The Editor, Sir:

As a young priest, I do not presume to speak on behalf of the Church, but simply as a Jamaican citizen.

I read your editorial in The Gleaner of Wednesday, January 9, and am deeply troubled that one of the nation's leading newspapers has published an editorial in support of gambling.

The high incidence of gambling in our society does not make it reasonable for us to deem it simply as another form of commerce. And worse, for persons who influence public opinion to endorse it.

Need to build family, character

We always brand the church as hypocritical when it warns us about unhealthy lifestyles. However, when we begin to suffer because of those unhealthy lifestyles, we ask what the Church is saying or doing.

The Church's stance is sustained and its voice consistent - we need to develop all persons, protect the family, build community and foster individual responsibility. As a society with a crisis in our education system, compounded by an increasing number of unskilled, unemployed persons, we should not be defending gambling.

How does gambling encourage any individual to get educated, improve his skills, live a stable life and build character?

My thinking would be that our media representatives would be seeking out and endorsing systems that would build the character of the Jamaican people and harness their creativity. I want to believe that our desire would be for more Jamaicans to find ways to develop and manage their wealth rather than find ways for them to squander what little they have.

Wrong form of reasoning

You suggest that because legitimate corporations manage gambling activities, then no criminal practices will occur within them, or that they will not harbour criminals. Or is it that you are saying we already have a lot of breeding grounds for criminals, so what is one more?

This pattern of reasoning is destroying us. Already, we say that within our system of government and law-enforcement there is corruption; nothing prevents legitimate enterprises from having the same.

You say that the crisis that Jamaica faces "is poverty, illiteracy, poor health care and lack of growth." Is casino gambling a solution that addresses these problems? Tell us in what ways this additional form of 'commerce' addresses these issues.

Again, I emphasise that what we need to actively seek out and promote are systems that harness our creativity, foster stability and improve the character of the Jamaican person!

I am, etc.,

Rev. ROBERT McLEAN