This week’s Ride to Church comes to us from Las Vegas!
Two notes from Tom:
- Although Las Vegas has a deserved reputation for hedonism, it is also a very religious community. Las Vegas is among the top American cities for churches per capita.
- Because we are new to Vegas, it still seems a little strange that virtually every commercial establishment has slot machines. We’re not complaining, however, because we have no state income tax! :-)
Enjoy!
This is such an interesting series. I have to admit though–seeing the gas prices on 7-11 there made me think about moving to Vegas for a second. But just a second :) We haven’t seen below $4 for a long time up here in Seattle.
Interesting indeed, Wendy! We’re still under $4/gallon, but just barely.
Tom, do you know if many people in your ward work in the casinos? I’ve heard that a lot of Mormons do. And, how hot is it now?
I want to know about connections between the casinos and the church, too! Do you guys go down to the strip very often?
I just saw ‘Leaving Las Vegas’, so I admit I have a bit of an over-dramatised picture of ‘Sin City’ right now. :) The temple is lovely, I visited when I was younger.
@Paula: Historically, Mormons played an important role in the development of the gaming industry in Nevada. Las Vegas, as we know it, exists because of the unusual convergence of three groups of people: workers from the construction of Hoover Dam, Mormons and organized crime. The construction workers were the original patrons that fueled the gaming industry on Fremont Street. They would come in on their day off and blow all their money on alcohol, gambling and hookers. Organized Crime provided the bulk of the financing through Union Pension Fund investments during an era when more reputable financial institutions would not invest in gaming (that ended in the 1980’s with the birth of megaresorts). During this era, Mormons provided the fiscal know how and management of the casinos. They were really the perfect partner for organized crime. The Mob bosses did not have to worry about being undercut, skimmed or betrayed because they knew Mormons had no interest in becoming involved in organized crime (in the parlance of organized crime, “square”). Today, there are obviously a lot of jobs in the casinos. An overwhelming majority of them have nothing to do with gambling. I do have an old mission friend who is a fitness trainer for celebrity guests and the uber-wealthy at one of the higher end resorts in town, but I’m not aware of anyone in my ward that works at the casinos. I’m sure there are still plenty of Mormons working in the casinos, though not necessarily as dealers or pit bosses.
@Andy: We do not find the Strip obscene enough to stay away, but many Mormons do. I think their reasons are very understandable. It’s probably not a good location for Family Night, but for a date night I don’t think it’s inappropriate. The rest of the city is very different than the Strip. Aside from the hedonism, a lot of locals, including Mormons, avoid the Strip because it is so congested. I spoke with someone last week who had not been down to the Strip for over a year. We like the Strip, there are a lot of fantastic opportunities there (and I HATE gambling, it gives me anxiety). We have a lot of other things going on this summer, but this fall we are excited to start to take advantage of some of the incredible cultural/entertainment opportunities. I would like to see Garth Brooks at the Wynn this November. Beyond that, there are few cities (in the world) that have such a wide range of quality restaurants. We plan on exploring these as well.
We saw Garth Brooks in his (supposedly) last concert in Texas about 10 years ago. It was flat-out amazing. Far and away the best concert we’ve ever been to. He’s an amazing entertainer. Definitely go if you get the chance!