The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has officially condemned gambling since its earliest years. Throughout the 20th century, prophets and apostles preached against the spiritually corrosive vice, and the Church encouraged members to oppose pro-gambling ballot initiatives. But the last time a senior Church leader addressed gambling at its General Conference\u2014the Church\u2019s semiannual global broadcast and most prominent pulpit\u2014was in 2005. The long silence from the conference pulpit may have allowed some members to convince themselves that the Church had softened its stance\u2014or that their Kalshi habit was not a religious issue at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The silence ended this past Saturday, when President D. Todd Christofferson, a senior leader in the Church\u2019s highest governing body, used his General Conference address to condemn gambling. His remarks were well researched: He recited various statistics about the industry\u2019s expansion, and spelled out the ruinous social consequences. He detailed the popular forms of online gambling and even offered a quick survey of the bets you can make on prediction markets\u2014including the timing of the Second Coming. (\u201cWhere do you go to collect on that bet?\u201d he wondered.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then Christofferson arrived at the real point of his talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor us as Latter-day Saints, overarching all other concerns is the fact that gambling is morally wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cGambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing. Its structure requires that any gain comes at others\u2019 expense. It\u2019s hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.\u201d He went on to say that Christians should be wise stewards of their God-given resources, and that \u201cgambling produces nothing of value and enriches only its purveyors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also addressed those in his audience who believe that they can gamble casually without becoming addicted. \u201cSince your recreational gambling may lead a weaker brother or sister into temptation, just don\u2019t do it,\u201d Christofferson said. \u201cEvery soul is precious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> This past weekend, senior Latter-day Saint leader @ChristoffDTodd did something that has become surprisingly rare: He made an unapologetic moral argument against gambling. \n\nI wrote about the religious leaders pushing back against the sports-betting boom.\nhttps:\/\/t.co\/0FeDCYVV07<\/p>\u2014 McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 6, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>\n