Why in some religion gambling is forbidden?

[Zoomic]

Even though we have the basic knowledge we need to gamble responsibly at our finger tips, we still have quite a good number of gamblers who still fall victim of gambling addiction on a regular basis. This is what almost all the religions are trying to avoid, they understand that gambling has the potential of influencing a person's brain and mind, making them to act out of proportion just to get quick money, hence the need for gambling prohibition.

Religious leaders have the interest of their followers at heart. We cannot deny the fact that gambling earnings have helped lots of people live a comfortable life, this same gambling has also ruined lots of lives too.  No one is going to punish you for gambling but if people are allowed to gamble the way they want without this consciousness that gambling is a sin, more people will troop into gambling and probably abuse it.

Yeah the outcome of gambling addictions is what most religion and government have seen that lead to them placing some level of restriction or even ban on gambling,  this is why most time,  you will see that if a person can gamble responsibly,  both the religion and the government or even the public won't take such person as an anti society or an offenders.

Compared to the one that can not control they gambling urge or character and haven't demonstrated alot of behaviours that are unacceptable for the society and religion at large.

Our leaders whether religious or political leaders won't chase after anyone if they are responsible. They understand what being irresponsible can cause directly to a person and indirectly to the next person. All forms of addictions like drug addiction, alcohol addiction even gambling addiction are capable of causing societal problems like rape, theft, unemployment,  unnecessary borrowing which generates into a bad debt and many others we can't even think of.

I will never fault religions and governments of a country for restricting and prohibiting people from enjoying certain products or services. It is very easy to say "it is my money and I decide what to do with it. Our leaders and ofcourse religions have to come in to regulate what we consume  so as to prevent abuse.

[noormcs5]

In my religion, it’s about greediness. Gambling will make you greedy and at the same time do other bad things when you are in bad game. I agree on this since not all people can’t handle the emotion when gambling especially when losing badly hard earned money.

Well most religions will help you a adopt  good practices and avoid the bad practices. Since camping is considered as an act where the people become too much creative where the people will influence by the emotions and less thoughts by their mind. Due to this reason the gambling is prohibited  in most of the religions but I think that there are only few people who follow this religiously.

There’s no direct mention of gambling in the bible but clearly being greedy is a sin that frequently mention in the bible and doing things that will make greedy and angry will just make you do more sin. As a responsible gambler, I believe I’m not doing wrong since the guidelines of the religion are for those who can’t do responsible gambling. Culture is also an important thing to consider since some country consider gambling as bad ever since due to its effects to the players because all know that the chance of losing is high on gambling while they should just use the gambling funds to buy their family necessities.

Well, greediness is a general term which can be involved in other matters of life too and not only limited to gambling.  For example a person can be ready let's suppose is doing a business and his getting profits and in order to gain more profit he decide to take illegal means and they can be lot of things which comes under the scope of greediness.
But we usually link greediness with gambling only which I think is wrong because there are gamblers who are not greedy who are responsible and who play according to the game plan and money management techniques. so they can be greedy gamblers and a non greedy Gambler and the most religion ask to refrain from the gambling and greediness.

[pawanjain]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

I personally think religion shouldn't be discussed when we are talking about gambling.
It can lead to serious debates eventually leading to nothing.
As for being forbidden, every religion has their own beliefs and which the people follow.
Gambling is haram for muslims because they cannot keep something that is not earned through their hardwork.
That is why it is forbidden in their religion. It's not forbidden in my religion though.

[Z390]

I would have love it if you tell us which side you belong to, religious or unbeliever, because you can't be religious yourself and not know about this question that you are asking us, the possibility of people losing their head, responsibility and homes is why most religions forbids gambling, and I don't blame them.

Gambling shouldn't have existed if we look at it from religion side, for anything that makes people turn into evil things must be stop, anything that can be a weapon for satan to take over your head and mess you up, religious people must not give room for such things, gambling is one of those things.
Some people will say that it depends on who you are, yes I am a responsible gambler myself but what about others? Haven't you seen how gambling have turned peoples live upside down? Religion has actually safe a lot of people from stupid believes, that's why to get ahead of gambling you need to expect nothing, if you believe too much in gambling you won't be able to believe in anything else, to even work a job will feel somehow.

[Adbitco]

For this I can only talks about our tradition and not that of others to eliminate some sensitive and religious argument, hence in my own tradition we are permitted to gamble but those who are seen as gamblers are often seen as useless and irresponsible people in the society. Therefore as a gambler in our tradition or religion when you apply a responsible gambling conduct no one would tag you as an irresponsible person, even when those that gambles tried to make it looks as if gambling is a sin I stand to let them know that it can only be a sin when rubbery is involved although I could be wrong because we all have our various ways of analyzing things so if others will pass such judgement that doesn't mean the entire community or the state will criticise gambling, meanwhile where it's seen as the major source of income over here in my country and the rate of gambling and gamblers keeps increasing on a regular basis. So in my religion gambling is not prohibited or forbidden.

[BitcoinTurk]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

Many religions actually restrict people who believe in this within the framework of their own rules to keep them away from bad habits and since gambling is considered a bad habit, many religions have many restrictions to keep believers away from gambling. In fact, gambling is not a bad habit as it varies from person to person because some people can only have fun and have a good time with gambling but many people try to get rid of all the bad conditions that occur due to addiction.

As I mentioned, many religions consider things such as gambling, alcohol and prostitution as bad habits and put forward certain conditions to restrict people who believe in these religions from these and people who believe in these religions comply with these restrictions because they are something that belongs to their religion. Although, as I mentioned it is true that gambling, alcohol and prostitution are restricted in religions because they are bad habits, I think that this isn't a bad habit especially in gambling because it varies from person to person.

[goldkingcoiner]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

I think the very point of religion is to steer you towards the "right path" and therefore make your life a happier, easier and more moral one.

A gambling problem/addiction is not going to be considered as a good thing to have, because we all know about the kind of problems that gambling can bring. And those problems can rarely ever is considered "good" or "honorable" in any sense of the word. Just like alcohol can lead to a physical, as well as mental health disaster by addiction, so can gambling be considered to lead to the same outcome. That outcome being an unhappy life for you and/or people around you.

The first, and worst thing that people would connect gambling with, is loss of money. Ironically, it makes you lose the "root of all evil" (money) but that is still considered a bad thing.   Weird huh?

[knowngunman]

This is contradictory. You are contracting yourself. Let me tell you why. Gambling does not mean quick money scheme. It depends on the gambler. If you are using little amount of money that you can afford to lose to gamble, that is not a quick money scheme and yet it is gambling. So you cannot say Christianity is against gambling so far you are not using it to chase for money.

I don't see anything contradicting here. When we are discussing issues like this, we generally derive our conclusion using the majority. The percentage of people gambling to make quick money can not be compare with those gambling to enjoy the fun. Moreover, pastors are preaching against it on a weekly basis asking us to stay away from it as it destroy us and keep us in depression. Again, in my previous post, I didn't not say Christianity is against it biblically but I personally categorized it under quick money scheme which Bible warns against.

If you are a trader. You buy cloth with $10 and thinking of selling it at $15. Are you not guessing the future.

No, you are not guessing the future. This is a pure business and you will have a discussion with the buyer to convince them to buy at your desire price. Either they buy it or not, your cloth remains and you won't lose it just like that. In gambling, you don't have control over the outcome. You guess and wait for the result with the possibility of losing your money instantly.

[goaldigger]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

Religions have their own reference and set of rules to follow, like in Christian its called bible but it does not specifically condemn gambling though they considered it as a root of evil actions which maybe the reason why many are not supporting gambling. We cannot deny the fact that gambling can be the start of your addiction and addiction is not good at all because you can do immoral things just for the sake of gambling and that violates the rules of religions.

[acroman08]

And for the non religious persons what you think ?

people can gamble if they want to, I am not their parent to restrict them on what they want to do. As for what I think about religion restricting gambling? it's their beliefs, I could care less what their religion restricts them from doing but if they start bothering me and judging me( which they usually do especially old Catholic people) for my gambling habits then I'll give them a piece of my mind, a lot of them are hypocrites and thinks that their morality is always superior than others.

no offense to the Catholics here.

[Westinhome]

In my religion, it’s about greediness. Gambling will make you greedy and at the same time do other bad things when you are in bad game. I agree on this since not all people can’t handle the emotion when gambling especially when losing badly hard earned money.

There’s no direct mention of gambling in the bible but clearly being greedy is a sin that frequently mention in the bible and doing things that will make greedy and angry will just make you do more sin. As a responsible gambler, I believe I’m not doing wrong since the guidelines of the religion are for those who can’t do responsible gambling. Culture is also an important thing to consider since some country consider gambling as bad ever since due to its effects to the players because all know that the chance of losing is high on gambling while they should just use the gambling funds to buy their family necessities.

The greediness is the wrong one in the entire religion,because the common factor was the greedy will get all your money.The gambling or real life doesn’t matter,the greediness always give you the loss.The greediness also applicable to the trading of stock and crypto currencies.Because some traders will do random trading by the previous raise in the price.But it may manually raised by the team of that coin to get some of the investor.If the gambling was the sin your religion,it was essential to get away from the gambling or better don’t play the gambling game.The money can be earned from other resources,but don’t go against your religion.

[ChiBitCTy]

Because religion is largely made up nonsense fairytales that direct people how their rulers want them to act.  Now I'm not saying there aren't some religions with legitimacy, and many do teach good/proper values and ethics, but many don't.  In fact, many religions have been used as a form of control and destructions in past times, Christianity being one of those.

I find it ridiculous that religion would specify whether gambling is okay or not, so this is just my two. 

[Saisher]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

It takes your money, and your attention to worship God I have seen some people who are addicted to gambling preferring to gamble in casinos than going to their place of worship, and they prefer to gamble their money than donate it to their church needs.
All religions forbid gambling some religions may not be very restrictive compared to other religions but gambling is forbidden in their doctrines because gambling is associated with vice and violence, to some extent some addicted to gambling resort to theft and violence when they cannot gamble because of lack of money.

[TravelMug]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

Religions have their own reference and set of rules to follow, like in Christian its called bible but it does not specifically condemn gambling though they considered it as a root of evil actions which maybe the reason why many are not supporting gambling. We cannot deny the fact that gambling can be the start of your addiction and addiction is not good at all because you can do immoral things just for the sake of gambling and that violates the rules of religions.

That is true, and obviously, some religions ban gambling because of "spiritual implications". So it's really up to us whether we follow it being a practicing Christian or not. And that's just one implications of it, There are also other factors such as ethical, moral, and social implications. However, in this modern era, I doubt that there are still individuals who are truly 100% with their religion, no offense to others. But I have seen individuals with different religious denomination still playing and gambling every night in a land base casinos. So I guess even if they know the implications of it, they gamble and play and have some fun.

[terrific]

Just like laws of the government, there's a separation of church. The separation of church and state and they can make their own laws from where they are based.
I think that they're forbidding it due to the result of it to one. For a member of theirs to remain faithful to the church is that they need to avoid gambling so their minds and souls are only focused to church works and not with activities like gambling that might separate their hearts and minds from servicing there.

[Hispo]

Just like laws of the government, there's a separation of church. The separation of church and state and they can make their own laws from where they are based.
I think that they're forbidding it due to the result of it to one. For a member of theirs to remain faithful to the church is that they need to avoid gambling so their minds and souls are only focused to church works and not with activities like gambling that might separate their hearts and minds from servicing there.

There is a very important difference between the laws established by Churches and laws established by the state, the former ones are option while one is alive and only have an impact alledgely when has passed to the other side, on the other hand, the laws made by the men and kept by the states on the planet are not optional or are not supposed to be optional, when broken, there will be immediate consequences to the people, negative ones. In the eyes of society and the laws made by men, gambling is not a crime and anyone has the right to partake on it as long as does not do harm to anyone else directly.

Also, depending on the church and the sect, the motivations to forbid gambling to believers may be different from other churches. Some churches will forbid gambling because it encourages behavior associated with greed and love for money, since Jesus Christ told their followers they cannot serve money and serve God at the same time, the interpretation for bishops has been gambling as a manifestation of love for money. Sects, try to control the life of their followers and the prohibition to actives like gambling, sports and even sexual relationships has more to do with applying that total control by the cult leader on those people who sadly got brainwashed. At least, that is the way I see it.

[Ultegra134]

Because religion is largely made up nonsense fairytales that direct people how their rulers want them to act.  Now I'm not saying there aren't some religions with legitimacy, and many do teach good/proper values and ethics, but many don't.  In fact, many religions have been used as a form of control and destructions in past times, Christianity being one of those.

I find it ridiculous that religion would specify whether gambling is okay or not, so this is just my two. 

I'm an atheist myself, and I agree. I'm against religions and what they have caused to humanity in the past and still continue to do (see extremists and terrorist attacks). You don't need religion to point out that one should have proper values and morals to not start killing each other.

Anyway, I'm not too familiar with all religions, but as other users already mentioned, Islam is the one that states it's against gambling. However, I'm guessing that a large number of religions mention greediness somewhere in their writings; at least Christianity does. Even though it doesn't necessarily refer to gambling, it's quite similar.

[Iroh]

I think it's forbidden in every religion. Religions are mostly talking about the bible of life which means it should be good things.
Gambling had been traditionally seen to be bad so it just makes sense that they will input it as a forbidden act.

Gambling has long been labeled by the society as a bad and not so pocket friendly activity that people should stay clear of. The reason this is so is due to the irresponsible behavior exhibited by irresponsible and somewhat immature individuals who gamble.
Any religion would inevitably have its followers stay clear of activities that could potentially have a negative effect on either themselves or/and their families.

Religion has overtime, become a tool for control. We’ve got men of the cloth giving several interpretations of the scripture to suit whatever agenda they’ve got. Quite sad.

[terrific]

Just like laws of the government, there's a separation of church. The separation of church and state and they can make their own laws from where they are based.
I think that they're forbidding it due to the result of it to one. For a member of theirs to remain faithful to the church is that they need to avoid gambling so their minds and souls are only focused to church works and not with activities like gambling that might separate their hearts and minds from servicing there.

There is a very important difference between the laws established by Churches and laws established by the state, the former ones are option while one is alive and only have an impact alledgely when has passed to the other side, on the other hand, the laws made by the men and kept by the states on the planet are not optional or are not supposed to be optional, when broken, there will be immediate consequences to the people, negative ones. In the eyes of society and the laws made by men, gambling is not a crime and anyone has the right to partake on it as long as does not do harm to anyone else directly.

Also, depending on the church and the sect, the motivations to forbid gambling to believers may be different from other churches. Some churches will forbid gambling because it encourages behavior associated with greed and love for money, since Jesus Christ told their followers they cannot serve money and serve God at the same time, the interpretation for bishops has been gambling as a manifestation of love for money. Sects, try to control the life of their followers and the prohibition to actives like gambling, sports and even sexual relationships has more to do with applying that total control by the cult leader on those people who sadly got brainwashed. At least, that is the way I see it.

Yeah, if the laws are from the state then there's no way that we can alter it and if it will be, there's a due process for it to go on.
Whilst for the laws from the churches, they can make changes anytime they wish as long as their council agrees with that and the process won't be that long.
That's why to whatever perspective you are looking that, IMHO, the important thing is you gamble your own money and you control your own life.

[wheelz1200]

When we talk about religion we cannot dine the forbidden things like alcohol, prostitution and many other things in this topic we will discuss why do gambling is forbidden (Haram, interdit) .
So can you tell me why is it forbidden in your religion?
And for the non religious persons what you think ?

I don't know why people care so much about other religion's "rules" I can care less either way.  Personally if you don't agree with any organization and their rules or sets of values then just don't belong to them.  I think you can side either way and be right.  It's a personal choice which club to pick knowing full well going in what you are getting involved with.  I personally don't think religion should have a say in what's band so long as you aren't harming someone else in the process but that's just me.