Sports Betting and Other Gambling in the United States

Gambling is big business in the United States, though accurate figures are not available on how many billions of dollars each year are spent on it. Furthermore, it is likely to get bigger due to the Supreme Court ruling last year (2018) that struck down a law that had basically made sports gambling illegal outside of Nevada. Articles on Forbes.com¹, WashingtonPost.com², and BusinessInsider.com³ are three of many that discuss the Supreme Court’s decision.

Since that Supreme Court decision, several states have legalized sports betting and many others are considering it. A recent ESPN.com⁴ article discusses the status of sports betting in each state.

Gambling in General

Some view gambling as fun entertainment or an easy way to make money. I strongly disagree.

Even small friendly bets with friends can lead to disputes. For example, one person may be unwilling (or unable) to pay when they lose a bet. An argument may also occur over the exact terms of the bet. A friendship can be weakened or destroyed as the dispute over money escalates.

Gambling too often leads to disagreements and lost money as I see it.

The only way one person can win gambling is for someone else to lose. That does not seem good to me. No useful product or service is produced by gambling that makes it worthwhile in my opinion. Perhaps much worse, the minority of people who become compulsive gamblers cause significant problems for themselves—and in some cases problems for their families and friends, as well as others.

It’s true that some people likely gamble just for entertainment. Also, even persons buying losing lottery tickets may be happy in some way during the time between when they buy the ticket and the time they learn the results of the drawing—joyfully visualizing their potential winnings and how they can use them. Still, over the long term I feel these people would be happier not gambling in most cases.

Sports Betting

Legal and illegal betting on sports adds up to billions of dollars in the United States. I wonder how many persons caught up in the emotion of the moment wager large sums of money on particular sporting events—money they need for food, rent, etc.

Also, there is the risk that an individual or a group of people might seek to alter the outcome of games to increase chances of winning. For example, someone could bribe players or coaches to not try to do their best. History records some cases of players taking such bribes to alter the outcome of games. Other types of scandals have occurred, too. A USAToday.com piece⁵ discusses what it calls the “11 biggest scandals in sports gambling history.” Numerous other articles also discuss sports gambling scandals.   

Organized Gambling

Organized gambling seems to do much more harm than good. It seems especially sad that so many state governments are in the business of running lotteries, encouraging people to buy tickets.

Many years ago, the state government in my home state of Kentucky initiated a state lottery to supposedly improve the state's finances. I feel that the state is in worse economic shape now than before the lottery—and likely has more compulsive gamblers, too. I think the lottery is partially responsible for this. In addition, I am ashamed of some of the advertisements run on television and radio to promote the state lottery.

Conclusion

I urge those who gamble with their money to please consider choosing alternative forms of entertainment and to find more ethical ways to seek to make money than by gambling.

It would be great if persons voluntarily greatly reduced the amount of money spent on gambling. As an alternative, Congress could pass laws making gambling illegal, and law enforcement officials could do a better job of enforcing laws against illegal gambling. But, this is easier written about than achieved.

ENDNOTES:

¹ Edelman, Mark; “Explaining the Supreme Court’s Recent Sports Betting Decision”; Forbes.com; May 16, 2018; website accessed April 27, 2019; https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2018/05/16/explaining-the-supreme-courts-recent-sports-betting-decision/#b16f8d5537cb

² Maese, Rick; “What the Supreme Court’s sports gambling decision means”; WashingtonPost.com; May 14, 2018; website accessed April 27, 2019; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/05/14/what-the-supreme-courts-sports-gambling-decision-means/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6ab70f378926

³ Lauletta, Tyler; “The Supreme Court has overturned the federal ban on sports betting—here’s what that means for the immediate future of gambling in America”; BusinessInsider.com; May 14, 2018; website accessed April 27, 2019; https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-sports-betting-decision-what-it-means-2018-5

⁴ Rodenberg, Ryan; “State-by-state sports betting bill tracker”; ESPN.com; April 24, 2019; website accessed April 27, 2019; http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/19740480/gambling-sports-betting-bill-tracker-all-50-states

 ⁵ Chase, Chris; “11 biggest scandals in sports gambling history”; USAToday.com; May 16, 2018; website accessed April 27, 2019; https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/05/11-biggest-scandals-in-sports-gambling-history

NOTE:

This piece being submitted to Google Blogger on April 27, 2019 is almost identical to one the author submitted to Craft News Report (a website operated by his friend Paul Craft) earlier on the same day. That article was adapted and updated from a chapter in the author’s book True Christianity: It May Not Be What You Think. The author has also written on the subject for other websites over the years.

Happy Easter, Everyone--or Almost Everyone!

Easter is a holiday that perhaps almost everyone (maybe everyone?) can enjoy. It offers so much.

I am writing this less than a week before April 21, 2019, which is Easter 2019 for the majority of Christians. Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter a week later on April 28, 2019. I won’t go into why it’s different, but a Birmingham Mail article¹ and a GreekReporter.com article² are two of many online articles that discuss this.

Secular Easter

As a child, I loved Easter. Milk-chocolate rabbits, marshmallow rabbits, and Easter baskets filled with goodies made it nice. Coloring Easter eggs, then hiding and hunting them added to the fun.

As an adult, I still enjoy hiding and finding Easter eggs, eating tasty candy in moderation, and experiencing other secular aspects of the holiday.

However, Easter is made up of much more than the activities I described earlier in this article.

Like many others, I often omitted the main thing. The Easter story about Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection is what Easter is really all about.

Christian Easter

After I became a Christian, I more fully realized the importance of Easter to believers. Christian congregations around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. In fact, some Christians use the term "resurrection Sunday" to describe Easter Sunday.

While resurrection from the dead may seem scientifically impossible, think about it. We know CPR can revive people considered dead. Also, there are documented stories of persons in hospitals or funeral homes that were pronounced dead by medical professionals, but these “dead” individuals were later found alive. You can do a Google search to find numerous online articles about these cases. Furthermore, in the plant kingdom we know that a seed “dead” for years can grow a huge tree when planted in the soil, watered, and given sunlight.     

However, even among Christians, there is disagreement over whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead. However, Christians who don’t believe in a literal resurrection are in the minority. A 2017 BBC survey³ found ¼ of British Christians did not believe in the resurrection. A 2016 Rassmussen^® Reports survey⁴ indicated that about ¾ of American adults believed in the resurrection, including both Christians and nonChristians.

Regardless of your personal beliefs, Easter Sunday offers a marvelous opportunity for those who have not been to church in a long while (or ever) to visit. Even if you are a nonbeliever, you may find the atmosphere, decorations, music, fellowship, and message enjoyable. Many churches offer special services and are especially welcoming to visitors at Easter.

But congregations of Christians typically welcome visitors to any of their services on any day. You don't need to wait for next Easter (or Christmas or any other special occasion) to visit.

Beginning a New Life 

Indeed, any day is a great day to celebrate Easter, to begin a new life, to be born again. Any time is a wonderful time to resolve to turn one's life around. One can decide at any time to sincerely pray to God, to renounce one's sins, and to seek to live a new life. We can't do it on our own, but we can all live a new, joy-filled Christian life under the direction and control of the highest righteous power, God.

We can repent of our sins and live a new life in obedience to God anytime. Happy Easter, everyone!—regardless of what day you’re reading this.

ENDNOTES:

¹ Bentley, David; “When is Greek Easter 2019? Dates for Greek Orthodox Easter and why it’s different”; BirminghamLive (the digital version of the Birmingham Mail); https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/when-greek-orthodox-easter-2019-9002486  ; April 2, 2019; website accessed April 16, 2019.

² Smith, John; “Why Orthodox and Eastern Easter Are on Different Dates”; Greek Reporter; https://greece.greekreporter.com/2019/04/14/why-orthodox-and-western-easter-are-on-different-dates/;  April 14, 2019; website accessed April 16, 2019.

³ “Resurrection did not happen, say quarter of Christians”; BBC; https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-39153121; April 9, 2017; website accessed April 18, 2019.

⁴ “Three quarters of Americans Believe Jesus Rose From the Dead”; Rasmussen^® Reports; http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/march_2016/three_quarters_of_americans_believe_jesus_rose_from_the_dead; March 24, 2016; website accessed April 18, 2019.

NOTE:

This piece is being submitted to Google Blogger on April 18, 2019. But, it is adapted and expanded from an article the author wrote for another website in 2013. The author has also written on the subject for other websites over the years.

This particular article was last updated on April 19, 2019. 

WikiLeaks, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of the Press

Many of us in the United States pride ourselves on our nation’s reputation for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. But, to what extent do we really have it?

Current efforts by the United States to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S. to face charges are leading to discussions about how much freedom of the press is proper.

Also, is the real reason that the U.S. seeks to prosecute him, the fact that he and WikiLeaks exposed much wrongdoing by the government?

I remember some years ago when the United States government repeatedly denied reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Then, when photos were publicly released showing the abuse, the government seemed to first seek to prosecute the person who took the photos. It seems the government, both then and now with Assange, perhaps seems to convey the message that persons who document government wrongdoing will face more severe charges than those who commit the wrongdoing. I strongly oppose the commission of wrongdoing and its cover up.

In a column posted yesterday (April 12, 2019) Guardian columnist Owen Jones wrote persuasively¹ opposing the extradition of Assange and supporting freedom of the press for those exposing wrongdoing. I urge you to read his column.

While many elected and appointed officials in the United States are urging the prosecution of Assange, the United States government itself often seeks to crack passwords and access confidential documents of other governments around the world. The National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, the United States military, and other U.S. government agencies are guilty and have been guilty of many of the same things they accuse Assange of doing—and worse.

United States Government Wrongdoing

The United States government has interfered in numerous other nations’ elections, as reported by the New York Times², The Atlantic³, and numerous other sources. The United States has also been involved in numerous military actions in various countries, as noted by Global Policy Forum⁴, a Congressional Research Service piece on FAS.org,⁵ and a huge number of other sources. Furthermore, many (most?) of those military actions were apparently not justified.

How much spying, election interfering, and military action has the United States taken against other countries that we don’t know about since it hasn’t been exposed by WikiLeaks or anyone else?    

The United States government often does things in secret that it seeks to cover up. In recent years the organization WikiLeaks has published a huge quantity of secret documents exposing much wrongdoing. Some of the information it released (such as Social Security numbers and credit card numbers) should have remained secret as I see it, but a huge amount of the material it released has exposed wrongdoing that otherwise might not have come to light.

Closing Thoughts

If what Assange and WikiLeaks did was wrong, much of what the United States government does and has done is wrong, too. Also, if Assange was wrong, were all the major media outlets that republished information leaked by WikiLeaks in the wrong, too?

Personally, I think WikiLeaks was guilty of doing wrong by leaking Social Security numbers and credit card numbers. And, some of the other information it released likely would better have been kept out of the public eye. However, the huge amount of leaked information that led to the exposure of wrongdoing, as well as corrective action in at least some cases, make the good outweigh the bad as I see it.

If the United States is to truly have freedom of speech and freedom of the press to a reasonable extent, I think persons who publish the truth and expose wrongdoing need to be protected from unreasonable prosecution. When (and if) Assange goes to trial, I hope that he faces only reasonable charges. And, perhaps most importantly, I hope those guilty of even greater wrongdoing face reasonable charges, especially if they haven’t repented.

I will close by asking readers to please note that I am focusing on Assange with regard to WikiLeaks and freedom of the press. Allegations he committed sexual abuse are another story that I don’t seek to address here. My focus is on freedom of the press and freedom of speech, both of which need to be allowed within reasonable limits—perhaps especially when they expose wrongdoing.  

ENDNOTES:

¹ Jones, Owen; “Whatever you think of Julian Assange, his extradition to the US must be exposed”; TheGuardian.com; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/12/julian-assange-extradition-wikileaks-america-crimes; April 12, 2019; website accessed April 13, 2019.

² Shane, Scott; “Russia Isn’t the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It Too”; New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sunday-review/russia-isnt-the-only-one-meddling-in-elections-we-do-it-too.html; February 17, 2018; website accessed April 13, 2019.

³ Beinart, Peter; “The U.S. Needs to Face Up to Its Long History of Election Meddling”; The Atlantic; https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/07/the-us-has-a-long-history-of-election-meddling/565538/; July 22, 2018; website accessed April 13, 2019.

⁴ “U.S. Military and Clandestine Operations in Foreign Countries – 1798-Present”; Global Policy Forum; https://www.globalpolicy.org/us-westward-expansion/26024-us-interventions.html; December 2005; website accessed April 13, 2019.

^{5 “}Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad 1798-2018”; Congressional Research Service (accessed on Federation of American Scientists website ); https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42738.pdf; updated December 28, 2018; website accessed April 13, 2019.

NOTE:

This piece being submitted to Google Blogger on April 14, 2019 is virtually identical to one the author submitted to Craft News Report (a website operated by his friend Paul Craft) on April 13, 2019. But, the author has long felt the need to support freedom of speech and freedom of the press within reasonable limits. In past years he has written other articles on the subject for other websites.