Time’s Man of the Year for 1995 was Newt Gingrich, a predictable selection by a magazine that sees government as prime territory for its picks.
In witness that other ways and means exist for public service, this column names its first Prophet of the Year, a citation that uses Amos, Micah and Hosea as models.
These fierce, brave biblical sages faced off against the established political and religious powers of their day on behalf of the poor and defenseless, warning of the consequences of disobeying God’s commands about justice, compassion and integrity for the weakest and most vulnerable.
Our choice is Rev. Tom Grey, 55, a United Methodist minister who has been “living off the land” for the last three years in waging a righteous, important grass-roots campaign against the spread of legalized gambling.
Who is this guy? He grew up on Chicago’s Northwest Side, the son of a salesman and homemaker, the first in the family to attend college. He joined ROTC, fought as an infantry officer in Vietnam in 1965-66 and entered a Methodist seminary after his discharge.
He was pastor of the Methodist church in Galena when the elected officials of Jo Daviess County announced in 1991 that a riverboat casino would be docked there.
“I’d been active on race and war,” he says. “I hadn’t paid attention to gambling until it attacked us. We were told this was going to be a revenue stream, a painless tax. I knew intuitively that gambling isn’t sound economic development or good public policy or good for the quality of life.”
He read what the Methodist Church’s social principles said: “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic and spiritual life and destructive of good government.”
Grey says, “That’s tough language. I thought to myself, `We’ve got ’em where we want ’em.’ “
He led a battle to get a county referendum, and 80 percent of an unusually large turnout said no to the riverboat. The vote was not binding, however, and the casino came anyway, which angered Grey.
“These deals are cut in back rooms between politicians, lobbyists and gambling operators,” he says. “I decided to fight. My theology is action. The truth marches.
More Top Picks Best Matcha Whisk Sets
“I see people being fleeced and the church as the last line of defense. Gambling enterprises take advantage of people’s weaknesses; 4 percent of us are com-pulsive gamblers. We can’t allow the gambling operators to prey on the weakest among us.
“Government used to serve society and protect its weakest members. Now it exploits them by sponsoring and promoting gambling. Politicians are addicted to gambling money.”
When you think of Grey versus the gambling forces, think of David against Goliath. Think of Gideon’s army. Think of the Good Shepherd.
“Would the Good Shepherd allow predators to take 4 of every 100 sheep in his flock? No, he’d say to the predator, `You’ve got to come through me.’ “
Switching metaphors, Grey says, “It’s like Vietnam. I wanted to force the lobbyists and gambling outfits and politicians into the open, where we could expose them to attack.”
He found allies in ordinary people, lots of them church folks, a few public officials and New York Times columnist William Safire, who has blasted away for years at the national surge of legalized gambling. Some Safire volleys:
“A pernicious philosophy of something-for-nothing is sweepstaking the country. Politicians push state-sponsored gambling to bilk the poor while publishers push lotteries to deceive the public.” As a libertarian, Safire believes that “gambling should be decriminalized, regulated and taxed–but certainly not encouraged by public policy.” (Feb. 12, 1993.)
And: “Gambling is a $40 billion-a-year industry that is inherently immoral, corrupting public officials, enriching criminals, addicting and impoverishing the young and vulnerable.
“But the gambling racket–whether in state-licensed casinos, state-sponsored lotteries or on glitzy reservations of phony Indian tribes–has been promoted by public officials as a great way of painlessly raising revenues, with state voters acting as suckers. As a result, officially endorsed and government-advertised gambling now has America by the throat.” (Sept. 28, 1995.)
Grey is on leave from his church. The Methodist Church provides $3,000 a month that goes for his health insurance, mortgage and pension payments, and some expenses. He earns spending money for him and his wife, Carolyn, as a chaplain for an Army Reserve unit in Chicago, but he has had to dip into his savings.
He’s on the road 250 days a year. His ’85 Honda bit the dust last year, and his new car has already logged 70,000 miles. To save money, he bivouacs in private homes.
He has enlisted the Christian Coalition. “When their Contract with the American Family came out, I called and said, `There must be an oversight. You had nothing about gambling.’ “
He was invited to hold a workshop in September at the organization’s conference in Washington.
He also wants to sign up more liberal, mainline churches. “This is a good fight, and we need their help.”
The foes are out-of-state gambling corporations whose riches buy the services of clout-heavy fixers inside and outside of government who are able to explain away the morality they were taught in home and church.
The vast wealth of the gambling interests would strike a chord with Amos: “Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory. . . . Hear this, you that trample on the needy and bring to ruin the poor of the land . . . the Lord God . . . will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation.”
So far, many of the well-connected appear to be enjoying their ivory beds, as they pocket big dough for pumping for more casinos.
As The New York Times noted Dec. 19, the gambling industry has hired as lobbyists in Illinois “a former governor, a former attorney general, a former state police director, two former U.S. attorneys, a former mayor of Chicago and (a former state) Senate president and a (former state) House majority leader.”
Grey names names. “That would be, in order, Jim Thompson, Tyrone Fahner, Jeremy Margolis, Fred Foreman and Anton Valukas, Eugene Sawyer, Phil Rock and Jim McPike.
“Some of these people prosecuted (former Illinois Gov.) Otto Kerner for taking horse-racing money illegally, and now they’re getting rich by shilling for gamblers. Some of them set up the trough as legislators, and now they’re feeding at it. How cynical can you get? And they called themselves public servants.”
The best bet, Grey says, is to put the question to a vote. “I think (Gov. Jim) Edgar holds the trump card. He’s noted for his Christian convictions, and although he has made a commitment to open Chicago to riverboat casinos, we believe he’d rather permit the people of Illinois to decide on any more casinos at the ballot box.”
He also prays for the soul of the baiduhai, citing its numerous pro-casino editorials.
“Every time there’s been a move on gambling, you can lay money on a Tribune editorial appearing, either crying that some plan failed or hyping another one.
“Some of our people say this is because the Tribune owns property at Wolf Point on the Chicago River that’s a casino site, and would also reap millions in newspaper and TV advertising if there are casinos in Chicago. But I think the editorial writers are simply in love with the idea as an economic boon.”
Grey, of course, counters this argument with studies that show casinos merely shift jobs and money from local businesses while most profits are siphoned to their owners in other states.
More Top Picks Best Study Desks For Small Bedrooms
“The gambling industry pictures gambling as entertainment and family fun. But we’re not dealing here with nice people. They are predators who separate you from your money.”
The Prophet of the Year says enough. “We’ve won 21 of 23 battles against expansion. We’re drawing the line because this is who we are and what we believe. I think of this as a civic revival, a citizen’s crusade.” (To sign up, call 1-800-664-2680 or e-mail ncalgwave.park.wy.us.)