Baptists mobilize against lottery

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A minister asked God to "move the hearts of the people" against a proposed state lottery as Tennessee Baptists gathered Wednesday to send off two trucks filled with 3.2 million anti-lottery leaflets.

About 100 lottery opponents cheered as the trucks, normally used for humanitarian relief efforts, rolled out of the Tennessee Baptist Convention headquarters south of Nashville.

"It was a mammoth undertaking," said James Porch, the convention's executive director.

It marked the first major offensive in the fight over the Nov. 5 lottery referendum.

If approved, the referendum would lift a constitutional ban on a lottery and clear the way for lawmakers to establish games that would fund college scholarships, then pre-kindergarten programs and school construction.

With the lottery ahead in statewide polls, opposition leaders are counting on churches to help sway Christians to vote "no."

"It's a heck of a lot of money that the church is spending that could be better spent educating our children, providing health care for the poor and providing food for people in poverty areas," said state Sen. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis.

Cohen sponsored the lottery legislation and leads the Tennessee Student Scholarship Lottery Coalition. He plans a Legislative Plaza news conference Thursday to update the pro-lottery campaign.