During an interview broadcasted on APTV’s “Capitol Journal,” State Rep. Pebblin Warren (D-Tuskegee) offered her views on morality and religion as it pertained to gambling.
Warren, who represents the district within which Macon County’s VictoryLand is located, has been a proponent of legalized gambling in Alabama.
The Tuskegee Democrat said she respected those who have religious beliefs that compel them to oppose gambling but added people would go to other states to gamble away from Alabama.
“I understand those who have their religious beliefs, and I respect that – I respect it,” Warren said. “But I also know the reality what I’m trying to get in Macon County is already being done in Alabama. We say things, and we use it when it is to our advantage. But when you look at the reality, we’re not practicing what we are preaching. You go to the gaming places in Mississippi, and you see how many church buses you see there, OK? It’s OK to leave Alabama and gamble, but the whole thing is that revenue generating component that we’re concerned about. I’m pretty sure we give billions to our surrounding states.”
Warren also mentioned the Supreme Court’s ruling on sports betting and the illegal betting going on within the state of Alabama and hinted that could be legalized to benefit the state as well. She also added that her interpretation of Scripture only forbade in “God’s sight,” or in religious settings.
“Again, it’s just dealing with reality,” she continued. “And I think, you know, when it comes to your religious beliefs, you have to do what is pleasing in what is God’s sight. And the only place I can see that he talked against gambling was when it was in the churches. Other than that – that was where it was wrong because they were using the holy sanctuary to do the gambling. Who knows what he would say – he might have gone out there with the crowd in the street and started shooting some craps. Who knows what it was because he started making wine for them to drink. So he said, don’t do it in my sanctuary.”
“Once we start looking at it – sometimes, we put ourselves in a judging position, and he truly says it’s not our position, it’s his position,” Warren said. “So, you come thinking about your religious beliefs and your faith, that’s between you and your God, not you and me. We don’t judge. He didn’t give us that right, OK? He has that sole authority to be a judge and whatever you do, if a person is gambling – they can pray for forgiveness. That’s a good thing about it. He will forgive you.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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