Gambling in the Faith and Practice

I used to gamble sometimes when I still lived in Turku. I learned my lesson. Never again!

Gambling disregards our belief that possessions are a trust. The persistent appeal to covetousness evident, for example, in football pool propaganda is fundamentally opposed to the unselfishness which was taught by Jesus Christ and by the New Testament as a whole. The attempt, which is inseparable from gambling, to make a profit out of the inevitable loss and possible suffering of others is the antithesis of that love of one’s neighbour on which Jesus insisted.
1959; 1994

We are faced at every hand with enticements to risk money in anticipation of disproportionate gain through gambling. Some governments employ gambling as a means of raising revenue, even presenting it as a civic virtue. The Religious Society of Friends continues to bear testimony against betting, gambling, lotteries, speculation, or any other endeavour to receive material gain without equivalent exchange, believing that we owe an honest return for what we receive.

Faith and practice, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 1988

Quaker Faith and Practice, Chapter 20, <http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/20/>06.03.2017.