Re: Should religion speak on gambling for the whole country?

Quote from: peter0425 on July 14, 2025, 02:14:53 AM

If you do not know, Philippines is heavily Catholic. 85 million individuals are Catholics in The Philippines and that makes up 78.8% of the country. A lot of the laws and beliefs in the country are influenced by the Catholic church. Even matters like divorce and LGBT rights are decided with the influence of the religion.

Now that gambling is booming in the country, it is expected that the Catholic church will intervene. The Philippine Church has described this as "a deepening crisis in the country" and is sounding the alarm about a social and cultural scourge that is destroying the lives of young people and entire families.

Obviously, we should respect the religion and the beliefs upheld but what about those who are not Catholic and would wish to continue to gamble? Does religion have the right to be included in conversations regarding gambling if their beliefs cloud their judgement?

To my knowledge, the Philippines legalizes gambling, and the evidence is the numerous casinos in the country. This is, of course, regulated by law, which includes operational permits and other matters. If some elements of society or religious institutions want or request the government to stop gambling activities for various reasons, the only way is to amend the law. In my opinion, doing so would clearly create new problems.

I assume it would be difficult. Closing casinos would leave many people unemployed, and the state would lose one of its sources of income. It would also erode investor confidence due to the lack of legal certainty. So overall, in addressing the concerns of religious institutions, the government certainly needs to find a solution, how to continue gambling without causing setbacks in any aspect of society.