The Nation - News from Oct. 2, 1988

A top Mormon official called government-sponsored lotteries nothing more than gambling and urged members of the faith and other Christians to battle the games of chance. “All too often lotteries only add to the problem of the financially disadvantaged by taking money from them and giving nothing of value in return,” said Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member of the church’s Council of the Twelve. In an address before the church’s 158th Semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City, Wirthlin urged “members of the church to join with others” to vote against lottery proposals on several state ballots in November. In a separate address, Mormon Church President Ezra Taft Benson challenged members to flood the world with the message of the faith’s most cherished scripture. The 89-year-old “prophet, seer and revelator” of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encouraged stronger participation in promulgating the teachings in the Book of Mormon.