Any of you poker players Christians as well? If so, how do you deal..

[miketurner]

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The Bible doesn't even say lying is bad. Only bearing false witness against thy neighbor is bad. Those are two very different things.

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Leviticus 19:11 "Do not lie. Do not deceive one another" It doesn't get simpler than that. I don't know anywhere off the top of my head where it says 'do not gamble' though. I suppose I do try to deceive people about the strength of my hand though.

As for the question of the stigma of gambling... There are endless things that people say as if they are truths, when they really don't know what they are talking about. Religion being the most common. It seems that the people that spout off the most, often know the least. That is not an attack on you. Just a general statement. Please don't be offended.

[siccjay]

Churches around here have picnics in the summer. They are playing Hold em this weekend at the picnic. Everyone antes a dollar (That the church takes) and then the left of the button makes the first bet of $1-$3. I think they are gambling.

[Freakin]

I tithe at least 10% on all winnings. I'm basically only a casino whore now, but the same applies.

Freakin

[TStoneMBD]

most things in life are a sin, just because they havent been clearly documented as a sin in the bible, they are still a sin. anything that god doesnt want you to do is a sin. jesus told one of his disciples that he had to give everything he owned away to the poor. that is pretty much the gist of gods will. to benefit off the loss of others is a sin. god would want you to produce instead of leech. its not very complicated.

a documented law of god that can be translated to poker is "treat others the way you want to be treated." you dont want people taking your money in poker and vice versa.

[jakethebake]

I love that scene in "The Quiet Man" where the Catholic priests and the Protestant ministers are betting on the fight. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[wacki]

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Leviticus 19:11 "Do not lie. Do not deceive one another" It doesn't get simpler than that. I don't know anywhere off the top of my head where it says 'do not gamble' though. I suppose I do try to deceive people about the strength of my hand though.

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What translation/bible version? I was specifically talking about the ten commandments. The ten commandments are worded very carefully. I don't have time to look into it today, but I'm sure there was a bigger meaning to that story. Quotes taken out of context, especially translated quotes are often useless.

[vulturesrow]

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Kindof. The main lessons in the Bible talk about idolatry. People twist and spin the few stories in the Bible that talk about gambling to mean something they don't. A ton of that goes on in organized religion. Heck the Roman Catholic religion doesn't allow priests to marry. This is not in the Bible. The only reason this occurs is because in medieval times only the rich could afford to build churches and learn to read. When the priest died the church would lose all of that wealth because the son/daughter would inherit it. Gordon Gekko goes holy....


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Wacki,

YOu post some good stuff, but this is completely wrong.

[Joe826]

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depends on the church really. to mormons i'm pretty sure it's sinful, as well as some fundamentalist christians, but to most it's not really mentioned and doesn't seem to have any stigma apart from the normal social stigma. as far as i can tell, anyways.

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The church I went to was Mormon so I am pretty it is treated how I described. Again it has been awhile, but I know smoking and drinking are treated as such so I would assume gambling is included.

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maybe it was, but i have lots of mormon friends and many of them think it would a sin to gamble heavily. in fact the prophet just gave a talk specifically about poker to the young men during conference. i think they advocated giving the money you would lose to the missionary's fund..

[moondogg]

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most things in life are a sin, just because they havent been clearly documented as a sin in the bible, they are still a sin. anything that god doesnt want you to do is a sin. jesus told one of his disciples that he had to give everything he owned away to the poor. that is pretty much the gist of gods will. to benefit off the loss of others is a sin. god would want you to produce instead of leech. its not very complicated.


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Bullshit. I produce taxes, which in turn do all kind of great things for the encony. It pays for trees, sunshine, and people who just don't feel like working (God bless'em).

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a documented law of god that can be translated to poker is "treat others the way you want to be treated." you dont want people taking your money in poker and vice versa.

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I want people to try. Otherwise, you're just playing with yourself.

[whiskeytown]

I ignore the pressure to conform - just as I ignore their thinking I should come to church more then once a year.

poker playing falls under a greek term called adiophria (that is so spelled wrong) - but translated it means, "Questionable things" - -

it's applied as a doctrine most often when refering to Idols and meat sacrificed to them - it's not a sin, but if it causes a brother to stumble, then you're not supposed to do it around them - but there is no prohibition on gambling -

of course, legalistic Pharisee types can throw a verse like "let him who does not work not eat" and the verse about the love of money being the root of all evil and try to apply it to this circumstance, but I don't feel it really applies.

if you really need a theological argument, I could get one for you - but if you have any lingering doubts about it, I'd say don't play - but if you don't give a rats ass what people with bad doctrine think, then who cares?

technically, however, if you have a brother in Christ with a gambling problem who might actually relapse based upon participation, then you're supposed to quit - that's the New Testament way of thinking - but of course, that doesn't happen nearly as often as someone who just butts into your life and says "if you don't work, you shouldn't eat, blah blah blah blah blah"

RB