Major Lindsay Rowe of the Salvation Army says gambling is anti-Christian amid talk of a casino being built on the Hamilton waterfront.

Hamilton Mayor Lawson Mapp was lauding the casinos Biloxi, Mississippi after a fact-finding mission.

But Major Rowe said the idea was a bad one.

?Bermuda is not the first community to eulogise gambling as a panacea for all our ills.

?Behind the bright lights and promises of ?jobs, jobs, jobs?, gambling casts a long and foreboding shadow,? Major Rowe said.

Major Rowe pointed to the ?dark side? of gambling, saying that casinos in Atlantic City increased crime and depressed property values. ?In Atlantic City 100 local restaurants closed shortly after gambling arrived,? he said.

?The American national council on problem gambling estimates that two million US adults qualify as pathological gamblers while another four to eight million may be considered problem gamblers. In Canada, the national council of welfare estimates that 1.2 million Canadians are problem or pathological gamblers.?

He added: ?Given our current battle with drugs and the crime associated with the addict?s search for money, we need to think carefully before intentionally introducing another crime-producing element onto our Island.

?Shall we legalise nude dancing and bathing beaches to make our high rolling gambler-tourist even more fully entertained?

?I hereby challenge the religious leaders of Bermuda to join The Salvation Army in educating its parishioners

about the inherent dangers of gambling and in sending a clear message to Government that we oppose any plan to introduce casinos to the Island.?