Is gambling a sin?

[frankthebunny]

I am a christian and often think about this when I sit back and play a few games. Moderation is key?

 

[AlfieAA]

could you define what sin means?

are you hurting anyone when you play poker? are you hurting yourself (financially) ..is it having a negative emotional effect (when you lose) on yourself, or (lack of time spent) with your family?


if you answer yes to any of these questions, does it make it a sin? or is it instead just something you can work on with keeping a better balance?


is it a sin to have fun? who made up these rules? is it an absolute truth?


what do religious people do for fun? do they have fun? are they happy? do they (you) radiate in a blissful energy that supports all life?


are you content right now? .... are you living out of fear and judgement?

 

[Robmrjet]

If you think it's a sin, it's a sin.

 

[Stacker]

If it's a sin why ya here

 

[iriska]

A very strange question. If you think about it, then you better not play! With this approach is clearly a sin, because when you win, someone loses, loses money ....

 

[frankthebunny]

Idk, I mostly stick to freerolls and try to be polite on the tables. I feel like if I don't let it master me it is okay.

 

[kozong]

arent the act of betting in poker determines it as gambling, regardless of the buy ins

 

[terryk]

I am a christian and often think about this when I sit back and play a few games. Moderation is key?

Your not hurting anyone,,,,enjoy playing a game of cards with people from across the globe,,,also which you can talk too and maybe make a difference in their lives.

 

[playinggameswithu]

gambling i.e risk taking is not a sin. Gaming i.e being under someones statistical scam might as well be a sin.

 

[sryulaw]

I am a christian and often think about this when I sit back and play a few games. Moderation is key?

Think like this, would Jesus play poker? In the bible says nothing about it, more talks about ambitions, cheating, lying, poker is made over bluffing lie. And the father of lies, you who are a Christian, know who the Father of the Lie is, so think of it friend.

 

[tihomir_kula]

I m trying to solve this question for years and still can t answer it.

 

[carli]

I do not think it's a sin because I love playing poker.I do not hate anyone and respect other players.We who talk to this poker forum in a decent way prove that it is not a sin.

 

[pr0serbian]

No poker is not a sin.Its just card game.Why the hell would God be pissed off on me becouse i deposit my earned money to play some cards and have fun?It would be a sin if i stole somones money to play poker or spend somones money on poker game i guess, but i dont think poker is a sin.And yes im eastern orthodox christian religious guy.

 

[frankthebunny]

Jesus went into the houses of the sinners to ask them to repent. Tax collectors, prostitutes, etc.

 

[carli]

Considering the system in which we live, we could constantly ask this question at every step. My personally it is important that my mind is calm.

 

[damgold]

If you are not addicted it is not a sin but if you spend all money playing and you run out of money to buy food and things you need to live this addiction is a sin yes.

 

[don1980]

Poker is just a game, there's no sin in that.

 

[hugh blair]

Ok this post is deep I like your topic but sin no natural yes I reckon some priests like to drink some like to bet on horses each to their own do what makes you happy
Buddists regard recreational gambling as ok but addictive gambling a sin to me they are the same thing.Jesus commonly preached against the evils of chasing money. According to Matthew 6:24 of the New Testament, he said that people can’t “serve two masters.”states the United Methodist Church’s belief.

“Organized and commercial gambling is a threat to business, breeds crime and poverty, and is destructive to the interests of good government.”
Their belief is pretty harsh what is good government anyway? we all heard of the Nuremberg trials?
Overall, Hinduism ranks in the middle in terms of its tolerance toward gambling.​

What Do Islamists Think of Gambling?

The Prophet Muhammad and his followers opposed all forms of gambling. He also mentioned in the Sunan Abu Dawud that there are only two acceptable forms of gambling.

“Wagers are allowed only for racing camels or horses, or shooting arrows,” he said.
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Muhammad wasn’t saying that he approved of betting on horses and archery. But these gambling activities were tolerated because they helped Muslims improve their battle skills.
What Do Jews Think of Gambling?

Judaism doesn’t offer a lot of thoughts on the morality of gambling. But the Talmud does feature rabbis discussing how they believe gambling is risky and can lead one to negate their responsibilities.
The Talmud also discusses how gambling is sinful and similar to stealing. The latter is due to the fact that the loser has reluctantly given away their money to the winner.
Older Jewish civilizations looked down on professional gamblers and didn’t consider them reliable court witnesses.
Judaism isn’t totally biased against gambling, though. Hanukah celebrations often feature a dreidel, a spinning top that’s accompanied by small-stakes gambling.
Like Christians, Jews also raise money for synagogues with games of chance, including raffles.Gambling has been of interest to the Greeks since ancient times and it seems that we haven’t forgotten the bad habits of the past. Who would think that the origin of poker goes back to the Minoan civilization, more than 3,500 years ago? Nowadays, we consider that throwing a double six in a dice game is lucky and this too has its ancient origins. Thousands of years ago, rolling two sixes was called the ‘throw of Aphrodite’ and would indicate victory in a game.
From references in Homer and other ancient texts we can find out that gambling games have been used widely in ancient Greece. Dice games, head and tails, and other games based on ‘luck’ have always been played by different groups. Special places even existed where people passionate about gambling would go to play. However, like the casinos of today, those places carried a bad reputation and it was considered shameful for someone to go there. People would lose fortunes in gambling, exactly in the same way that we do today. However in ancient Greece gamblers had the support of a couple of Gods - Hermes and Pan. Even the Gods were said to have played a game or two – in Greek mythology, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon played ‘throw the dice’ in order to split the Universe between them.
In ancient Rome, gambling was practiced amongst slaves and masters and for a period of time it was popular even amongst the Emperors. In ancient China, Egypt and Islam, gambling was also popular. We can also find references in the Jewish Talmud and Buddhism. In all cases at some point it was regulated and severe punishment would come upon the gamblers. The ‘casting of lots’ was a popular gambling practice in ancient Rome and there are even references in biblical texts that Roman guards cast the lots for the garment of Jesus during the Crucifixion. Gambling was used to settle disputes or reveal ‘gods’ answers to questions.
Another game of chance was invented by the Chinese in 2,300 BC using tiles and by 900 AD the Chinese had invented card games decorated with human forms, which later expanded throughout Europe by the Mamalukes (Islam followers) who used shapes, and later on the Europeans adjusted the cards to show the Kings and Queens that we see in card decks today.
Incredibly, dice objects have been found going back 40,000 years and cave drawings of games provide further evidence that games and gambling have been around for a very long time. It seems that gambling is very much in our nature.






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[Iryna Stryzheuskaya]

For me it's just a game.

 

[edcwy]

Is sin a transgression against a divine law? If you believe that such divine law exists, then yes, gambling is a sin.

For the sake of discussion, let's ask why such a divine law would exist. Arguably, such a divine law would exists to protect the flock from unfruitful choices, in particular, those encouraged by "evil" ie: Satan.


But how about, such a law, universal in its origins, with purpose of encouraging or prohibiting behavior so as to do the least amount of harm to a respective in a society which by definition is composed of individuals.


Then the question becomes about choice, does the gambling affect more than yourself? By gambling, are you exploiting the weakness of another, thus causing harm to the society or individual?


I propose that if one goes in eyes wide open, then a choice to potentially harm is one's choice, one's agency, one's responsibility. If the choice, knowingly is exploiting another 's irresponsibly, it's one's choice to not gamble in that situation and thus chose less harm, to make the other choice, to gamble, with known harmful consequences, makes the gambler a jerk.

 

[radartodd69]

If you got jealous of another person's stack at the table, maybe that could be construed as a sin of sorts. Can't see any other thing as sin in poker.(Oh bluffing maybe)lol.

 

[nobodysf00l]

i certainly hope so!

 

[ritehere]

Any vice is considered a sin partner. So see ya in h@@l with the rest of us. JK LOL

 

[cataah]

life is gamble.you always decide if you invest your time into different actions.
is is profitable to invest in reading this message?
is it profitable to spend time with your girlfriend or that woman in the bus?
is it profitable to go to the church?

take poker as a training for becoming better gambler and God will aprove that... or not.


Go into silence and pray for clear toughts towards discovering if poker is sin. Then you will find an answer.
You should not ask other humans this kind of questions. You should have your relationship with God. Your personal relationship. Maybe it is sin for someone to play poker and not a sin for someone else.
Maybe it is a sin for me to write this... or for you to read...

Tell us: is it a sin to play poker? Answer with your toughts.

 

[finaltable1]

I am a christian and often think about this when I sit back and play a few games. Moderation is key?

I always wanted to address few questions to a true christian.


1) If god created everything like it's written, then who created god? If answer is - god is eternal, then can it possibly be that everything is eternal and there was no creation? If we see that numeric count is endless in all directions, if we see that colors are endless in all directions, but we're stuck and our eyes can only catch between ultraviolet and infrared, if we see that planets, stars, galaxies and universes are most probably endless too, what makes people believe that there was some sort of creation moment like big bang or 7 days described by the bible? What if material and spiritual things are eternal and they're just evolving their measure in the process of time? These 3 things materia\spirit\measure are described by the bible as Trinity. What if some humans know the answers and are using their knowledge to control other people using "The word of the God?" What if the main currency in our world is not a bitcoin, goldcoin, penny or cent, but is a minute and hour and someone is stealing other peoples hours and minutes for their own good using some old book? Can it possibly be true?


2) What is the answer to omnipotence paradox? Can god create a stone he cannot lift? If he is omnipotent - he can create such stone, but if he cannot lift it then he's not omnipotent. If he will lift it then he can not create such stone.


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