Pastor Cedric Moss of Kingdom Life Church accused the Christie administration and previous governments of "hiding behind the Bahamian people" by holding a referendum on gambling, and said the country's leaders have lacked the courage to shut down web shops in The Bahamas.
Moss said he believes the government is wasting money on holding a referendum when it has the legal right to make a decision on the issue.
"Why did they all decide instead to hide behind the Bahamian people by way of an unnecessary referendum and say, 'let the people decide'?," said Moss, who was participating in a panel discussion on the gambling referendum at New Covenant Baptist Church on Tuesday night.
"They know that gambling is bad for The Bahamas, and therefore they do not want to legalize it.
"Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham knew gambling is bad for our country, and therefore refused to legalize web shops and numbers buying.
"Prime Minister Perry Christie knows this as well, and he too refuses to make the decision.
"In my view, both of them lack the leadership and courage to shut the illegal web shops down."
While Senior Vice-President of Administration at Kerzner International and former Bahamas Hotel Employers Association President J. Barrie Farrington opposed Moss' position on the matter, he agreed that a referendum on gambling is unnecessary.
Farrington said the government should "without delay" lead and approve the formalization of the national lottery and commence the process of developing a legal and functional framework for implementation.
The government plans to hold a referendum on the legislation of numbers houses and the establishment of national lottery before December.
The controversial issue has been heavily debated in and out of religious circles over the past several months.
Moss also said successive administrations have disregarded the church's position on casino gambling, and he urged the government to find a legal way to shut down casinos.
He said it is suspicious that the government has made a decision to not allow Bahamian residents to gamble in casinos, but refuses to make the decision on web shop gambling.
"I and countless other pastors regret that our nation facilitates the financial exploitation of visitors to our shores in casinos," Moss said.
"Casinos and casino gambling are a collective blight on our tourism product, and I pray that the government will cease to issue casino licenses and find legal ways to not renew existing ones."
Moss challenged the prime minister to demonstrate his willingness to shut down web shops if the majority of voters vote against the industry legalization, by shutting them down now.

Panelists included Attorney Wallace Rolle, former attorney and radio talk show host Ortland Bodie Jr. and Bishop Simeon Hall of New Covenant Baptist Church, who led the discussion.

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