Apologetically Speaking
“The Price of Vice”
A week or so ago I read a brief article in one of the Vancouver newspapers that contained a quote. The person being quoted said that automobile dealers in the greater Vancouver area were worried about the effects of any governmental crackdown on money laundering.
Those who live in or around the lower mainland of British Columbia and southern Vancouver Island know that there has been a brewing scandal off of which, the lid is being pried. The scandal involves the open secret that B.C.’s casinos and those in Vancouver especially, have been sources of virtually unchecked money laundering. Vancouver is not alone, however. I recall a year or two ago of reports of at least one person bringing in tens of thousands of dollars into a casino not far from where I live. It was reported to being brought in an upright suitcase on wheels. Almost like wheelbarrows of cash being laundered.
The sale of illicit drugs is laundered in casinos when people bring in copious amounts of cash, get it converted into chips, then play a little and cash out and leave. The casino’s cash receipt is as good as a wash cycle in Tide.
Illicit money apparently also floods into B.C. from Asia where it too is laundered and frequently converted into assets such as real estate and luxury automobiles.
The auto dealers I mentioned were worried that if the British Columbia government got serious about stopping what has become known as the wide-open criminal money laundering site, the effects could ripple through the economy and dealers of luxury cars could face serious economic harm. Ditto the real estate market, though both the provincial and federal governments have shown some concern about the fact of inflated home values.
At the same time, I see no agency going into high gear to stamp out organized criminal activity of this sort. My conclusion, cynical as it may be, is that the proceeds of crime and their stalking horse, vice, are simply too lucrative to shut down completely. In short, we’ve become too dependent on the money.
The phrase, victimless crime, may be a misnomer. There are victims aplenty and the final vicitim is the citizen of this province. I also recall that before the door was opened to casino gambling, churches made many a submission warning of the dark side of vice. I note and hope you do too that gambling is never called that. It is referred to by its euphemism, “gaming”. The province doesn’t have an official gambling commission to regulate these activities, it has a Gaming Commission. And not to be left out of the action, the province itself runs lotteries.
Do you remember when, initially, the profits went directly to charities? I do. That was a few years ago. Do you remember when that was changed and the money flowed into provincial coffers, and then began to be doled out to charities, with a significant amount kept in general revenues. And do you think now the government is hooked on gambling money, that it’s ever likely to change? Me either.
A lottery ad that is currently seen on television in British Columbia has a young man asking a woman what she’ll do with her winnings. He reply: “take a vacation.” She is further prompted and answers, “a lake vacation…on my lake…Jane’s Lake!” Did I say I hate that commercial? I’d thought an ad about how you could change the world through charitable giving would be a bit more worthwhile, but it’s really just putting lipstick on a pig, I guess.
But no, it seems that what fuels lottery sales is not the prospect of philanthropy, it just pure old greed. Why would I be surprised?
Then lo and behold, my devotional reading took me to Psalm 49 and these words. Pay attention to the last line.
No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— so that they should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses[b] forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had[c] named lands after themselves.
So, gloomy guy, you reply, what’s the answer? As much as I think we should resist evil wherever we can no matter how ephemeral and hard to define, that’s not the final answer.
The psalmist says no one can ransom the life of another, and humanly that’s true. But God’s absolute specialty is putting broken lives back together, healing the heart and bestowing not just a second chance, but a whole brand new, never-ending life.
Don’t you just love it? So do I.