Similarities between Churches and Casinos

Posted on September 3, 2012 by admin

Through this small article I am going to reflect light on some similarities between Churches and Casinos. There might be many points which relate Casino with Churches but the most common points according to my view point are as follow:

Casino and Churches both are mostly located to well transportation city streets or freeways with large buildings. Some Churches and Casinos are so large that their annual expenditure to operate is millions of dollars.

Most Churches have a Charismatic leader with holy knowledge who convinces people coming to church weekly. Similarly Casinos have entertainers and online casino sites to attract people to go here. In both cases similar process is being done.

Both these organizations have a strong unity inside in groups to help each other. Like group of singles, group of youth, old people group. Who are always ready to help each other. Similarly in gambler at the casino have groups to help partners addicted to gamble.

These two organizations have attractive offer to their followers. First Casino offer large jackpots for their players if they win and this attracts players to come back again and again to win. Similarly on the other hand offers best offers of the world i.e. eternal damnation for bad and eternal salvation for good which attract each one towards church.

Both in Churches and Casinos people can be seen praying to God. And this is definite that if their get whatever they are praying for, maximum problem will be solved from their life.
People are found happy and sad at both places, but it’s true that both of these organizations give hope to your life.

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The Casino That Was Once a Church

Posted on May 10, 2012 by admin

In this article we’ll stick with the recent theme of posts on this website and investigate another link between the world of the gambler at the casino and the world of religion.  Despite what many of the world’s major religions might say, the crossover between the two is significant.  While only Islam specifically bans wagering, each major religion has something serious to say about the morality of poker, blackjack, roulette or whatever might be your game of choice.

Buddhism and Christianity appear to have the loosest interpretations of what is and isn’t allowed.  For example many churches use bingo nights and raffle competitions to raise money – it might be at the lowest level of what might describe as gambling but that of course is what it is.

Europe is dotted with thousands and thousands of churches, dating back many hundreds of years, sometimes more than a thousand.  Over the course of time, some of these churches fall into disrepair, never to be used for worship again and the enthusiasm for property renovation has led to many becoming upgraded and used for other purposes.

Usually they are converted to some sort of private accommodation but just occasionally another use is considered.  But how often do you see a former church become a casino?  Very rarely is the answer but this is exactly what happened around a decade ago in Holland.  Breda is a city in southern Holland, not far from the Belgian border, and right in the centre of the city is a former monastery which is now an enormous casino.  If it’s not the biggest in Europe it can’t be far off.

Breda casino church monastery

Breda's Casino and former monastery

It’s called the Holland Casino Breda and even if you disapprove of the notion of a casino being developed within a former religious building, you have to admire the design and size of the project.  It contains almost 1000 slot machines if that’s your thing, plus loads of table games and other games such as Roulette, Blackjack and Craps.  If you like a few hands of Poker, then that’s Ok too.  When you’ve done gambling (or just visiting this former monastery) there are plenty of bars and restaurants for refreshment.

 

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Churches And Casinos

Posted on May 10, 2012 by admin

We’ve written recently about religion and gambling and the slight unease with which one views the other; a quick perusal of this information will tell you that Islam is the only religion which explicitly prohibits gambling in any form, all the other major religions tolerate it or don’t even mention it in any scripts, leaving the reader to decide whether betting fits in to their view of morality.

A quick word about churches and casinos in this article and how they co-exist when situated in the same areas.  Las Vegas is a good example – a shining beacon of neon lights, Roulette wheels, Poker tables and Blackjack developed in the desert sun.  While the casino industry has thrived over the last half century, it may come as a surprise to those committed gamblers that there are many, many churches of different denominations in Las Vegas.  Anecdotally there are more Catholic churches than casinos in Vegas and of course that doesn’t include the places of worship for all the other religions.

So this is a religious city and one that appears to have overcome any difficulties that may arise between the ‘immoral’ activity of Craps, Baccarat and Slot machines and religious worship.  In fact (anecdotally again), there are many tales of what appears in the collection baskets at Catholic Masses on Sunday mornings.  Imagine you are a casual Blackjack player and you’ve spent the previous evening enjoying the atmosphere at one of Vegas’ luxurious casinos.  Hopefully you made a small profit but for whatever reason you forgot to cash in your chips at the end of the evening and left with some in your jacket pocket.

las vegas church

Christchurch in Las Vegas

The next morning you follow your usual Sunday routine and head to church, only realising too late that you’ve brought no money with you but those casino chips are still in your jacket pocket.  They’re as good as cash in a casino city so you drop a few into the basket when the time comes.

So here’s the punch line – who sorts the chips out?  After all there are dozens of casinos with different chips in Las Vegas.  Fortunately there’s a monastery nearby where special ‘Chip Monks’ spend the day sorting out chips……

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Gambling and Religion

Posted on April 20, 2012 by admin

We’re taking a slightly different stance in today’s post to discuss something a little different.  A question that arose recently within our office was the question of gambling, casinos and the like and how different religions view these pastimes and businesses.  So it’s seems like a worthwhile exercise to take a look at some of the world’s major religions to see what they really say about the subject.

Christianity

We’ll start with Christianity and this is the religion which has the vaguest stance on whether gambling is permitted or not.  The Bible contains no specific guidance on whether one might be sinning or not by playing casino games so one must therefore decide whether the moral arguments elsewhere in the text apply to gambling.

This is where the debate is almost unending because of course everybody’s moral compass is a little different.  Often, church groups tacitly engage in their own organised gambling through such fund raising activities as raffles, bingo competition and lotteries.  Is this lower level of gambling permissible but it’s not Ok to play poker or blackjack?  Where to draw the line appears to be something of a personal choice.

Hinduism

Hinduism is a little different in that gambling is definitely regarded as a no-no.  However this certainly conflicts with some of Hinduism’s most influential texts and the acts contained within.  Dice games (and presumably gambling) are frequently referred to in the ancient epic, the Mahabharata.

So in Hinduism it appears that if you are going to have a flutter, it’s probably best to keep quiet about it.

Buddhism

Buddhism has something of a pragmatic view towards gambling.  The Buddha is known to have expressed his dislike of gambling as a slippery road towards ruin in many forms.  However Buddhism appears to regard recreational gambling as permissible so there is of course a fine line between learning how to play roulette and losing your wife and kids in a bet (as happens in the famous ‘Gambler’s Lament’, an ancient Hindu/Buddhist scripture).

888

Islam

Islam is extremely opposed to gambling and casinos – at one point the Koran states that “In [gambling and wine] is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.”  That’s pretty clear and from an Islamic point of view, getting some betting tips and heading for the local casino is frowned upon, even if one is only wagering small amounts of money.

Judaism

Lastly let’s check out Judaism and not surprisingly it is fairly similar to Christianity.  Again, the Torah does not explicitly mention gambling or casinos and gambling does occasionally take place at religious functions.

However bear in mind that, according to the Torah, a committed gambler can not be trusted as a witness in a court of law.

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Gebre Mesqel Lalibela – Ethiopian Saint

Posted on March 5, 2012 by admin

In the context of this article Lalibela refers to two things – the Ethiopian town which now

Lalibela

King Lalibela

bears the name and the man for whom the town is named: Gebre Mesqel Lalibela.  It’s an odd fact the the town of Lalibela is a destination for Christian pilgrimage in a country which is otherwise not known for its Christian beliefs.  Lalibela is also deservedly a UNESCO World Heritage Site and that is because of the number and design of the churches there.

There are 13 churches here, the earliest of which date back to the 12th and 13th centuries (the era of Lalibela the man) and the distinguishing feature of these structures is that they have been carved out of the rock rather than constructed in any standard way.  Known as monolithic churches, Lalibela contains what is probably the world’s largest example, the Bete Medhane Alem.

So the obvious question is why did this small, rural Ethiopian town become home to a disproportionate number of Christian churches and what was Gebre Mesqul Lalibela’s motivation?

Lalibela was born sometime in the late 12th century at either Adefa or Roha (which later became the town of Lalibela).  It can be a little difficult to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction regarding much of Lalibela’s early life.  He was born into Ethiopia’s Zagwe dynasty which ruled the region at that period but almost certainly had to take up arms against members of that dynasty to ensure his reign as king.

Lalibela Church of the Saviour Savior

Church of the Saviour

Legend tells us that Lalibela had a vision in which he saw Jerusalem under Christian rule.  This must have been before 1187 when the Muslims retook the city and it was in response to that invasion that Lalibela decided to recreate a similar iconic area in his home town.  Almost certainly Lalibela had no European influence; it has been claimed that perhaps the Knights Templar had a hand in the construction but there is no evidence for this – the first documented European visitor to this area was the Portuguese explorer Pêro da Covilhã in the early 16th century.

Beta Gyorgis Lalibela

Beta Gyorgis

It is possible that some of the churches were adapted from pre-existing forts and the like and not all of the churches were built during the reign of Lalibela; the ornamentation is too complex for that.  However this does not detract from the fact that Lalibela was the driving force behind the incredible church construction boom and many other features in the town have biblical sounding names – the river is called Jordon for example.

 

 

 

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