Rizal’s Gamble
I stumbled upon Dr. Jun Ynares’ riveting article, “Rizal on Gambling” and thought this might be a good starting point for some of us who are actively engaged with the present issues in our country (and ‘OMG,’ inside our church!) such as gambling. A common definition (usually by Wikipedia) of gambling highlights the idea that it is “ the wagering of money or something of material value (referred to as “the stakes”) on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period.”
Now here’s the opening paragraphs of that article written by the governor of the province of Rizal (full story may be viewed at http://www.mb.com.ph/node/281369/rizal-gambling.
“In the face of the raging issue on gambling, we can turn to our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, for some enlightenment. With a dash of humor. Rizaleños and the Rizal provincial government have never supported the idea of small town lotteries and its twin sister, the illegal jueteng numbers game. With strong support from the Philippine National Police, Church groups, local government units, and civic organizations, the province has managed to stay out of the list of places in the country plagued by jueteng. We had always believed that our national hero, after whom our province was named, would have never placed a bet in his entire life; would have never gambled.” After reading this article, I thought of my own religious community – where you can find the proverbial ‘righteous brothers.’ But it is sad that Rizal’s Code of Ethics appear more righteous compared with some of our brethren’s supposedly deep ‘faith convictions’ who do not find anything wrong with ‘gambling’ (even by Wikipedia standards) as long as it is used for the ‘glory of God.’ Incidentally, Rizal’s top 5 entries in that Code are the following: Number 5: “Don’t be a rabid partisan.” Number 4: “Don’t be cruel in any way.” Number 3: “Don’t break the laws.” Number 2: “Don’t be a drunkard.” And here is the number 1 entry in Dr. Rizal’s Code of Ethics: “Don’t gamble.” Another source of this article can be found in http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/manila-bulletin/mi_7968/is_2010_Oct_16/dr-rizal-investor/ai_n55809631/
In the face of the raging issue on gambling, we can turn to our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, for some enlightenment. With a dash of humor.
Rizaleños and the Rizal provincial government have never supported the idea of small town lotteries and its twin sister, the illegal jueteng numbers game. With strong support from the Philippine National Police, Church groups, local government units, and civic organizations, the province has managed to stay out of the list of places in the country plagued by jueteng.
We had always believed that our national hero, after whom our province was named, would have never placed a bet in his entire life; would have never gambled.
