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Like most evangelical and conservative Christians, Pat Robertson opposes gambling. He considers it a sin and has argued that people should actively refrain from engaging in it - in any form. So, why does he own a racing horse? Yes, Pat Robertson owns a horse which is regularly entered into races - races where people bet money on his horse to win.
According to Robertson, this isn't hypocritical. He doesn't use the horse to make money from the gambling of others (which would seem to not only be hypocritical, but sinful in and of itself). Instead, he claims that he owns the horse because he really loves to see it and others run - it's an aesthetic rather than a financial reward which he claims to reap. Robertson has been quoted as saying:
The people I see at the track, they don't seem to love horses. They're looking at The Racing Form and are trying to make money betting. I like to look at them as performers and to study their bloodlines. That's what I find interesting. I don't bet on my own horses, and I don't think anyone else should either.
Other evangelical Christians are not quite willing to accept Robertson's rationalizations. They don't believe that an honest and forthright Christians should have any such immediate connection to sin, regardless of the alleged motivations. According to Martin Marty, a theologian at the University of Chicago:
The notion of an evangelical entering horse racing and gambling - well, he can pretend all he wants that he's in it for the beauty of the sport, but you can't look at it that way. ...The whole culture of horse racing involves gambling, and all the money comes from people trying to hit it big gambling. This is like saying you're investing in a bordello but aren't in favor of prostitution.
What do you think? Is this an example of Robertson acting like a hypocrite, or is it legitimate for an conservative, evangelical Christian to directly aid and abet a "sin" merely for the alleged aesthetic pleasures which can be derived from that investment?
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