Do any of you know of any members who have been subject to punishement of any sort for gambling at a casino or betting on a horse?What do any former bishops or church leaders here have to say about this?

Mormon pop star Brandon Flowers freely gambles at casinos and has not been summoned to a church court to explain himself.
Do you people know of cases like this that you can say what happened when a member was accused of gambling?

If they excommunicate ordinary unknown members and not Brandon Flowers,then this case exposes hypocrisy in the church.

My mother and father in law are TBM's and they go to Las Vegas and gamble quite frequently. My father in law even served as a bishop a couple of years ago. I did, however, overhear a mutual friend upbraid them for gambling and this friend even mentioned that if their bishop found out they would be in trouble.

They've mostly been jackmormons though. And I know lots of TBMs that buy lottery tickets. I don't think the bishops care much as long as the tithing checks are still coming in.

I don't really think gambling pays so well anyway. I've seen people buy 200 bucks worth of lottery tickets and be excited when they win 25 dollars. Me I'd be wanting my 175 bucks back.

What are the reasons for the church taking disciplinary action, or even excommunicating a member?
A 1990 article offered on the church's Web site lists the following reasons for convening a disciplinary council: "… abortion, transsexual operation, attempted murder, rape, forcible sexual abuse, intentionally inflicting serious physical injuries on others, adultery, fornication, homosexual relations, child abuse (sexual or physical), spouse abuse, deliberate abandonment of family responsibilities, robbery, burglary, theft, sale of illegal drugs, fraud, perjury, or false swearing."

CON'T HERE:

http://www.pbs.org/mormons/faqs/controversies.html

ARTICLE from 1990 referenced:
A Chance to Start Over:
Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings
By Elder M. Russell Ballard
Of the Quorum of the Twelve

M. Russell Ballard, “A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings,” Ensign, Sept. 1990, 12


http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1990.htm/ensign%20september%201990.htm/a%20chance%20to%20start%20over%20church%20disciplinary%20councils%20and%20the%20restoration%20of%20blessings.htm

It's to the brethren's advantage to keep the sheeple fearful of excommunication, so they don't exactly post lists of ex-worthy offenses in every meetinghouse. Most members would be surprised what sort of things WON'T get them exed.

I played poker every week when I was a Mormon. I was Jack Mormon at the time, but I never thought anything of it. I was pretty honest with ward members that I was friends with at the time.

You will not be excommumicated for gambling. At worst you'll get a talking to by the bishop and advised to stop.

I live in Las Vegas and there are a lot of mormons that work in the gaming industry. I work in the gaming industry myself and have a mormon bishop as a co-worker. Most of them dont gamble themselves but they have no problem profiting from people that do.

My FIL is a bishop and he and MIL make Vegas and Wendover trips regularly. They aren't shy about their little rebellion and nothing has ever been done about it. I'm always a little surprised at how comfortable some Mormons are with hypocrisy.

If you admit to winning a lot do they want 10%?

What about Mormon entertainers that PERFORM in casino's?

Best joke i heard::::
Las vegas is run by the LDS Church by day and the mafia by night --AND THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE ..

jb

but I'm pretty sure he's admitted that he smokes and drinks, or has smoked and still drinks. I forget where I read this, but no surprise really...

Not from what I've seen, as my otherwise TBM ex loved to buy lottery tickets, but he's never won more than $5. He was also Jack Mormon about alcohol as well, as he thought it was polite that if you were at a business dinner to drink beer or wine if everyone else was. Yet, drinking iced tea was one of the worst sins one could commit according to him.

called The Lottery. It's responsible for many people gambling away and losing money they should use to feed and cloth their kids.

He was wishing gamblers luck and pressed the numbers ball machine button.

I saw Donny on You tube after I had an EQ church lesson on Compromising Integrity I knew the church leaders were full of Crap after I saw Donny parading/promoting himself that way.

The real LDS leadership message is that you can compromise Integrity if it helps pay a BIG TITHE.

I'm nevermo and never bought a lottery ticket in my life. Why would I want compromise my Integrity joining the sham church.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2010 03:23PM by zeezrom.

From reading your post, it looks like Donny was at least partly responsible for your questioning of TSCC. Is that true?

It's always good to know the Osmonds are responsible for getting people out as much as they are for bringing 'em in!

I emailed his website to ask about his appearance on the lottery show and how that fits in with a Temple Recommend and/ or with LDS standards and Integrity.I asked if they felt perhaps he may have compromised his integrity as I had learned from the Spencer Kimball Lesson manual that day in EQ.

Donny Osmonds website IGNORED me and no response at all.

I emailed a second time and heard nothing yet again.

I've since discovered that Donny Osmond hosts money game shows and is seen pictured with money around him to lure people into watching his shows.

For 17 years I have advocated that people perhaps think twice before buying lottery tickets and instead focus on wise saving/investing if they want to build up financial security.

So seeing Donny Osmond like that after I spent over a year telling family and friends about the the Mormon Church's very high standards including the dangers of the lottery making desperate people poorer made me feel sick and it felt like slap in the face.

I brought it up later in EQ and no one seem to batter an eye lid. I had to really press them on the matter and finally two stood up and said I agree with '****' (my name).

If a Mormon is gambling in a casino, the person catching them would need to also be in the casino. Even if they aren't gambling, just being caught in a casino would be cause for concern. I'm just going by how TBM my mother was, and we weren't allowed to go to a casino unless there was nothing else in town for room & board. Never allowed in the area where people were gambling and weren't allowed to play with the devil's face cards. Good ol' mom was also against drinking Coca-cola, hot drinks, and even most candy! Yeah, I was deprived by today's standards.

My sister lived in Wendover for a couple years, and she had a really nice job at one of the casinos. She would see people she knew from Utah all the time, and of course some of them were Mormons. She saw my ultra-TBM aunt and uncle out there more than once, and apparently they were really embarrassed about it. They didn't have a players card to get discounts and whatnot, I guess because they didn't want there to be a record of them gambling.

Until 2000 the biggest Casinos in Wendover were Mormon owned. Stateline and SilverSmith

It wouldn't even cost your temple recommend. Gambling is just an admonishment.
When I was TBM I went to a casino with jackmo parents and TBM DW and it "felt" about the same as shopping on Sunday