Religious Groups Pressure Congress on Anti Online Casino Bill

The pressure for an online casino prohibition act is growing. Religious right movements are calling Congress to vote favorably on the issue of anti online casino legislation as a hearing on the bill approaches. The pressure comes from a Baptist group that wants “a more moral, healthy, God-honoring nation” – as if any of that has to do with the way people entertain themselves in their own homes. The House of Representatives have already voted in favor of the anti online casino bill 317-97, but the Congress yet to take action on this matter.

Some of the right wing groups are seeking an early adjournment of the house in order to send party members home and to launch a persuasion campaign that will increase their influence over the two houses. These elements are crying about the fact that several online casino operators are ‘luring’ Americans to spend millions of dollars at online casino sites, instead of realizing that those Americans are plainly having fun and those millions of dollars could be put to good use if taxation and regulation will be opposed on online casino gambling.

The approach of banning the online casino industry instead of trying to understand how to harness and encourage the financial and entertaining value of online gambling is absurd. These groups are addressing the issue of child protection –a respected and well needed concept- however, it has nothing to do with online casino gambling. The industry is currently semi-auto-regulated, by elements such as eCOGRA, for instance, and the problems that people who support anti online casino are talking about are already being addressed by the industry itself, and no outside legislation needs to take place.