We all have fantasies of what we would do with a large lottery prize. Some people envision immediate spending sprees, others dream of paying off their mortgages or student loans and then putting the rest into a variety of savings and investment accounts for long-term growth. A few lucky folks even imagine settling down in a new home, moving away from the big city and starting over with a clean slate.

Lotteries have broad appeal as a means of raising funds and are easy to organize, advertise and play. But they also tend to generate specific constituencies: convenience store operators (who become the primary distributors of lottery tickets); lottery suppliers (whose contributions to state political campaigns are reported regularly); teachers (in states in which lottery revenues are earmarked for education); and, in those states that promote their own state lotteries, legislators (who quickly get accustomed to the extra revenue).

In addition, there is a general perception that winning the lottery is an act of charity or civic duty. This is a dangerous illusion. It is a form of covetousness, a behavior that the Bible prohibits: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife, his male or female servant, his ox, his ass, or his sheep” (Exodus 20:17).

While the lottery has its supporters, it is essentially a gambling enterprise, and the message it promotes is one of irrational greed. Many people who play the lottery cling to quote-unquote systems that are unsupported by statistical reasoning and claim that they have a “lucky” number, or a lucky store, or a time of day to buy tickets.