Internet-based Casinos

An article in the Boston Globe this morning focused on the problem of internet casino gambling with young people, especially those in college. Online casinos use a number of different strategies to lure young people to begin, and frequently these young people, especially males, find themselves falling deeper into debt. Since internet gambling happens in one's own room and one doesn't have to go anywhere to play, it makes it even more difficult to terminate play and shut off the computer. It has become such a problem in colleges that over 40 college presidents recently attended a conference on this burgeoning problem.

While I am not surprised by this phenomenon, it does make me sad. Gambling is not good for the soul. The God who created us and who has redeemed us has made us to be Eikon's of his glory and goodness. Gambling, it seems to me, is friction against the direction of God's good ends for us as humans. What thoughts do you have about the article and about gambling?