Evangelicals play the Mega-Sena lottery less, but participation in betting is the same, shows Datafolha.

Evangelicals have historically been averse to so-called games of chance. When it comes to more contemporary versions of gambling, however, they are no different from the rest of society. A Datafolha survey shows that believers participate in betting, the "Tiger Game" (a Brazilian lottery game), and similar games in a proportion similar to that of the general population, according to a report in Folha de S.Paulo.

The attitude is different with more traditional forms of gambling. Here, the percentage of evangelicals who bet on lotteries or the jogo do bicho (illegal lottery) is lower.

Among evangelical Christians: 19% regularly play Mega-Sena and other Caixa lotteries, 9% try the Federal Lottery, and 4% are enthusiastic about illegal betting on animal figures. Among Catholics, the other large religious group in the country, the numbers are 36%, 15%, and 10%, respectively.

The differences between the two groups shrink when we talk about online sports betting (the bets) and digital casinos (Tiger and company): 19% of Catholics say they have already engaged in at least one of the two, compared to 23% of Evangelicals.

It's not possible to say that the second Christian contingent is more receptive to new forms of gambling because these numbers are within the margin of error of the survey.

Catholics make up 51% of the 1.935 people interviewed by the institute. The margin of error for this religious segment is three percentage points, plus or minus. Evangelicals account for 24% of the total, with a wider margin of error of five percentage points due to the smaller sample size. The remainder is divided between those who have other religions and the 13% who report having none.

The survey was conducted on November 5th and 6th in 113 Brazilian municipalities.

A Folha newspaper report revealed that virtual betting and slot machines are worrying pastors, who are observing an increase in parishioners addicted to gambling. "He prophesied, he played, he cashed out," a popular slogan among betting companies, is considered particularly appealing in churches.

Ultimately, this is an audience "accustomed as it is to hearing the verb 'to prophesy' in the sense of 'positively manifesting' that something will happen in the spiritual world," says Marília de Camargo Cesar, author of "Wounded in the Name of God" and an article on the subject. "It's a clever marketing ploy. Not everyone grasps the message in this way, of course, but believers identify with it."

According to Datafolha, among those who gamble, 20% of evangelicals bet every day, compared to 14% of Catholics. The former spend an average of R$ 186 per month on this. The latter, R$ 290.

The majority, across both Christian groups, believe this form of gambling should be banned: 66% of believers and 63% of Vatican followers.

The institute differentiates between bets (betting on the score of a football match, for example) and digital casinos, with the "Tiger Game" being the most famous of the latter. These are even more rejected: eight out of ten respondents, whether evangelical or Catholic, agree with banning them. 16% of believers and 11% of Catholics admit to having played them.

The average monthly expenditure of evangelicals who do this is R$ 337. In the second group, it is R$ 517.

Evangelicals are more susceptible to advertising on social media: 36% have more contact with online games through these platforms, compared to 26% of Catholics. Among believers, only 17% think they benefit from playing games, an impression that rises to 28% in the other Christian group.

Pastor and theologian Victor Fontana, from the Presbyterian Community of Vila, suggests some hypotheses for why believers do not reject online betting and casinos more than the average person.

Treating gambling as a sin is common practice in most evangelical denominations, hence we see fewer people from this segment participating in official state lotteries or in clandestine activities like the jogo do bicho—which, moreover, is associated with "some kind of trickery that the church views negatively."

The digital format is a new and much more accessible category—it's not necessary, for example, to physically go to the lottery outlet or leave with the "proof of the crime," the physical ticket. According to Fontana, this could make the modality more palatable to evangelical groups—who still reject it en masse, but no more than society as a whole.

According to political scientist Vinicius do Valle of the Evangelical Observatory, the "ease of cell phones" is also a great help, which can give evangelicals more chances to, let's say, succumb to temptation.

“It’s not so simple to play the lottery via cell phone,” he exemplifies. “It means you have to go into a lottery shop, get a slip of paper, fill it out, stand in line at the cashier with people watching you. There are several steps you have to take for something that is considered a sin.”

Another component that Valle considers is the Prosperity Theology and "this idea of ​​Jesus giving an immediate blessing in your life."

Above all, “this idea of ​​'prophesying,' of 'go for it, now's your chance,' can resonate with a person's faith,” he says. “If we consider the miracle of Jesus where he tells the fisherman to cast his net again and the fish will come,” the tactic can be seductive to the believer.

“The architecture of betting establishments manages to create a dissociation between gambling and the environment of sin,” states the political scientist. As if entering a casino or a lottery outlet were a more blatant moral transgression. Better not.