Gambling

According to a March 31 Baptist Press story, "The percentage of Americans who play the lottery has dropped significantly in recent years while the percentage who visit casinos has risen slightly, a Gallup poll shows. The poll suggests that for the first time since Gallup began asking the question, a majority of Americans aren't playing the lottery.

"Specifically, 49 percent of Americans say they haven't bought a lottery ticket in the past year, while 51 percent say they have. The data reflects an 8-percentage point swing from 1999, when 57 percent of Americans said they had played the lottery and 43 percent said they hadn't. In 1996, 57 percent of those polled said they had played the lottery; in 1992 it was 56 percent.

"But the news isn't all good for gambling foes. Thirty percent of Americans say they have visited a casino within the past year - an increase from 1996 when it was 27 percent and from 1992 when it was 21 percent. Seventy percent of those polled say they have not visited a casino."

There is one piece of good news: "Churchgoers are less likely to gamble. Seventy-four percent of those who seldom or never attend church say they've gambled in the past year, compared to 52 percent of those who attend church weekly."