Mormon Leaders on Playing Cards

Ezra Taft Benson

We should refrain from card playing, against which we have been counseled by the leaders of the Church. (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 460)

Spencer W. Kimball

We hope faithful Latter-day Saints will not use the playing cards which are used for gambling, either with or without the gambling. As for the gambling, in connection with horse racing or games or sports, we firmly discourage such things. (Opening Address General Conference October 1974 “God Will Not Be Mocked”)

Harold B. Lee

Elder Lee was classified by many as being a conservative or a fundamentalist. Certainly one manifestation of this was his contempt for card playing. Once while setting up a new mission in Billings, Montana, he was inspired to preach on this subject and put to flight a nest of bridge-playing sisters. He taught his daughters to totally avoid face cards, which sometimes were used for evil purposes, and to even avoid the appearance thereof. At the beginning of the New Year in 1947, he went with Sister Lee to a dinner party at the home of a dear friend, but left promptly after dinner when he learned that the entertainment for the evening was to play Rook, which he regarded as a substitute for regular playing cards and a complete waste of time. (Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer by Brent L. Goates, 211)

Joseph Fielding Smith

Card playing and all other games of chance should be avoided as the gate of destruction. All such practices have been discountenanced by the Authorities of the Church from the beginning of our history. When the Mormon Battalion was called into the service of the country, President Brigham Young addressed the volunteers and said that he wished them to prove themselves to be the best soldiers in the service of the United States. He admonished the captains to be fathers to the men in their companies and to manage the officers and men by the power of the priesthood. They should keep themselves clean, teach chastity and gentility. There was to be no swearing, and no man was to be insulted. They were to avoid contention with Missourians—their enemies —and all other persons. They were to take their Bibles and copies of the Book of Mormon with them and study them but not impose their beliefs on others. They were to avoid card playing, and if they had cards with them, they were to burn them. If they would follow this instruction, he promised them that they would not be called on to shed the blood of their fellow men. (Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol. 1, 193)

Heber J. Grant

I want to say that we expect every president of a stake and every bishop of a ward to teach the people the truth. We want them to tell the people that they are expected to obey the Word of Wisdom, to be honest tithe-payers, to remember the covenants that they make in the temples of God, and not mutilate their garments: that we expect them to quit playing cards; and that we expect them to do their duty as saints, and to preach the Gospel by living it. (General Conference April 1929)

By the way, I hear that card playing is becoming very, very popular, and that the Church must be in favor of card playing because the Church authorities never say anything against it. From the time I was a child and read the Juvenile Instructor, published for the benefit of the people, I have read nothing except condemnation of card-playing and the wasting of your time in doing something that brings no good, bodily, intellectually, or in any way, and sometimes leads your children to become gamblers, because they become expert card-players. The Church as a Church requests its members not to play cards. I hope you understand me, and I want you to know that I am speaking for the Church when I ask the people to let cards alone. (General Conference April 1926)

Joseph F. Smith

How can a man or a woman as a teacher in the Sunday school or as one occupied in any other ecclesiastical duty, who is in the habit of playing cards, say to the children, "You must not do it, because it is a waste of time and it may result in your ruin?" Who can give such advice who is in the habit of doing it himself? . . . . It cannot be done, or, if it is done, it will be without force and without effect, except, perhaps, to brand with hypocrisy any such parent who gives such advice to his children and it breeds contempt in the minds of the children when the parents undertake to teach them to be better than they are themselves, or not to do things which they themselves indulge in. (General Conference October 1903)

I have been grieved with the knowledge that persistent card playing is gaining an alarming foothold among the people. The Saints have been often warned against the evil in the past. President George Q. Cannon has spoken strongly and written clearly against this immoral habit; and President Snow, also with voice and pen, has set the seal of his condemnation upon it. I wish, too, to declare against card-playing with all the force and influence at my command, and to place myself on record as being opposed to it in any and all forms and under any and all conditions. I warn the Saints, and especially the young people, that it is a dangerous practice, and urge all to leave it alone, repent of the evil, and turn to profitable and healthful pastimes and recreations. (Improvement Era Editorial 1903)

Some seven years ago card-playing was extensively indulged in by the people. Through the efforts put forth against it, at that time, many abandoned the game, and for several years card-playing was tabooed. But evidently it was not completely killed, for recent reports have come that the evil is being revived among the people. I hope a hint to the Saints on this matter is enough, and that every member of the Church will determine to leave card playing alone hereafter. At present I desire only to repeat and emphasize what I said in the ERA at that time, and trust it will have the desired effect. (Improvement Era Editorial 1911)

Dallin H. Oaks

One type of gambling that has been vigorously criticized by our leaders is card playing. Cards may, of course, be played without playing for money, but the relationship between card playing and gambling is so close and the practice of card playing itself partakes of so many of the disadvantages of gambling that card playing has come under condemnation regardless of whether or not gambling is involved. (Ensign November 1972)

William H. Bennett

We should not use playing cards because the prophets of God have counseled against it. That in itself should be sufficient reason to leave them alone. (Questions and Answers, New Era, Sept. 1974, 12)

Bruce R. McConkie

Members of the Church should not belong to bridge or other type of card clubs, and they should neither play cards nor have them in their homes. By cards is meant, of course, the spotted face cards used by gamblers. To the extent that church members play cards they are out of harmony with their inspired leaders. Innocent non-gambling games played with other types of cards, except for the waste of time in many instances, are not objectionable. (Mormon Doctrine, 113)

Vaughn Featherstone

Self-indulgence is as addictive in all its forms as are drugs, nicotine, or alcohol. Reading pornography is addictive. To cease reading such material requires great self-control and the suffering of withdrawal symptoms as great as those caused by giving up smoking or drinking. Gambling, watching television to excess, overeating, oversleeping, uncontrolled thinking, lusting, swearing, telling dirty or lewd stories, dressing immodestly, lying, cheating, playing cards—all are addictive. Those with these problems have difficulty changing. They suffer strong withdrawal pains. Conversely, the life of self-denial builds strength of character, integrity, health, self-control, confidence, and self-respect. (Self-Denial, November 1977 New Era)