A human body is found. Identified. Someone who was greatly loved. A storm of grief and mourning. The mere thought of a funeral, of burying the loved one is unbearable. An incredible idea bursts upon the family’s consciousness, suffusing grief with relief, and the bold decision is made: “We’ll keep the body in the bedroom and pour perfume on it every day!” Perfuming the dead.

So the government greatly desires to bless Anguilla by legalizing casinos! Their rationale? “There are small illegal ‘casinos’ already operating on the island, so the government might as well benefit by bringing in big legal casinos.” Their rationale? “Government needs more money bad, bad, bad.” Their rationale? “Legalization won’t harm the general public because casinos will be confined strictly to hotel properties, and locals will be prohibited by law from entering therein.” Perfuming the dead.

But that promise of confining the casino gambling carcass to hotels, is a comfort to fools. St Maarten made that same sweet promise and look at it today – full access to locals and casinos are all over the island. Antigua made that same sweet promise, that comfort to fools, and look at it today – same free for all as in St Maarten. In fact, just today an Antiguan in Antigua said, “The locals are who these hotel casinos make most of their money from, lol”. Hmmm…since money is what casinos are all about are we gullible enough to believe that hoteliers will say no to doubling or tripling their profits by allowing locals in? Does our government believe we went to school in August?

“But The Bahamas are doing it!”. Let’s be real. With Anguilla’s culture of disrespect for the law, where a former Commissioner of Labour told me of being shocked to see US$5,000.00 being placed on his/her desk and being told it’s a usual thing, where even some police officers frequent the illegal brothels, with our culture of everybody knowing everybody and “fren fren”, does anyone seriously think that restriction on locals gambling at these hotel casinos will be enforced? By who?
Let’s be real. Gambling, be it lottery, or, even worse, casino, benefits nobody but the owners. It’s a vampire, a soucouyant that sucks the lifeblood from the poor and even from the wealthy. So, Mr. Government, we’ve been put in a figure four by Hurricane Irma, given a piledriver by Covid-19, traumatized by GST, and now you gift your nation with a dose of delicious poison? “Of course not!”, you protest. “Locals will not be allowed to enter these deliverance hotel casinos!!!” Perfuming the dead.

For the first time in our nation’s history we are led by a medical doctor. He preeminently knows the health risks of gambling. Or he should know…But since he and his government seem determined to bless us with the curse, the Anguilla Evangelical Association is compelled to warn. Anguilla is fairly tight on laws regarding marijuana, but here is our government cheerfully marching us to the chamber of casino gambling that is as lethal as meth and cocaine addiction.

Dr. Timothy Fong, Addiction Expert and Co-Director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program writes in AddictionCenter.com, “Similar to addictive substances like meth and cocaine, gambling addiction is associated with the release of dopamine within the brain. Addictive substances affect the brain’s reward system and release up to 10 times the normal amount of dopamine. Continuous use then causes the body to develop a tolerance, as natural production of dopamine is inhibited and the body needs more and more of the stimulating substance in order to receive the same rush. Without a doubt, we know it’s an actual brain disease. That’s very different from 20 years ago when people saw it as an issue of morality, greed, and lack of willpower. There are brain changes that explain why people can’t stop.”

And this is our government’s gift to the economy? Perfuming the dead. Government: “No! No! We are not gonna do this evilous harm to our people! We are planning this for our wealthy visitors!” Perfuming the dead.
“Our wealthy visitors”…We take pride in calling Anguilla a Christian nation. That Christianity commands us to love our neighbour. Love does not set up one’s neighbour to fail. No way. Selfishness and callous greed do that. Lottery gambling and, even worse, casino gambling, are cruel setups for failure. Investopedia.com says, “No matter what game you choose to play, the odds of the casino winning your money are greater than the odds of you winning the casino’s money. That’s because all casino games are designed to provide the house with a built-in edge, diminishing the chances and sizes of potential payouts.”

“Why do people gamble if the house always wins? People gamble for fun and because there is a possibility, however small, of winning some money. Most bettors are aware that the house holds an edge. However, they often misunderstand just how big that edge actually is. Casinos are crafty, giving players just enough hope to keep them betting. Ultimately, the longer you bet, the bigger the house advantage becomes.”

BeGambleAware.com warns, “Research has shown a strong link between gambling problems and thoughts of suicide. More than double the number of people experiencing gambling harm say that they have considered taking their own life compared to those who are not affected by gambling.”

So even the wealthy who come to Anguilla are human beings. They are our neighbours who we are commnded to love, not to exploit. I learned the following on GameRules.com. Our neighbour, Charles Barkley, despite his massive success as a basketball star, gambled away almost his entire fortune of $30 million dollars. Ever the high-roller, Barkley has admitted to losing $2.5 million in a single Blackjack session. Addiction. Pathetic addiction.

Our neighbour, Archie Karas, one of the most famous gamblers of all time, lost $40 million in casino gambling. Despite being one of the biggest losers, he also holds the record for the longest and largest winning streak in gambling history. However, this massive winning streak was bound to end at some point, and Karas made more and more reckless bets, bargaining with the casino to let him bet way above the limit. He lost every last million of his winnings over 3 weeks.

Our neighbour, Terrance Watanabe, lost $127 million in casino gambling. He was the son of a successful businessman, inheriting the Oriental Trading Company when his father died in 1977. However, he was more interested in gambling than business, and sold the company in 2000 to turn his attention to Baccarat and Blackjack. Watanabe still owes $15 million to this day and faces jail time if he doesn’t pay up.

We all know of people who stole from their families, starved their children, destroyed their marriages, lost their homes, set their sons and daughters on collisions with doom, lied to themselves and to every single person they talked to, became pitiful wrecks of what they used to be – all because of gambling. The glittery, exciting images of casinos that are flashed before us are all lies, sickening bait for gullible people. On Focus on the Family a former wealthy businessman shared how he would see people wetting themselves because they felt that they couldn’t risk going to the bathroom and losing the jackpot. He himself collapsed with a heart attack in front of the slot machine and a man came, stood over his twitching body, and continued playing his game.

And it is this serpent, this nightmare that makes Irma and Covid-19 look like jokes, that our government is excited about bringing to a hotel near you. Government: “It will bring in greatly needed revenue and no locals will be allowed in!!!” Perfuming the dead. Stay tuned for the stench.

The Anguilla Evangelical Association firmly believes that this proposed bill should never see the light of day.

Pastor Philip Gumbs
President
Anguilla Evangelical Association