The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1951-04-21
THE OPEN CITY
; BIT Ralph Rogers. Pastor.
First Presbyterian Church


First Presbyterian Church
It's, hardly conceivable in the
light of recent revelations by the
Kefauyer Committee that any
tne would haye the enfrontcry to
advocate an open City" The
tie-up of gamblers with corrupt
city, state and national officials,
the bribery of law enforcement
officers. the brazen 'forgetful-
ness OF income-tax evaders, has
prejudiced the public against
most, even innocent officials, and
tends to weaken the basic frame
work of republic which dcnende
Oh the integrity Of its chosen
representatives.
The dictionary makes no diff
ference between betting and
gambling. AS far as Webster is
concerned, they are synonymous
terms, Since gambling infringes
on the moral calibre of the indi-
vjdlial it falls naturally into the
religious framework of the nation
and therefore is within the prov
ihce Of the clergy, regardless of
what some may say about min
listers messing in politics. The
corrupt politician would like fol
the clergy to stay out. The sin,
cere seeker after truth and the
good life, gladly accepts the coun-
Gil OF good men and might be
shocked and embarrassed if he
blindly followed the corrupt poll
tician painted by the Kcfauverl
Committee,
We hear the question, What's
wrong if / bet my own money
and have a little fun" First, it is
not your or my money. God says,
'',..The silver is mine and the gold
Is mine" We are only stewards
of what we temporarily possess.
Not so long ago a minister con-
Quoted a funeral of suicide who
had been a betting man and left
his widow and several children
pcnnilcsS. The law gives the
family an interest in the assets of
the house. Pure love declares as
much. The man then is risking
money that is not altogether his
when nc bets.
A small town in the midwest
has two banks. Men in each of
these two banks held responsible
positions and were reared in good
families. These men contended
that il was not wrong TO bet.
They used their own and their
family's funds and finally used
the banks funds. They were dis
covered and both did prison
terms. If there is no harm in bet
ting there is no sensible man who
would want to make deposits in
a bank where the president hangs
out at a roulette wheel or gam
bling joints. 1t is morally wrong
TO gamble. Just study the record
of cmbczzlers and one will soon
be justified in questioning the in
tegrity of the gambler
The heather have had sense
of right and wrong down through
tho ages. None of us arc ignorant
when it comes TO choosing right
from wrong. a man was asked tot
serve as deacon of his church and
refused on the ground that he
cambled, played poker now and
then. Neither he nor anyone else.I
can reconcile the indulgence of
tlle gambler with Gods work. He
was at least honest in conscience
when he refused the church APP
pointmcnt. -
II might be, Just drop in thel
bucket" if the gambler alone Isl
taken for loss. Our statutes are
cluttered with provisions to regu-
late gambling. Our legislative as
scmbly right nov is working onl
more legislation. Despite all such
precautions, we find loop-holes
whereby the public can be fleeced,
individuals corrupted, and seve-
nues diverted from their proper
channels. The world series inl
baseball was thrown a few years
ago by gamblers. The same cor
ruption has crept into our college