{"id":149576,"date":"2020-09-21T15:12:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T22:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=149576"},"modified":"2020-09-21T16:00:15","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T23:00:15","slug":"virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino, November Gambling Referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four churches in Virginia are congregating to get out their message of opposition to a potential casino resort in Bristol.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Bristol straddles the Virginia and Tennessee border, and a casino could be approved by voters on the northern half in November. (Image: American Planning Association)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two churches in Bristol, and one each in nearby Abingdon and Lebanon, Virginia, are funding a campaign to warn voters on the alleged societal consequences of casino gambling. The religious groups recently sent out an eight-page magazine consisting of anti-gambling propaganda to Bristol residents.<\/p>\n

Titled “House to House, Heart to Heart,” the magazine claims the Bible did not approve of gambling, and links casinos to addiction, financial problems, family falling-outs, and various crime. The churches classify gambling as a “chemical-free high.”<\/p>\n

\n

Gambling is a psychological addiction. Pathological gambling is classified as a major addiction, and carries the same life-wrecking potential as cocaine,” the magazine’s first page opines.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Gamblers \u2026 are said to be harder to rehabilitate than alcoholics,” it additionally asserts.<\/p>\n

The material touches on how casinos allegedly lead to higher rates of divorce, suicide, child abuse, bankruptcies, domestic violence, unemployment, and addiction.<\/p>\n

November Referendum<\/b><\/h2>\n

On November 3, voters in five Virginia cities<\/a> will be asked whether they want to approve a single casino in their respective towns. The cities of Bristol, Danville, Richmond, Norfolk, and Portsmouth all meet a slew of qualifying conditions in a casino bill that was signed by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The casinos are seen as a way to help lead an economic resurgence in the distressed cities. The churches, however, say gambling hurts society.<\/p>\n

\n

“The cost to families is devastating. Studies have demonstrated that gambling is ‘the single fasted-growing driver of bankruptcy,'” the magazine flyer declares. However, the anti-casino group is citing a 23-year-old study in the assertion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Vote Yes for Bristol,” the pro-casino group for the town’s casino hopes, says a “yes” vote on November 3 means jobs, tax revenue, tourism, and community money.<\/p>\n

The campaign claims the casino, dubbed Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, will result in more than 2,000 new jobs<\/a>, $15 million in annual tax revenue for the city, and four million tourists each year to the area.<\/p>\n

Project Details<\/b><\/h2>\n

Virginia businessmen Jim McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy led the campaign to convince lawmakers in the General Assembly to allow residents in certain cities to consider casinos as an economic stimulator.<\/p>\n

McGlothlin and Stacy have partnered with Hard Rock International to invest $300 million to renovate the vacant Bristol Mall into a casino resort destination.<\/p>\n

\n

Representatives of the Hard Rock Bristol project unveiled a model of the facility last week. The blueprint calls for a two-level casino floor, outdoor entertainment venue with capacity to hold 20,000 people, 3,200-seat indoor theater, seven restaurants, four bars, retail shopping, convention and meeting space, and a 350-room hotel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hard Rock says the 2,000 new jobs forecast will come with an average annual wage of $45,000 per person.<\/p>\n

According to the US Census Bureau, the median per person income for a Bristol resident was $22,900 in 2018. The poverty rate in Bristol that year was 20.5 percent, nearly double the 10.5 percent national average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four churches in Virginia are congregating to get out their message of opposition to a potential casino resort in Bristol. Two churches in Bristol, and one each in nearby Abingdon and Lebanon, Virginia, are funding a campaign to warn voters on the alleged societal consequences of casino gambling. The religious groups recently sent out an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":149581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-21T22:12:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-21T23:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-21T22:12:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-21T23:00:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Bristol straddles the Virginia and Tennessee border, and a casino could be approved by voters on the northern part in November. (Image: American Planning Association)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino, November Gambling Referendum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino","description":"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino","og_description":"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-09-21T22:12:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-21T23:00:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/","name":"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-21T22:12:30+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-21T23:00:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"Four Virginia churches have united to get their message of opposition out regarding a potential casino resort in Bristol.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/State-Street-sign.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Bristol straddles the Virginia and Tennessee border, and a casino could be approved by voters on the northern part in November. (Image: American Planning Association)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-churches-unite-in-opposition-of-bristol-casino\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Virginia Churches Unite in Opposition of Bristol Casino, November Gambling Referendum"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}