Odds on its still a sin.
I had always though that the Catholic Church regarded gambling as a sin.
I was surprised to learn (not partaking of that good book too often!) that the bible doesn’t actually condemn gambling, although the Catholic catechism has this to say:
2413: Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.
Which is probably how St Etheldreda Church in Newmarket has got away with having their new confessional box paid for by a £10,000 donation from local book maker ‘Paddy Power’ – the box now sports (sic) a sign over it saying ‘Sin Bin’ and was officially opened by Frankie Dettori today……
I do like a bit of pragmatism.
“Forgive me Father, I can’t afford to put anything in the collection, I lost it all on the 2.30 at Newmarket”
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- April 29, 2010 at 01:41
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
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1
April 27, 2010 at 16:50 -
I seem to remember something about
‘The little lambs will gambol on the turf’
That might cover the 2.30 at newmarket?
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2
April 27, 2010 at 17:52 -
When I was a lad the withdrawal method of contraception was known colloquially as Vatican Roulette.
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3
April 27, 2010 at 18:40 -
Surely ….
“Forgive me Father, I invested my donation on the 2.30 at Newmarket”
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4
April 27, 2010 at 19:32 -
The US Catholic Church is run on Bingo, a game of chance
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5
April 27, 2010 at 19:39 -
The rhythm method of contraception must be the most difficult to use : “To be sure, Father – and where am I going to find a ceilidh band at two o’clock in the morning ?”
ΠΞ
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6
April 27, 2010 at 21:51 -
They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others.
At my Catholic school, the converse was enthusiastically applied ; Sister Perpetua’s rigged charity tombola – a feature of every school fete – displayed a cornucopia of unwinnable prizes whose numbers had been removed from the drum (and many of which reappeared year after year).
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