>If Kalshi is gambling, how does it differ from trading traditional financial instruments that are affected by unknown future events like Federal Reserve interest rate decisions,

Easy. Financial instruments are used to tune the resource allocation in capitalism. Gambling however is used to have fun with an idea of getting free money. As such, one is at odds with the religious beliefs based on not having fun for no good reason.

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Shellban 2 days ago | parent [-]

Well, if we are bringing religion into it, the Christians' problem with gambling mostly boils down to the medieval idea of work (an idea that itself was derived from Judaic philosophy at the time). In short, Work (an inherently good thing that even God engaged in) is about creating something of value. Money was the natural reward for what was made. Thus, commerce (at the time) was about circulating manufactured goods.

The ancient issue with gambling is that neither the gambler nor any operator is producing anything of value. With nothing to show from any party, medieval scholars would declare gambling undeserving of any financial flow. Most Christians are still (at least unconsciously) working from these principles, even if the operations of the economy has changed since then.

	▲	Muromec 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		>Most Christians are still (at least unconsciously) working from these principles, even if the operations of the economy has changed since then. Vibes and experiences are bigger part of the economy, this is true, but gambling is rightfully in the same cathegory as alcohol, (other) drugs, porn, algorithmic social media feeds etc. Some constrains are needed for all of the above, as they all create ill effects either on a person engaging in it and often on a society at large. I think that constrains on what kind of fun you can have is big part of what religion is useful for.