I know you are all very busy, but I thought it was important for me to touch base with some of our greatest and most reliable allies as we approach the vote for the sports betting bill (LD 553) and the governor’s veto. It is not going to surprise anybody that the Christian Civic League is remaining consistent with its historical opposition to any expansion of gambling in the state of Maine. I have said many times, we are not opposed to gambling because it’s naughty: we oppose it because it is destructive.
I am fully aware that the particular facet of gambling we are facing here may not be as destructive as others we have opposed, but it is still another brick in the wall of a malady that weakens families, breaks up marriages, and takes advantage of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
Just this week, I spent time with one of the families whose life I witnessed being destroyed due to gambling being legalized in our state. I talked to a dear friend whose husband gambled away their life savings, his federal pension, and the ability to fund their son’s college. Their marriage was destroyed, and their lives were in disarray. Her husband eventually saw his problem and put himself on the restricted list. Unfortunately, he later removed himself back on the list, and the industry was more than happy to accommodate the continual ruination of his life. There are too many families that I personally know for me to accept the notion that this is a victimless vice. You may not have compassion for the problem gambler, but I ask you, “what about his wife and his children? What about the employees that are affected by their boss’s embezzlement?” I could tell you many stories of lives that have been incredibly, negatively impacted just in the Bangor area and just from the congregation I served.
On a positive note, one of the wives who went through this horrible situation is now a very effective addiction counselor. She travels all over the world dealing with substance abuse and other addictive behavior. She asked me to relay to our allies, there is a strong connection between gambling and substance abuse. She told me a very recent account of an individual who was on top of his drug addiction issue to the point he was managing a halfway home. He started innocently buying scratch tickets and then eventually became fully inflamed with problem gambling. He then embezzled funds from the halfway home. This was an infraction against his probation, and now this young man is sitting in a jail. In a state consumed by substance-abuse, I remain unconvinced that any benefit exists in expanding gambling in any way that offsets the dangers and vulnerabilities this creates with those with addictive behaviors.
I know one of the arguments the army of Draft Kings lobbyists is saying that it’s going on anyway so we might as well get a slice of the pie. I’ve never agreed with that argument, but in all my years as director of the Christian Civic League, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slimmer slice of pie offered to our state. This particular legislation offers a very meager return, and as the governor said in her veto letter, those projections have not met expectations in other states.
I think one of the most important questions we have to ask ourselves, is “What is the acceptable collateral damage in passing this legislation?” It is indisputable that there will be casualties. The question is, how many casualties are acceptable for the minimal returns being promised?
One of my favorite quotes regarding the state being involved in gaming is from Taylor Branch, the Pulitzer prize winning biographer of Martin Luther King (by the way, MLK absolutely detested government being involved in gaming of any kind). Here is Branch’s quote: State-sponsored predatory gambling is essentially a corruption of democracy because it violates the most basic premises that make democracy unique: that you can be self-governing, you can be honest and open about your disagreements as well as your agreements, and that you trust other people that you are in this together. That’s what a compact of citizens is. And the first step away from it is to play each other for suckers. We’re going to trick them into thinking they are going to get rich, but they are really going to pay my taxes.
I know some of you have been inundated by text and other communications that are being spurred by the minions of the gaming industry. We have chosen to be more surgical in our approach. We are attempting to lay low and not push any Democrats away from sustaining the veto simply because of the Christian Civic League‘s position on this legislation. We thought it would be more effective to reach out to key individuals in your districts rather than using public email alerts. However, if any of you want us to pursue that and let our constituents in your district tell you how strongly they feel about this, we can do that. Every one of you have pastors, drug counselors, and other influential members of your district who oppose this. They do not feel the right of the proponents’ desire to recreate through gambling offsets the negative societal consequences of this or any other expansion of gambling in our state.
I had not planned on allocating our resources for this legislation, but if that’s what it takes, let me know. We are dwarfed by the resources of an industry that does not care about anything except the bottom line. Do not let our desire to be effective and efficient be interpreted as a lack of passion on our part or your constituents who oppose this.
Is the expansion of gaming the highest priority of the Christian Civic League? No. While some of you may not be totally with us on this issue, you have stood firm on our highest priorities of the life issue and religious freedom. I am so thankful for that, but we would not be executing our mission if we did not advocate for sustaining the governor’s veto of this legislation.
I want to hear from you if CCL Maine can help you or if you have any thoughts and concerns. God bless you for your service!
Sincerely,
Carroll
Carroll Conley, Jr., Executive Director of the Christian Civic League of Maine. and an 11th generation Mainer. He has a long history in education. During his tenure as Headmaster of Bangor Christian Schools, Carroll served as the President of the Northeast Principal’s Association and was on the Executive Committee of the Maine Principal’s Association. Carroll and his wife Terri, married since 1980, have two married sons, and five grandchildren.
