Scottish Church Concerned Over Super Casinos

|TOP|The new Primus of the Episcopal Church of Scotland has come out to warn against government plans to create super casinos calling them a “danger area for the whole of society”.

The Rt Rev Dr Idris Jones, who is also Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, voiced “great concern” over the planned super casino that may come to Glasgow if its bid is successful.

Dr Jones also warned that the potential human cost of gambling could not be avoided, reports The Scotsman.
"I think it's a great concern when the state endorses a pattern of behaviour which is going to make some people very vulnerable and as a result of it some people are going to suffer," he said.

|AD|"And the fact of the matter is that people can become addicted to gambling, and when they do, that it is completely destructive of family life, of simply holding down a job.

"All addictive behaviour is destructive to the human personality. This is a danger area for the whole of society, and nobody can pretend they haven't been told or the alarm bell's not been rung."

Dr Jones also said there was no moral authority to claims by the government and local authorities that the creation of super casinos will bring employment to Glasgow.

"This is yet another area of life where you have to balance one thing with another. It's quite wrong that we spend what we do on armaments, for example.

"If you're going to close that down, then you've got to find a way of giving the people who are employed there some other alternative employment. So what is never right to do is to solve one problem only at the expense of creating another. You've got to look at the total picture."