No, what I am saying is, what is so wrong if you love money? I work very hard for my money, and it is mine, and I am keeping it, where is the sin in that?

and on the second topic, you say that gambling is not a sin if you are doing it to raise money for the church, but it is not ok if you are doing it to raise money for yourself, the outcome is the same so why is there a difference? Doesn't it say somewhere in the bible to take care of your own?

Let's look at it realistically.

We are talking about bingo, not poker or slotmachines.

The Church that runs the games will make a profit.

The people are paying for entertainment and the chance to win.

I'm not saying it's perfectly alright to go out and play poker or the slot machines until you are broke. Bingo is a self limiting game. You pay like $20 for a bunch of cards and you play until the games are over. I guess if you were very poor you could waste all of your money playing bingo. If you weren't very poor, then you would simply be paying for entertainment. There is always a small chance of winning, but it's not that great a chance.

I'm not advocting that someone who needs money go out gambling, I am talking about the profits which end up going to the church. There are benefit bingo games played where I live, which have nothing to do with any church. Bingo is a game a lot of people enjoy playing and the money can be given to whatever charity is involved. Or perhaps it's not done for charity and it's done for profit. Either way, you can pay $20 and go watch a movie or pay $20 and play Bingo all night. Either way, you are paying for entertainment and possibly money. You could do the same with most games of chance, but with those games the possibility of abuse is greater. Any form of gambling is addictive, so it's not something that I do. I spent my entertainment budget on movies, but I have no right to judge someone who spends their entertainment budget on bingo.

I'm sorry, I never meant that you were advising people to run themselves into the poor house, but what if that was someone's last $20, and the church profited, but the player lost mile and bread money for the family, yes it is on a different scale, but the outcome is the same as the guy who gambles away his mortage at the roulette table.

Everything is relative, depending on the situation. But to condone one but shun the other is hypocritic don't you think? And most people who go to the casino's have the money to do so, as they travel to get there, you can find a bingo hall on most street corners. Maybe if you look at it that way the church is a crack peddler, and the casino is the safe haven.

To waste your remaining money on anything, when your family is hungry would be a sin in my opinion. Regardless of what it is.

And I'm not "shunning" any other gambling. I think that Bingo is probably less detrimental if a one becomes addicted, because Bingo wouldn't be easy to spend all of your money on unless you were poor. But that's a side issue.

The main point I'm making is that there is nothing in the Bible against gambling. The profits are going to the church. So I see nothing wrong with Bingo in the church.

Anything can be an addiction, Twinkie are an addiction to someone, well to my sister-in-law for sure.