Friday, November 6, 2009

Catholics, Casinos and Puerto Peñasco!

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

For as long back as I can remember there have been debates about Casinos in Mexico, including here in Puerto Peñasco, with perspectives both supporting and opposing such operations even though there are wonderful communities the world over creating tourism, providing local jobs, taxes for the government and so on.

One of the entities that I believe strongly opposes Casinos anywhere in Mexico is the Catholic Church, which most of us know was the same ‘Grupo’ who once ordered the all around nice guy and out-of-the-box thinker Galileo to stand trial on suspicion of heresy way back in 1633 for daring to suggest that the earth rotated around the Sun (our nearest Star).

And for his perspective (I mean knowing the facts) poor old Galileo was required to “abjure, curse and detest" his ‘opinions’, ordered imprisoned (the sentence was later commuted to house arrest for the rest of his life) and any dialogue on the subject was banned, including any writings of his on that and similar ‘issues’ for the remainder of all time.

Of course, about 400 years later (let me repeat that: 400 YEARS LATER) the Catholic Church finally admitted its errors and forgave, so to speak, what they did to poor old Galileo but they forgot to mention how their actions back in the 1600’s contributed to keeping the world in the dark for centuries to come.

Now I only bring this up because I am Catholic, I am 150% pro a Mega Casino Resort complex here and because I read on the CIA website that approximately 75% of Mexicans are Catholics, which, if true (and I believe it is) demonstrates how the Catholic Church may be influencing the Casino issue in Mexico and Peñasco.

But oddly enough, if you google “Catholic Churches Las Vegas” there seems to be no shortage of them in ‘Sin City’ and I’d bet the farm that every Sunday when it comes time to tithe it is not announced that ‘…and you heathens that earn a living at one of those houses of iniquity need not make a love offering…’ Hmmmm?

¡Viva México y Puerto Peñasco!

Email me: El Gitano Penasco
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain