Church facing uphill fight on casino. Some say sense of inevitability curtailing effort

[Ian David]

Black Collar Douchebaggery

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | August 12, 2007

Church leaders, who have used their moral authority and political muscle to defeat gambling proposals for more than 70 years in Massachusetts, are struggling to gain traction against a casino in Middleborough this year as they face declining clout on Beacon Hill, indifferent congregants, and a sense that the casino is inevitable.

While some church leaders have circulated bulletins decrying the social costs of casinos, most have not organized the muscular letter-writing campaigns, State House lobbying blitzes, or sermons that were hallmarks of their victories over efforts to expand gambling in 1994 and 2001.

<snip>

"It was really the clergy sexual abuse scandal that really brought the church to a position where they weren't very effective in lobbying in the Massachusetts Legislature," {Former Mayor of Boston Raymond L.} Flynn said. "I think they lost a lot of their moral and political influence and clout up at the State House."

<snip>

"Let me tell you: they've been in absentia this year," said Representative James R. Miceli, a Wilmington Democrat who was first elected in 1976 and says he is undecided about building a casino. "They haven't done anything. They haven't talked about it. They haven't called. . . . I don't understand it. It's something they've been quite vocal about in the past."


His Douchebaggedness, Cardinal O'Malley

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/12/church_facing_uphill_fight_on_casino/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News