马修·布朗、汉娜·舍恩鲍姆盐湖城报道——耶稣基督后期圣徒教会的一位领袖周六警告称，由在线预测市场和体育博彩推动的赌博热潮正在助长人们的贪婪心理，尤其是青少年群体，而这种行为实际上“毫无价值”。作为被广泛称为“摩门教”的教会最高领导层三人之一，D·托德·克里斯托弗森指出，由于智能手机让随时随地赌博成为可能，青少年及年轻成年人沉迷于博彩的现象日益严重，这严重挤占了他们学习与社交的时间。
MATTHEW BROWN, HANNAH SCHOENBAUM SALT LAKE CITY — A leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints warned Saturday that an explosion in gambling driven by online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed, particularly among youths, while producing “nothing of value.”D. Todd Christofferson, one of the top three leaders of what is known widely as the Mormon church , said rampant betting among teenagers and young adults is robbing time from their studies and relationships as smartphones make gambling possible anywhere.
“对我们后期圣徒而言，最重要的原则就是赌博在道德层面是错误的。赌博的本质就是企图不劳而获，”克里斯托弗森在该教会每年两次举行的大会上说道。
“For us as Latter-day Saints, overarching all other concerns is the fact that gambling is morally wrong. Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing,” Christofferson said at the faith’s twice-annual general conference .
将预测市场定性为赌博行为，使得这个保守派教会与唐纳德·特朗普总统立场相悖。特朗普政府则认为，像Kalshi和Polymarket这样的平台并不属于赌博范畴，因此不应受到犹他州今年实施的赌博禁令限制——该教会的总部就设在犹他州。
The declaration that prediction markets are gambling puts the conservative church at odds with President Donald Trump. The Republican’s administration has argued the platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket don’t constitute gambling and therefore shouldn’t be subjected to state gambling bans such as the one enacted this year in Utah, where the church is based.
预测市场允许人们对各种事件下注，比如洛杉矶是否会下雨，或者美国是否会爆发战争。
Prediction markets allow wagers on anything from whether it will rain in Los Angeles or if the United States will go to war.
“甚至，如果你们能想象的话，还包括基督再临的具体时间，”克里斯托弗森周六说道，“可人们要如何兑现这类赌注呢？”
“Or even, if you can imagine, the timing of the Second Coming,” Christofferson said Saturday. “Where do you go to collect on that bet?”Opposition to gambling is common among religious organizations.
反对赌博是众多宗教组织的共同立场。卫理公会将其称为“社会的祸害”；美国最大的新教教派——南方浸信会也多次谴责赌博行为，并在2025年明确指出体育博彩违背了《圣经》教义。
The Methodist Church refers to it as “a menace to society.”The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America, has condemned gambling several times and in 2025 declared sports gambling inconsistent with biblical principle.
伊斯兰教严禁赌博；印度教则将赌博视为恶习。至于天主教会，虽然赌博本身并不被视为罪过，但仍被认为具有潜在危害性。
Gambling is forbidden in Islam and considered a vice among Hindus. In the Catholic Church, gambling is not in itself a sin, but is considered potentially problematic.
一个多世纪以来，犹他州几乎完全禁止了赌博活动。该州没有赌场、彩票，也没有允许下注的赛马场。这一禁令源于摩门教的理念——他们认为赌博是导致自私与成瘾的诱因。
For more than a century, Utah kept gambling almost entirely out of the state. There are no casinos, no lotteries and no racetracks that allow bets. The prohibition is rooted in the ideals of Mormons who view gambling as a path to selfishness and addiction.
“预测市场的兴起以及体育博彩的合法化，正在全美范围内迅速发展，”加利福尼亚州克莱蒙特研究生大学的宗教与历史教授马修·鲍曼说道，“许多机构——无论是宗教团体、州政府还是其他组织——都在努力应对这一问题。”此次讲话正值教会开始在现任最高领袖达林·奥克斯的领导下涉足政治事务之际。奥克斯曾是犹他州最高法院法官，去年10月出任教会领袖。今年，教会领导人还反对了爱达荷州与内华达州旨在确立堕胎权的公投提案。
“The rise of predictive markets, and the legalization of sports gambling, this is just really taking off all across the country,” said Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University in California. “And a lot of institutions — religious, state and otherwise — are grappling with this problem.”Saturday’s speech comes as the church has been wading into political issues under President Dallin Oaks , a former Utah Supreme Court justice who became the faith’s top leader last October. Church leaders this year have opposed state ballot measures that would establish rights to abortion in Idaho and Nevada.
鲍曼指出，近年来，该教会在处理政治议题时采取了更为审慎的策略，即通过公开声明与幕后游说来传达自身立场。
Yet the institution’s approach to political issues — using public statements and behind-the-scenes lobbying to convey its message — has become more calculated in recent years, Bowman said.
这一转变源于2008年教会反对加州第8号提案所引发的公众强烈反响。该提案旨在禁止同性婚姻。当时，教会领导人鼓励信徒直接参与到相关政治活动中。
The shift followed public blowback to the church’s stance against California’s Proposition 8 , a 2008 ballot measure that sought to ban gay marriage. In that case, Bowman said church leaders encouraged its members to get directly involved.
布朗从蒙大拿州比灵斯发回报道，霍莉·迈耶从田纳西州纳什维尔协助采写。
Brown reported from Billings, Mont. Holly Meyer contributed to this story from Nashville, Tennessee.