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Las Vegas Finds Religion20 July 2001LAS VEGAS, Nevada – July 20, 2001 –As reported by the Vancouver Sun: “…Las Vegas, fastest-growing city in the U.S., gambling capital of the universe, is a place where people believe any fantasy can come true. ”…It's a city of big bellies, cigarette smoke, broken-vein noses and bulging cleavage, where everything is for sale, including all-pervasive liquor, food for all palettes, shiny machines promising instantaneous wealth and the chance to dally legally with a prostitute. ”…What role is there for religion in this X-rated fantasyland? ”It depends on whether you're talking about those who blow into town for a few ribald days on the eye-popping Strip, where luxury casino-hotels have recreated New York City, Paris, ancient Egypt, Venice and Treasure Island. Or are you talking about the city's 1.4 million semi-permanent residents, who work on the Strip but live in the sprawling, palm-treed suburbs. ”The tourists, of course, come for a `good time,’ in every sense of the hackneyed phrase…Others not to be envied are desperate to pay for sex. Yet more are caught up in shaky romantic dreams. ”…I met the more endearing side of Las Vegas's explosive 24-hour-a-day wedding industry -- which each year issues 123,000 marriage licences -- in a couple from France who had swept into town on a tour with friends. ”…The French couple, who had a big Catholic wedding in France 10 years ago, didn't know, or seem to care, their pastor was not Christian, but ordained with the First Church of Religious Science, a metaphysical sect. Though most couples who jet to Vegas want Christian services, religion wasn't a big factor for them. ”…But for Wiley, manager of the Wedding Chapel and a long-time resident of Vegas, marriage is sacred. She is a devout evangelical who has found a way to feel good about her job. ”…The success rate of Vegas marriages, she says, seems to be as good (or bad) as the national average. ”…Christian listings fill nine pages of the Yellow Pages. It turns out Las Vegas has the highest church-attendance rate per capita in the U.S. Sin City's secret is its religious devotion. ”One night in Vegas, as if to prove the point, a pause occurred after the mind-blowing outdoor rock music show known as the Fremont Street Experience. Rita, the clerk inside Fabulous Las Vegas Gifts and Jewelry, had ignored the sound-and-light spectacle. ”But when a small Shriners bagpipe band took over the corner outside her souvenir store and filled the relative silence with a plaintive version of Amazing Grace, Rita began, without self-consciousness, to sing along…” |