Some religious leaders speak out against gambling following suicide in Detroit casino

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 9:02 a.m.

Sunday, First Baptist Church of Troy Pastor Michael Harding compared the glittering casinos to the golden calf idol from the Bible.

"The Second Commandment says, 'Thou shall not make a graven image of God," Harding told his congregation of more than 600. "America has its own version of the golden calf - the almighty dollar."

Last Wednesday, off-duty Oak Park police Sgt. Solomon Bell shot himself in the head at a MotorCity blackjack table after losing thousands of dollars in a day of gambling.

Victor Begg, a respected leader in the Detroit area's Islamic community, said Bell's suicide was just the tip of the iceberg.

"I wish I could say (Bell's suicide) is the worst thing that's going to happen because of gambling," Begg said. "But I don't think that's the case. Nothing good can ever come out of having a casino in your city."

Begg - of the Unity Center Mosque in Bloomfield Hills - was a vocal opponent of casino gambling when Gov. John Engler appointed him to a blue-ribbon committee to study the possible effects of casinos on the Detroit area a few years ago.

The Rev. James Holley, pastor of Little Rock Baptist Church in Detroit, said more problems are on the horizon because of the casinos. Holley last year was appointed by Engler to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

"The problems aren't going to go away," Holley told The Detroit News. "There needs to be some balance - maybe the casinos should have to put phone numbers where problem gamblers can get help on all their advertisements, like the Surgeon General's warning on cigarette packs."