Mormon leader gambling warning dominated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ semiannual conference on Saturday, as D. Todd Christofferson cautioned that the surge in sports betting and online prediction markets is encouraging greed, especially among youth, while producing “nothing of value.”
Christofferson, one of the faith’s top three leaders, said widespread wagering by teenagers and young adults is siphoning time from schoolwork and relationships because smartphones make gambling accessible anywhere. He added that for Latter-day Saints, the central concern is moral. He described gambling as an effort to get something for nothing.
Mormon leader gambling warning clashes with policy debates
The church’s view that prediction markets amount to gambling contrasts with arguments advanced by the administration of President Donald Trump, which has maintained that platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket are not gambling and should not face restrictions in states including Utah, where the church is headquartered.
Utah has been a central venue in the legal fight over how prediction markets are classified and who regulates them. In August, a federal judge ruled that Utah officials may enforce the state’s strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets. Lawmakers also moved this year to tighten Utah’s gambling statutes and refine definitions so they would almost certainly cover such platforms.
Prediction markets allow bets on outcomes ranging from weather in Los Angeles to the prospect of the United States entering a war. Christofferson, in a pointed example, referenced wagering on the timing of the Second Coming and asked where a person would collect on such a bet.
Religious opposition to gambling spans denominations
Faith groups have long criticized gambling. The United Methodist Church labels it “a menace to society.” The Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, has repeatedly condemned gambling and in 2025 said sports betting conflicts with biblical teaching. Gambling is prohibited in Islam and considered a vice among Hindus. In Catholic teaching, gambling is not inherently sinful but is viewed as potentially problematic.
Utah has kept gambling largely out of the state for more than a century. There are no casinos, no lotteries and no racetracks that permit betting. The prohibition reflects Latter-day Saint teachings that see gambling as a path to selfishness and addiction.
Church reengages in politics under new leadership
Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University, said the rapid expansion of prediction markets and legalized sports betting has prompted religious, state and other institutions to wrestle with how to respond. He added that the Latter-day Saint church has been wading into political issues under President Dallin Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice who became the church’s top leader last October.
This year, church leaders opposed ballot measures in Idaho and Nevada that would enshrine abortion rights. Bowman said the institution’s political engagement has become more measured in recent years, relying on public statements and behind-the-scenes lobbying, a shift that followed backlash to the church’s involvement in California’s Proposition 8 in 2008, when members were encouraged to participate directly.