Dr. Rex Rogers on Gambling Epidemic

CBN.com – Dr. Rex M. Rogers is a writer, speaker and the president of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the voice of the daily radio program "Making a Difference," which applies biblical principles to contemporary issues, such as family, church, business, and education. He's also a syndicated columnist and a gambling expert. He has testified before the Michigan legislature on the subject of gambling, and has participated in more than 150 media interviews from around the nation on gambling. Rogers holds a B.A. in Social Science, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Political Science.

In a recent interview, Rogers discussed his book "Gambling, Don't Bet on It," and how gambling has a grip on America --and specifically, how more and more women are being drawn to gamble and how that affects their lives, and society at large.

LEE WEBB: Doctor Rogers, welcome.

DR. REX ROGERS: Thank you.

WEBB: It's interesting that women are the ones who are really now more and more being caught up in this epidemic of gambling. Why do you suppose that is?

ROGERS: Well, certainly that's the case. Some 45, 50 years ago, 95 percent of gamblers were men. Now it's probably 50y-50 or maybe women surpassing men. The social taboos have been removed, the moral argument is supposedly dead, and we have embraced it as a culture -- and women see it as a form of entertainment that they can participate in.

WEBB: Are they trying to block out pain or depression too? Do you see any reference to that?

ROGERS: Well, Mars and Venus, men and women being different, women do seem to gamble for different reasons. But it all gets down to a matter of greed and a desire to win money – covetousness, of course, we say as a Christian. So they're really motivated by pretty much similar things that men are.

WEBB: …more likely to go to a casino or gamble online? What is their mode?

ROGERS: Well, Internet gambling is one of the fastest forms of gambling, along with sports gambling, of course. And Internet gambling has just exploded in the last few years, and it's affecting even our children. So sure, women are gambling there, and so are men. But casino gambling is attractive to women because it's a social outing and women like that social environment.

WEBB: Is this affecting Christian men and women as well?

ROGERS: Absolutely. We've got people in the pew, unfortunately, who are buying lottery tickets for their grandchildren for Christmas and birthdays, and I think that's a sad state of affairs.

WEBB: What do you want the church to do about this, because I can't remember the last time that I've ever heard a preacher deal with this subject from the pulpit?

ROGERS: Well it's interesting you say that. It's one of the reasons that motivated me to write this book. We're probably in a similar age bracket, and I can remember those sermons as a child. But I can't remember them in the last 20 years. And so, I always try to encourage the pastors, even if they don't agree with my position, to get into the word of God, and understand what God has to say about this issue -- and help their people do moral reasoning on this issue, because it is a scourge. It’s affecting their people and our church.

WEBB: Is it affecting folks in the workplace too?

ROGERS: Absolutely. People get involved in pools, football pools -- but the bigger thing is Internet gambling, because almost everybody in the workplace has access to the Internet...They call it "cyberslacking," and just like they can get on pornography sites when they're not supposed to be and affect their productivity at work, now they’re gambling.

WEBB: What do you say to Christians who say, ‘I really don't have a big problem. I may get involved in an office football pool for about five bucks or I might stop by the convenience store and pick up a lottery ticket, but it's not a problem for me.’ How would you respond to that person?

ROGERS: Well, I beg to differ on several levels. But I will simply say here that if gambling is a sin, and that's something that they have to get into the word of God and understand -- and I believe that it is, that it violates at last five doctrines of Scripture-- then whether we gamble a little bit or a lot doesn't make any difference, from a moral perspective.

WEBB: And you see a connection between moral relativism and this epidemic of gambling?

ROGERS: Absolutely. Scholars today are pretty much calling us a post-modern culture...and the single greatest characteristic of a post-modern culture is moral relativism -- the idea that there is no truth. If there is no truth, no right and wrong, there's simply chaos, there’s uncertainty, there's anxiety, there is this sense of despair and social pessimism. In that kind of environment, gambling makes perfect sense, it's the perfect post-modern game; it's a celebration of irrationality -- we embrace it because we don't know what else to do.

WEBB: As you were saying, Life is a ‘roll of the dice’ anyway, so why don't I get involved in this sort of thing?

ROGERS: There are a lot of people out there -- not me -- but a lot of folks who believe that life itself begins by chance, in terms of evolutionary theory. And if life is just a crap shoot, if we were born in the great lottery in the sky, if there's no sense of influencing our present or our future, and no control over our destiny, marriage is just matter of luck -- a good marriage. Well then, gambling makes sense in that kind of environment. It's a suspension of reason and rationality and a participation in superstition.

WEBB: The name of the book is Gambling, Don't Bet on It. The author is Dr. Rex Rogers. If you would like to buy a copy, look for the link on cbn.com. Doctor Rogers, thank you for being with us.

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