While retired Archbishop Drexel Gomez said he is morally opposed to web shop gambling, he said it only makes sense for the government to regularize the industry given that casino gambling has been legal for decades.
The government passed legislation in the lower and upper chambers last month for the regularization of web shop gaming for Bahamians.
In a recent interview, Gomez said it was only "logical" for the government to do so.
"Casino gambling breaks the moral code; web shop gambling breaks the moral code," he said. "If you are going to allow one then I don't see the logical empirical justification for refusing to allow the other.
"Man makes the laws and if one is legally possible and legally authorized, the other should be, if it is simply the basis of logic."
However, the Bahamas Christian Council does not share that view.
Several religious leaders have harshly criticized the government for bringing gaming legislation after Bahamians voted against the regularization of web shops in the 2013 referendum.
The pastors accused the government of "killing democracy".
While Gomez said the logical explanation would be to legalize web shops, he said morally he holds a
different view on gambling.
"I'm still opposed to it on a moral basis," he said. "I think that morally gambling is wrong, and that's gambling in casinos as well as web shops. The legal question is simply a man-made issue."
Gomez said his moral position has always been firm. He led a protest against the opening of casinos in Barbados decades ago.
However, just as casino gambling was eventually legalized there, it was also legalized in New Providence in the 1960s.
Gomez added that since then, everyone including religious leaders have become comfortable with casino proceeds.
"And so, what has happened is that gambling is making a significant contribution to our GDP and our whole national economy and Christians and the whole Bahamian nation seem to be comfortable with that," he said.
"And the discomfort seems to be with tolerating web shop gambling."
The gaming legislation prohibits web shop owners from allowing foreign visitors to gamble in their establishments and also prevents foreigners from gambling from other jurisdictions through websites operated by web shops.
Casinos will have the exclusive right to foreign players, both locally and online.

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