Lottery Tickets

[Guest LadyC]

 

Shiloh, please answer the question i've asked numerous times. what do YOU enjoy doing for entertainment? what activity do you do that someone else might see as a frivolous use of money?

This is not about a frivolous use of money.  Gambling is way past frivolous.   Everyone budgets a little money to have fun on.  Gambling addictions are far more problematic because now you can even gamble online and casinos popping up everywhere across America. I know of two casinos within two hours of where I live, as they advertise all of the time on TV.  Gambling is not a frivolous expenditure.  When people gamble they are playing with fire.

 

 

i see. so you are still standing by your accusation and refusing to answer the question.

 

you see, we've already established that for SOME, even MANY, gambling is beyond frivolous. however, you're still lumping us all into an undesirable category, and without directly saying "you, christie smith", you are still saying i play with fire, i am going beyond frivoloity and entertainment, and that i am part of the problem at large.

 

and you're still wrong.

 

furthermore, you're still avoiding the simple question. what do YOU spend money on purely for entertainment?

[Guest shiloh357]

 

 

Shiloh, please answer the question i've asked numerous times. what do YOU enjoy doing for entertainment? what activity do you do that someone else might see as a frivolous use of money?

This is not about a frivolous use of money.  Gambling is way past frivolous.   Everyone budgets a little money to have fun on.  Gambling addictions are far more problematic because now you can even gamble online and casinos popping up everywhere across America. I know of two casinos within two hours of where I live, as they advertise all of the time on TV.  Gambling is not a frivolous expenditure.  When people gamble they are playing with fire.

 

 

i see. so you are still standing by your accusation and refusing to answer the question.

 

I did answer the question.  I acknowledged that we all spend some money friviously.  Specifically, I rent DVD's, I go out to eat, I collect Gospel CDs.  We all spend some money frivolously.   But frivolous spending isn't what gambling is.

you see, we've already established that for SOME, even MANY, gambling is beyond frivolous. however, you're still lumping us all into an undesirable category, and without directly saying "you, christie smith", you are still saying i play with fire, i am going beyond frivoloity and entertainment, and that i am part of the problem at large.

 

and you're still wrong.

 

 

I am not wrong.  You are playing with fire.  Everyone thinks that they can beat the odds with self-destructive behavior and some do.  Some people can smoke and live past 100.  Some people can sleep around and never get a STD.   But they are fewer than the most who never beat the odds and end up destroying their lives.

 

If you can beat the odds, fine.  But that doesn't change what gambling is.  It really is a crappy form of entertainment and it is foolish given the dangers it poses to people.  The person with the addiction in many cases is the last to know.

[Guest LadyC]

 

 

 

 

You walk into a casino and the hopes are that you will get that one chance, luck will smile on you and you will strike it rich.  No one gambles just to throw money away.  No one gambles without hoping for a big return on their investment 

 

there you go again, spewing out accusations that have already been proven false. or does my own personal firsthand experience not count? it's easy for you to just paint everyone with the same brush, but it falsifies every statement you make.

 

*I* can walk into a casino with no hope or expectation  of getting that one chance of striking it rich. *I* gamble for NO OTHER REASON than entertainment, expecting to LOSE every dollar i spend, which really is the definition of "throwing money away".

 

but it's too inconvenient for you to acknowledge me, because i don't fit neatly into your little box.... just like patriot's friend doesn't fit neatly into your box. i could see you brushing that one off easier because that's secondhand information about someone who isn't here. but i AM here. and i'm telling you, i enjoy gambling on occasion for nothing more than entertainment.

 

and again i ask you... what do YOU do for entertainment?

 

yes, patriot's choice of word "hobby" was an unfortunate one. but entertainment is something one spends money on without expectation of a return on their investment. have you ever played pinball? or asteroids? have you ever gone to a theater and spent a small fortune on an evening of entertainment that you could have had at home for a fraction of the cost? those aren't things that leave you with a sense of accomplishment. those are things that are purely for entertainment and no other reason.

 

 

 

if a person was wise with their money they would not spend it in casinos or on lottery tickets at all.  If they were wise, they would put the money in the bank or save it for a family vacation.

 

i'm going to take that personally, just because i can. just because i've stated my personal position time and time again and yet you keep lumping anyone who gambles into the same undesirable category. WHO ARE YOU to say i'm not wise with my money because i spent $20 in a slot machine instead of putting it into the ATM to save for a family vacation? for your information, those date nights with my husband, sitting side by side in a casino for a few hours, mutually enjoying our time together and our activity, WAS our "vacation. leaving town once a year for a week or two at a time just isn't our cup of tea.

 

not every gambler is irresponsible, or is addicted, or whatever. quit making such judgments. it doesn't become you.

 

Go ahead and take it personally if you wish.

 

The fact is that not everyone is like you.  The vast majority aren't.   Gambling addictions are more prevalent now than ever before and it is only going to get worse.   Gambling is foolish, irresponsible and self-destructive and there are plenty broken families and broken people who have lost everything, to prove it.  I am not going to change my views to accommodate the limited scope of your experience.

 

 

no, that is you making assumptions again regarding the vast majority. yes, gambling, like any other addiction, is a big thing. but you don't have the data to back up your claim that the majority of people who gamble have addictions. 

 

look shiloh, i lived in the gambling capital of the world. i saw shattered lives every day. i also saw hundreds of thousands of tourists come through that enjoyed wasting some money at a machine or a table, with no interest in ever making it a regular thing. i have known way more people WITHOUT gambling problems than with... and remember, i lived in the center of it for an entire decade. my personal first hand knowledge and observations surely bear a little more weight than your judgemental accusations. you might as well be saying everyone who ever has a glass of wine with dinner becomes an alcoholic. truth is, your claims are substantiated only by you own personal bias. and ya know, there's nothing wrong with your personal bias. you feel very strongly that gambling is wasteful, sinful, and just plain irresponsible. that's good, because it ensures YOU will never have a problem with gambling. but don't let your personal bias be the canvas that every other person, or even every other christian, is painted on. 

 

neither you nor i are qualified to say whether the number of gamblers who become addicted are the majority or the minority. and i can promise you that you will never find any studies that give any conclusive evidence of either. 

[Guest shiloh357]

no, that is you making assumptions again regarding the vast majority. yes, gambling, like any other addiction, is a big thing. but you don't have the data to back up your claim that the majority of people who gamble have addictions.

 

Then it's a good thing I didn't make that claim, isn't it?

[Guest LadyC]

are you implying that perhaps i have an addiction and i'm just the last to know it? i noticed you also made a similar implication about patriot's friend.

[Guest shiloh357]

are you implying that perhaps i have an addiction and i'm just the last to know it? i noticed you also made a similar implication about patriot's friend.

Nope.  I don't know if you do or not.  I never implied that Patriot did, either.

[Guest LadyC]

you did make that claim, shiloh. but i think i've made my point, so i'm going to let you have the last word if you wish, and we'll move on. no need for our personal discussion on this to take priority in this thread... all that will do is get it locked down, and that would be a shame.

 

so, shall we agree to disagree?

[Guest shiloh357]

you did make that claim, shiloh. but i think i've made my point, so i'm going to let you have the last word if you wish, and we'll move on. no need for our personal discussion on this to take priority in this thread... all that will do is get it locked down, and that would be a shame.

 

so, shall we agree to disagree?

I didn't make that claim but you will read anything into my comments that you wish and I can't stop you from doing that.   So yeah, fee free to move on.

[Hippie333]

Well, I think that Gambling ( Casino Styles ) is a scam don't you? The Bible does warn us about quick scams to get money....does it not? The average.....highest average by the way ( I used to work on the machines) ...pay out on slot machines is 70/30.....the house gets 70% of all the money taken in .....seems scam-ish to me already. That being said....I think it's common sense to not touch a rattlesnake again because you did not get bitten yesterday. There are a lot of harmless gambling scenarios sure....but many broken home scenarios as well. I think "personally" a Christian should not be messing with Casinos/Gambling as to the house gets 70% and that pays not only the regular staff...but the thugs and collectors ....the laundering processes and other illegal goings on that is not seen by the average John Q Citizen. Frankly, me....I won't be a part of funding that. Lottery Tickets now.....so far I have not seen much to tell me that it's any different under the table than a casino in it's honesty.....so the same applies "for me personally" there.  I'm not going to tell anyone else to do it or not to do it....just maybe consider where the money that's not won goes....and if you really deep down want to be a part of that.

 

 

God Bless,

Hip

[Guest LadyC]

just curious, hippie, as to what percentage the "house" makes on movie tickets/popcorn/sodas..... as opposed to how much the consumer gets in return?