Bahamas gambling referendum rejected

"This is a victory for the church," said Dr. Ranford Patterson, Bahamas Christian Council. "We are excited and thanking God." "As the world looked on, the Bahamian people conducted themselves peacefully and with great respect for others as the Referendum was held without incident," added Bradley B Roberts, National Chairman, Progressive Liberal Party by way of press statement shortly after the results came in.

Joseph Gaskins, columnist for TheBahamasWeekly.com and sociology lecturer at College of The Bahamas expressed the following on social media, " I want people to come to terms with the fact that many of the people who voted no did so not because of the church but because they are frustrated, and even offended, by the way the government brought this issue to the people. The sad part is that I think the anger of the Bahamian people is being lost in a discourse about the influence of the church. Stop that! "

Gaskins continued, "In my opinion, people wanted to vo te yes...to ownership opportunities for all Bahamians, for a regulated gaming industry and for a national lottery. What they didn't want to vote for was a referendum that did not address legal discrimination against Bahamians. They didn't want to vote yes for "web-shops" when no one could define what exactly web-shop is. And they didn't want to vote for a national lottery without any information on how it would operate, who would be in charge of its operation and if these people could be trusted to take on this task. The story is much more complicated than a conflict between the church and number bosses."

"Sorry, as much as I've talked about this issue from panels to radio shows, one thing is clear -- the frustration of the Bahamian people is palpable. Let's talk about that!" said Gaskins.