I'm not sure if what I read on Bingo in the Watchtower leads me to believe someone would be disfellowshipped for it. However, it is strongly disapproved of. Bingo is considered gambling by the WTBTS and thier comment on that was "Gambling in any form appeals to one of the worst qualities in humans-greed. God's inspired Word flatly states that greedy persons will not inherit God's Kingdom." So, if any elders were power hungry (as if lol) in the 70's I'm sure there were people disfellowshipped for it.
btw...B*I*N*G*O* "she yells"
Here's some references from the WT:
*w55 3/15 167 - Religious organizations that finance themselves by gambling ...
**Religious organizations that finance themselves by gambling devices such as bingo furnish another example of having a form of godliness but proving false to its power. For material gain they encourage laziness and dishonesty in their members and strengthen the power of underworld racketeers and corrupt government officials. Proof for all this was strikingly presented in the article "Is Bingo Getting Too Big?" in Collier's, December 10, 1954.
*w50 6/15 181 - 13 Worldlings may think that Jehovah's witnesses are as poor...
**13 Worldlings may think that Jehovah's witnesses are as poorly equipped for ministerial service as soldiers armed with torches and pitchers and horns would be for carnal war. They are not equipped with the orthodox religious teaching, nor armed with a diploma from some theological seminary. They do not use orthodox methods, such as sitting back in church buildings waiting for a congregation to come to them, or reviewing worldly books and prattling politics or supplanting the Bible with creed and ritual, or sponsoring church socials and bingo gambling.
*w52 5/1 282 - How different from the foregoing are the ways of apostate Ch...
**How different from the foregoing are the ways of apostate Christendom! Its religious organizations are willing to give allegiance to the world's worst criminals, such as Hitler and Mussolini were, in exchange for financial support. They encourage greed among their members by operating bingo games, lotteries and other games of chance, appealing to the selfish inclination to want to get something for nothing.
*w52 2/1 83 - For a Christian to enter the interfaith fold would mean he m...
**For a Christian to enter the interfaith fold would mean he must tolerate pagan teachings under a Christian label, tolerate the tenet of a three-in-one God, tolerate claims that God fiendishly tortures souls in fiery lakes, tolerate the blasphemy that for money God will release suffering souls from a flaming purgatory, tolerate bingo gambling, tolerate the view that Jesus was not Messiah but an impostor, tolerate the devilish doctrine of evolution, tolerate clerical hypocrisy and political meddling, tolerate religious warmongering and chaplain-blessing of Christian killing Christian-and so on and on would flow an endless stream of blasphemies that the Christian would have to tolerate in silence. He would have to wink at sin, shut eyes to wrong, plug ears to blasphemy, make his tongue dumb to silently tolerate evil.
*w57 4/15 242 - The use of bingo, raffles and other gambling methods is cont...
**The use of bingo, raffles and other gambling methods is contrary to the Bible rule for Christians: "We have renounced the underhanded things of which to be ashamed." When the Israelites began sacrificing to some of the pagan deities of gambling, God told them: "Ye that forsake Jehovah, . . . that prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny; I will destine you to the sword."-2 Cor. 4:2, NW; Isa. 65:11, 12, AS.
*w60 5/1 265 - From the time the Watch Tower Society was formed in 1884 it ...
**From the time the Watch Tower Society was formed in 1884 it has never solicited money. Raffles, bingo and other fund-raising programs so commonly used by church groups have never been employed by the Watch Tower Society.
*w61 9/1 516 - You may have a husband that is an alcoholic or a wife that t...
**You may have a husband that is an alcoholic or a wife that throws away your hard-earned money in bingo games. Neither of these conditions makes for happy living. But what sense is there in permitting such things to fog the windows of your mind with bitter hate and disgust for life?
*w79 3/15 23 - What about Church-sponsored bingo games? If these are mere r...
**What about Church-sponsored bingo games? If these are mere recreation as the Church claims, then why the need for large "jackpots," some reportedly worth $1,500 (U.S.)? New York priest William Bradley admitted: "We shouldn't be in bingo-except that we have to pay the bills, subsidize the schools."
Whether the Church authorities are willing to label bingo as gambling or not, the 1976 report from the Commission of Review of the National Policy toward Gambling stated that "charitable bingo . . . is operated, however, like a commercial [gambling] operation . . . and the commission recommends, for regulatory purposes, no distinction be made."
God-fearing persons realize that all forms of gambling build greed and that "greedy graspers for more" and "swindlers" will "not have a share in the kingdom of God."-1 Cor. 6:10, "Williams" translation.
*w88 12/15 7 - A Roman Catholic parish recently became the first religious ...
**A Roman Catholic parish recently became the first religious institution in Wisconsin, U.S.A., to apply for a permit to sell lottery tickets, reports The Sheboygan Press. While the sales are described as an effort to "augment" weekly collections, the Press notes that the main reason behind the proposed selling of lottery tickets "is to increase attendance at its bingo games." The church is reported already to be operating bingo games with profits that "range from $800 to $1,000" nightly.
When asked if gambling is really sinful, parish priest Robert Fleishman replied: "I don't know." While conceding that the church's promotion of bingo or the sale of lottery tickets "is perhaps a little out of context with our overall spiritual calling," he added that "if they don't come here, they'll go elsewhere" to spend their money.
Should a religious leader who claims to be a follower of Christ promote gambling? Hardly! Gambling in any form appeals to one of the worst qualities in humans-greed. Those who promote it encourage people to believe that it is right to profit from the losses of others. Yet, God's inspired Word flatly states that greedy persons will not inherit God's Kingdom.-1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 4:19; 5:3.
