By Bob Allen
A statehouse prayer landed a Baptist pastor in the middle of a controversy over a proposal to bring casino gambling to Kentucky.
Hershael York
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Hershael York, pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., opened Gov. Steve Beshear’s Jan. 17 budget address with a 2-minute prayer that some observers say moved beyond preaching to meddling.
Praying for legislators about to consider amending the state constitution to permit casino gambling, the former Kentucky Baptist Convention president invoked: “May they never resort to leveraging vice and avarice to pay our bills. Help us to admit that we cannot truly love our neighbor as ourselves and then scheme to get his money by enticing him with vain hope. May they not lead this state to share profits from an industry that preys on greed or desperation. Help us to foster salaries, and not slot machines, to build cars and enable jobs, not license casinos and seduce the simple into losing what they have. May our greatest concern not be that we get our share of a family’s losses, but that we foster a sense of hope and justice that creates opportunity and leads to success. And may the decisions that they make and the judgments they render be consistent with your eternal character and truth. In the name of God the Father and his Son Jesus and the blessed Holy Spirit we pray, amen.” (Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncrWAFOTyM).
The Freedom from Religion Foundation issued an advisory letter complaining that York’s “overtly Christian” prayer was unconstitutional and “took advantage of the political nature of the event.”
Annie Laurie Gaynor, the foundation’s co-chair, termed York’s insinuation that God’s desire was for government officials to vote against the legislation “supernatural blackmail.”
The governor, who reached an agreement in January with state Sen. Damon Thayer on the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment, was not amused. “I know you’ve heard a lot of arguments about why gaming is or isn’t right for Kentucky, but you haven’t heard a single argument as to why Kentuckians shouldn’t be allowed to vote on this proposal,” Beshear said in his budget address.
Beshear, a Democrat and Baptist minister’s son who now worships in the Disciples of Christ denomination, said Kentuckians currently spend more than $450 million a year on casino gambling in neighboring states. “We need to keep our money in our own state,” he said.
York, who also is Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching and associate dean at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has long opposed efforts to bring slot machines to Kentucky racetracks, which proponents say are needed to avert deep budget cuts.
On Jan. 31 York told the Lexington Herald-Leader that if Thayer files a casino gambling bill in coming days that he would lodge an ethics complaint against the Georgetown Republican for refusing to disclose clients with whom he consults in the equine industry or if he would gain financially from casino gambling.
“If Senator Thayer is the sponsor of the casino bill, then I absolutely will file an ethics complaint against him,” York said. “This just smells. There’s no question he has very close ties to the horse industry. It’s hard to see how none of his clients will profit from this bill he’s about to file. And I don’t think it’s unreasonable for us to ask him to explain this to us.”
The next day Gov. Beshear accused Senate President David Williams, who sometimes attends York’s church, of trying to intimidate Republicans who support the casino proposal. Beshear criticized the previous day’s news story as “a cheap shot that Senator Williams’ buddy and sidekick Rev. York took at Senator Thayer” and “further evidence of intimidation by Senator Williams and others who are against this amendment.”