With Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid trying to use the tax cut package President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans to legalize online poker, gambling is back in the news.  Once again, oft-rehashed arguments against legalizing gambling that lack empirical evidence are rearing their heads in Washington. Milan Kundera, the great Czech writer, gave the best definition for "stupidity": "It means not ignorance," he wrote, "but the non-thought of received ideas." People are entitled, of course, to their opinions. But they are not entitled to the facts. So here they are.  In 1388 Richard II passed a statute requiring people to buy items necessary for the martial arts and to stop spending money on "casting stone, and other importune games." A century and a half later, Henry VIII passed a law against gambling on the grounds that it diminished military ability because people spent leisure time gaming rather than practicing archery. Or so the bowyers, fletchers, stringers and arrowhead makers claimed in their petition. If you cannot compete, then get the government to outlaw the competition and disguise your motives with patriotic or moral outrage.  The Puritans condemned gambling because they opposed "idleness." The Massachusetts Bay Colony in its first year of existence outlawed not only the possession of cards, dice and gaming tables, but also dancing, singing and all "unnecessary" walking on Sundays. The Blue Laws of Connecticut in 1650 denounced gambling because it fostered too much "unfruitful" time.  Only in 1737 did the Massachusetts legislators change anti-gambling laws, noting that lawful games and exercises are innocent and moderate recreations.  Unsurprisingly, religious institutions often fought gambling. It was competition for people's leisure time, for their small change, and for their view of life too. Buying $10 worth of lottery tickets meant betting for better life on Earth in contrast to $10 on alms that implied bets for a better afterlife. Religious institutions eventually wanted all gambling outlawed, except for Church raffles and bingo in Church basements.  By the 20th century new interests emerged to attack the gambling industry. In the 1920s the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce opposed gambling on two grounds. First, it argued that retailers and established sources of entertainment such as movie theaters lose business during the racing season. Second, petty crimes "'increase enormously."  Closer examination reveals that crime is linked more with tourism than with gambling: Large, transitory crowds provide easy prey and criminals disappear more easily in crowds. People may preach for competition in principle, but companies do not like it in practice and will fight with words to crush it.  In Florida opponents of the liberalization of gambling laws included Disney World. With casinos commissioning family friendly Cirque du Soleil, Disney's ( DIS - news - people ) opposition is not that surprising.
Gambling is a normal human pursuit like any other, and it's time to bring it out of the shadows.