Devoting his priesthood session address to a ringing denunciation of gambling, President Gordon B. Hinckley began by telling an incident in which Calvin Coolidge, one-time President of the United States, returned from church and, in response to his wife's inquiry, said the preacher had spoken about sin. "What did he say?" she asked.
"He was against it," was the terse reply.
"I think I could answer the question concerning gambling in its various forms just that briefly," President Hinckley said. "We are against it."
He noted: "Gambling is to be found everywhere. People play poker. They bet on horse races and dog races. They play roulette and work the slot machines. They gather to play in bars, saloons, and casinos, and all too often in their own homes. Many cannot leave it alone. It is addictive, as much so as illegal drugs. In so many cases it leads to other destructive habits and practices."
Many of those involved cannot afford the money it takes, he said, adding that it robs wives and children of financial security.
He observed that the game of poker is becoming a college and even a high school craze. He quoted from a letter he received from a mother in Utah, who wrote: "My 19-year-old son plays poker on the Internet and the people on the Internet do not seem to care if you are 21. All you have to do is have a bank account with money in it. He has been playing steadily for almost a year now. He used to have a job which he quit because he is so addicted to the Internet and poker playing for money right now. He enters poker tournaments all the time and, if he wins, that is the money that he (uses) to buy the things that he needs. All he does is sit and play on the Internet."
From another letter, he quoted: "One of our friends invited my husband to sign up for the local poker championship game for a fee. His friend said, 'It's not gambling. Your money just goes into this big pot and whoever wins gets the pot.' "
"Is this gambling?" President Hinckley asked. "Of course it is. Gambling is simply a process that takes money and does not offer a fair return in goods or services."
He spoke of lotteries being operated as a means of gaining revenue and noted that for every winner there are numerous losers.
"Some American states have imposed heavy taxes on casinos as a source of revenue," he said. "The operating company must have its profit. Then comes the winning ticket holder. All others who bought tickets are left empty-handed. . . . Casinos have been opened on Indian reservations as means of securing income for those who own them. A few win, but most lose. They have to if some win and the house is to make its profit."
He quoted one young man who said recently, "Pay five bucks to see a movie; pay five bucks to play poker; it is the same idea." President Hinckley responded, "It is not the same idea. In one case you get something for which you pay; in the other case only one picks up the winnings and the others are left empty-handed."
To show that from the early days of the Church, gambling has been denounced, President Hinckley quoted from Church leaders, starting with Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. He gave this quote from President Joseph F. Smith: "The Church does not approve of gambling but strongly condemns it as morally wrong, and classes also with this gambling, games of chance and lottery of all kinds, and earnestly disapproves of any of its members engaging therein" (Improvement Era, September 1926, p. 1100).
"To these statements of the position of the Church I add my own," President Hinckley declared. "The pursuit of a game of chance may seem like harmless fun. But there attaches to it an intensity that actually shows on the faces of those who are playing. And in all too many cases, this practice, which appears innocent, can lead to an actual addiction. The Church has been and is now opposed to this practice. If you have never been involved in poker games or other forms of gambling, don't start. If you are involved then quit now while you can do so."
He added that there are better ways to spend one's time and suggested such things as reading, music, dancing, hiking and cycling.
President Hinckley cited a new book, published recently by Oxford University Press, titled Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. He said it deals with a study conducted by faculty members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showing that "our LDS youth know more about their faith, are more committed to it, and abide more closely by its teachings concerning social behavior than do their peers." (An article about the study was published in the March 26, 2005, Church News.)
The Church president noted: "Our young people were found to be more likely to hold the same religious beliefs as their parents, to attend religious services once a week, to share their faith with others, to engage in fasting or some other form of self-denial, and to have less doubt about their religious beliefs."
He added: "Commentators on the study speak of our youth arising early in the morning to attend seminary. 'It is hard to get up so early,' one seminary student said. 'But there are blessings that come from doing it. It is a wonderful way to start the day.'
"The researchers point out that not all of our youth are perfect, that weaknesses are found among them, but by and large they excel in a most remarkable way. I should add that there is no time to play poker for these high school students."
President Hinckley pronounced the youth of the Church as "so very important."
"As members of this Church, and as holders of the priesthood, you have so great a responsibility," he said. "Please do not fritter away your time or your talents in an aimless pursuit. If you do so, it will lessen your capacity to do worthwhile things. I believe it will dull your sensitivity to your studies in school. It will disappoint your parents, and as the years pass and you look back, you will be disappointed with yourselves.
"The priesthood which you hold as young men carries with it the privilege of the ministering of angels. That companionship is incompatible with indulgence in games of chance."
