On Bennett and Gambling

I am now, I think, the last blogger in America to remark on Bill Bennett and gambling.

Gambling, as he seems to have done it, is neither a sin nor a crime: he didn't fail in his financial responsibilities, he didn't leave his family, he never lied about it, and he didn't break any laws. (I don't think gambling is necessarily a vice, either.)

He is not a hypocrite: as far as I know, he never said gambling is wrong and that people shouldn't gamble. And, as far as I know again, he has not held himself up personally as an exemplar of virtue untainted.

Whether it was prudent of him to have gambled as he did is quite another question. It's also a question that I think is his alone to answer. (Okay. His family and his spiritual director and/or confessor ought to have some say-so, too.) I think an awful lot of bloggers need to start minding their own darned business.

By the way, Bennett's "losses" have probably been exaggerated many times over by media and others uninterested in honesty accuracy.

P.S. Other than buying the occasional lottery ticket, I'm not a gambler myself. I'm also not a Puritan, apostate or otherwise.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 05/08/03 02:57:18 PM
Categorized as Most Notable & Religious.