in games of chance are accepted in Judaism, as long as players are responsible with their wagers.
Gambling in Confucianism
While not being a particularly well-known religion outside of China, Confucianism is a belief system that many Chinese people still follow. It focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality, and it laid the foundation for much of the country’s culture. Although some popular Chinese philosophies do determine gambling to be morally bad, it also thought that some consider it to be a way of life.
Interviews took place with 375 local residents in Macau, and the results provided information that 57% were morally against gambling. A little over 50% of the people did feel that gambling could contribute positively to the community, while 63% of those interviewed said that they felt comfortable with gambling being present. Why is this the case when Confucianism speaks out against things that are morally negative?
A look into a Chinese book entitled Zhong Guo Du Bo Shi (translation: Chinese Gambling History), features a section surrounding Confucius’ analects. During a conversation that he has with the ruler Lu, Confucius made the statement that gentlemen should not engage in gambling because it is morally bad. However, in complete contradiction of this, later on he said that gambling was acceptable because it is better than being lazy and doing nothing at all. Therefore, it really depends upon how it is being viewed. Gambling could, according to Confucius, destroy a gentleman’s dignity, but if it negates inactivity, then it could be viewed as an acceptable pastime. This being the case, many Chinese people may believe that they are keeping themselves busy by participating in gambling, adhering with the teachings of Confucianism.
Unfortunately, China has many laws that restrict gambling throughout the country, other than in certain zones, such as the aforementioned Macau. This is not at all to do with the religion of Confucianism, though. Instead, gambling was officially outlawed in 1949, when the Community Party came to power. Any form of gambling within the mainland of China is considered to be completely illegal, regardless of whether someone is a follower of Confucianism or not.
Gambling in Mormonism
Mormons are, for the benefit of this article, following the laws of Christianity to some degree. However, it takes on its own sort of life and introduces a variety of rules for followers to adhere to. This includes laws surrounding gambling, which according to Mormonism is morally evil. Anyone following the faith is admonished not to participate in it.
This isn’t solely due to the fact that it can cause terrible gambling addiction, but that the church also believes it to be wrong on a moral level. To get money without having given fair value in exchange for such is not something that Mormons promote as a healthy form of faith. This goes as far as to denounce lotteries that are sponsored by governments as a way of raising money for different state projects. Church leaders have been encouraged to unite with members and oppose the legalisation and government sponsorship of any form of gambling.
The rules of Mormonism dictate that the desire for gambling is something that is spiritually destructive, leading participants away from the teachings of love and service.
