Christian Civic League Seeks To Stop Gambling In Lewiston

Carroll L. Conley, Jr., CCL’s Executive Director

Feb. 7. 2010.  The Christian Civic League of Maine (CCL) strongly opposes the expansion of gambling to Lewiston.  The CCL will now urge Christians and other anti-gambling groups to contact their local state and congressional representatives to oppose the bill before the state legislature.

“Urge your legislators to trust the ingenuity and determination of the Maine’s citizens to create sustainable, well-paying, environmentally responsible jobs that are consistent with our great heritage. Tell them we do not want them to cave into the pressure of the short-term, disastrous, non-benefits of the corrupt gaming industry,” said Carroll L. Conley, Jr., CCL’s Executive Director.

Current legal gambling in Bangor has increased crime and other social problems.  The League urges Mainers—especially our elected representatives—to note these facts on the real changes gambling bring to Maine:

• Already-besieged families will face quarreling, poverty, and divorce because household money is used to gamble.  Nearly every community in the nation where a casino has been built has experienced higher rates of domestic abuse, divorce, suicide, embezzlement, and foreclosures.
• There will be an inevitable rise in drinking, drugs, alcoholism, and addiction.  New federal statistics show that Maine leads the nation in the percentage of residents being treated for addiction to painkillers.  A population with a high addiction rate will quickly add gambling to its list.
• Crime will rise.  Gambling attracts criminal types and gamblers often deal drugs, embezzle, or steal to get money to gamble or to pay gambling debt.  Crime rates are dropping across Maine including in the cities of Lewiston and Portland. But in Bangor, home to Maine’s only gambling facility, crime has risen 38.6% since Hollywood Slots opened its doors in 2005.
•  Government will be corrupted.  Why don’t lawmakers outlaw gambling? It provides government money without raising taxes. But more importantly, many Republicans and Democrats receive major campaign contributions from gambling interests. 
• Prostitution and general sexual immorality will gain ground.  Casinos have a well-deserved reputation for sexually exploiting women.