Letter: Casino won’t fill needs of family
Mrs. Mayor, would it be too much to ask to have a Sweet Tomatoes restaurant, a Target, a Costco or a Kohl’s built in Madera?
Believe me I have no objections to having an establishment coming to Madera to provide jobs for the residents, but the casino simply can’t meet my basic and domestic needs.
I don’t like getting into my car and driving in Fresno and giving them my Madera dollars when I could drive a few minutes here and get what I needed. With the cost of gas it would only make sense to shop here in Madera.
Unfortunately, because of our population certain businesses don’t think we can support them. But the casinos do?
I go to the above places to provide food, clothes, furniture and other basic needs for our household. A casino would not provide this for me. Granted, the only reason we drive to Chukchansi is to eat in the buffet there.
Gambling is a sickness and a disease. A personal example comes from my … (relation) being filmed on a casino video tape borrowing thousands of dollars against her own mother’s credit card while the mother was dying in a Fresno hospital. Is this the kind of sickness we wish to promote in our families?
It’s a fact that gambling breaks up the family unit. Can Madera Christians afford that?
… We could build many businesses and restaurants here in Madera to provide jobs for many people. It would fulfill many more needs than gambling — not to mention keeping Madera dollars in Madera.
Margaret McGuire,
Madera
You can bring religion into this all you want but a casino would still be the best thing for the economy of Madera despite all of the “negatives” mentioned. Many cities do not have casinos in them and are far worse off than Madera. Also, in those cities they have far more things that may drive people of the Christian path but you fail to mention these things. Also some of these things exist here but again you fail to mention them. It seems like a majority of backwards and ill informed probably older Maderans want the city to go back to the days when it had nothing and was not a place of interest for anyone. Many foward moving and foward minded people do not want this and if bringing religion into the casino issue is the way you want to scare people into siding with you then go ahead, it’s a free country. But also know that while gambling may not be the best thing in your words… there are far worse things going on in this area affecting Christians and just people in general. Just look around and do not put a majority of the blame on a proposed casino that will bring economic good to this city that greatly needs it. Also, if it will so greatly affect you or does not fulfill your needs, do not go. Why make a big deal out of something like this? If more people used actual logic while thinking about issues like this then maybe Madera would have a lot more and would look a lot better. Hopefully people can do this instead of using ignorance and stereotypical thoughts..
Webmaster’s note: In all fairness I should mention that the original letter to the editor was longer than the abridged version above, and the part that spoke about Christian concerns was by far a minority of the whole text. Not included in the above abridged version of the letter was a long, concrete illustration of the benefits and needs that a casino does not provide to a family but that are clearly beneficial for them and lacking in Madera. The letter was shortened entirely for the sake of brevity and not as judgment on the content.
(We ought to start a message forum!) In response to Annoyed Citizen, just because you don’t necessarily LIKE the “religion” angle, doesn’t mean that it is not an applicable argument. Aside from that point, and I’m assuming that you missed my earlier diatribe on the proposed casino, the economy and other pertinent items, said casino will probably cost more for the area than it gives back. This in the form of policing, waste management, and the increased traffic burden along this section of the 99 corridor just to name a few issues.
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record here (actually, I DO!), there again are more than enough casinos in the area to supply the demand for a wheel to watch, a lever to pull, and cards to play.
Might be that you have not yet noted the rising price of fuel, and all goods that fuel serves to deliver, such as FOOD. According to FoxNews last week, we are seeing the worst food price increase in 17 YEARS! Now riddle me this; when individuals and families are forking over even more of their hard-earned wages for necessities, what makes one think that yet another casino is going to help matters? Like I’ve stated before, people have no business dumping their money into a slot machine or plunking it down on a card table while their kids are at home, foraging through the fridge and cupboards, looking for whatever there is left to put together for a meal. You KNOW this happens just as well as I do, and another casino, one even easier to get to than the rest will only exacerbate that problem.
Now I will concede one point, in that Ms. McGuire is taking a particularly right-wing view of the issue. Gambling is NOT necessarily a “sickness and a disease”, perse. Perhaps her “personal example” has jaded her views a tad. I understand where she’s coming from, but again the statement is a bit extremist. I myself have sat at a table with friends, playing 5-card stud while drinking cocktails and reminiscing about old times. Does that mean that I have a “sickness” or “disease”? NO. Gambling in and of it’s self is NOT a sickness, it’s the ADDICTION that needs addressed, on an individual basis. Ms. McGuire, gambling does NOT equal addiction in every instance.
I am quite intimately aware of the Judeo-Christian position on the issue, we’ve all read the passages that counsel against the “casting of lots” and such.
Wow, that took an entire 20 minutes to convey in the wrote. It’s worth every second and character though, if it evokes serious dialogue and discussion on this contentious issue. I for one (if the reader hadn’t assessed this already!) am against the proposed casino wholeheartedly. I think it’s a bad idea, borne of bad ideas, by well-meaning people. Something else, ladies and gentlemen, something more constructive and beneficial, but definitely NOT another casino, needs to be considered for this area.
Anything can be made an applicable argument with enough thought behind it. And I am aware that letters to the editor are shortened because of length often and not because of content. I am just saying that the casino is something that Madera needs to boost its economy, meaning that maybe with the extra jobs,money,etc. etc. brought in by the casino and enterprises associated with it the city might able to do something good for the people that live here or get something done quicker because the money is there.
Also, I am well aware pf the problems involving gambling(hearing of friends who have family members and young children that have parents wasting their money at casinos and even on online gambling sites). This last point brings up another important issue.. if there was no casino, who is to say it would create less of a social/family problem anyways, what with online gambling sites and other local casinos and other ways to gamble for the addicted. While you, JP, may think that gambling locally (even closer) will make it easier for people to neglect their needs… that’s what internet gambling has done. It does not mean that a local casino will be a bad thing. This casino could also allow some of the things people enjoy, such as big name concerts, to come to an area that is closest to them.
Also, the casino being built will get them moving on improvements to Highway 99 which are definitely needed. As far as increased congestion and traffic problems happening on Highway 99 because of the proposed casino… it is already happening without it. The central valley is already growing and with that growing comes many more people that need to use Highway 99 to go to various places in both ways.. not including all the truckers that use it because it is the best/most convenient route for them to use.
Basically, all the problems stated going against a new casino can also be attributed to many other things. Do not just sit down and say a new casino will “cause this and cause that” when it is already there or there are many other alternatives that people already use to satisfy their addiction without even leaving home. I am well aware about everything both you, the webmaster for this site, and what people for and against the casino know and have stated. Basically, a casino will bring about progression in the city of Madera, whereas without it… anything could take its place, both far worse or better. Either way, I have seen how people argue(just as I am for the casino and JP is against) and no matter what is placed there… there will be an argument among some group of people over whether or not it should be placed there.
As is obvious, I am for the casino and believe that the goods presented outweigh the negatives, at least in the future if not right away. I’m sorry if I failed to address any point or truly offended anyone. I am not trying to do this but am trying to “open” every readers’ mind as to other sources of problems even if there were no casino. It seems like I am the “devil’s advocate” for many developing arguments against the casino… but not quite..
( As a side note to JP: I am a Christian that knows that this issue of gambling is presented in the Bible and know that it is said not to do it. I am not anti religion in this issue, just addressing the fact that it does not necessarily play a big role.. unless you are a strict Christian, Jew, Muslim, etc. etc… Also, upon asking other Christians who have been for many years, on whether they are for or against the casino based on the religious issue and not based on it (two separate questions), I noted that there are some that are all for the casino being built and operated in both cases. Just wanted to clear this up.)