caught somewhere between real life, simple faith, & raw emotion
Priest Tells Congregation It’s Okay to Steal
Here’s an interesting story. A priest told his congregants it’s okay to steal if they don’t have money and need something. He said:
“The Rev Tim Jones said in his Sunday sermon that stealing from
successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution.”
successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution.”
He also said:
“I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but
from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately
passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.”
from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately
passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.”
Okay, so it just fine to steal from someone who might be more successful or rich than someone else? So can I steal from Rev. Jones because he has a bigger house than me and will just pass that cost on to his church and ask for a raise? Let’s all eat the rich. That’ll make things better in society!
How about the church rally around these individuals and offer good old Christian charity. Perhaps the needy come meet with Rev Tim for benevolence?
Of course, I feel terrible that someone is down-and-out and all. Heck, I can’t even pay all my bills every month these days. But I’m not going to steal from Wal-Mart or Target. It’s wrong. Remember the saying “two wrongs don’t make a right”?
Fixing the injustices, or perceived injustices, in society can not be done with more injustice. Once you start justifying this kind of stuff, it never stops.
I just don’t see Jesus condoning this. Besides, Britain is one of the biggest welfare states in the world. Can’t these individuals qualify for anything?
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Wonderful post… Very informational and educational as usual!
Good stuff. I land on stealing being wrong no matter the reason.
Hey Jason,
Back at ya. I always enjoy your posts, even when I disagree. Let me emphasize, that I’m not advocating stealing from the store. (I always tell young kids that might go to the store with me “If you shoplift when you’re out with me, you’ll never come out with me again.” It’s a pet peeve).
But I disagree with the specifics of your point. I think the only reason we can rightly call stealing wrong is because of the injury it does to the one stolen from. “No harm, no foul”.
Can stealing corrupt one’s own character as you suggest? I agree it can. But I think that has more to do with what is in your heart when you do it, which can vary a lot and is hard to know from the outside. If I’m trying to have fun by getting away with something and showing my superiority over the common herd that obeys the rules, then I completely agree I’m hurting myself more than I am them. If I’m in desparate straits and see no other way out? I’m not giving an answer to that one. I’m arguing that it’s a hard question.
I should add that I completely agree with your point about churches stepping up to help the poor, and I’m happy to say that I know of many instances where people I know have been helped through churches whan the civil authorities failed them.
I also want to comment on the question of welfare. People who haven’t had much contact with “the system” sometimes assume that welfare is easy to get. In the sixties, this was even sort of true. No longer. There are multiple hoops to jump through, and a level of paperwork that makes me say “no, you don’t HAVE to have a college degree to figure out ther application, but it probably wouldn’t hurt” 🙂
I really think some of that is almost deliberate on the part of the agencies. It’s an open secret that virtually none of them are budgeted adequately to serve all the poor in their area of jurisdiction. Raising the bar high helps keep costs down.
I have a friend who has multiple health problems and has tried for several years to get Social Security disability (she is genuinely incapable of working). She doesn’t have a good head for names, dates or figures, and just keeping up her medical assistance and making it to her doctor’s appointments is a challenge for her. Yes, welfare is genuinely helpful to many in need. Better what we have than nothing. But it’s surely not easy.
-Steve
Steve,
I always appreciate your comments. Most of the time I agree with your observations. But not this time my friend.
First, as for the Old Testament custom you spoke of. God directed farmers to harvest the fields only once (or passover them when harvesting). The leftovers were to be left for the poor. This was their form of welfare. This was actually part of their law, so it wasn’t stealing. Today, we also have welfare and aid. If you’re truly in need, then you can’t be too prideful to ask.
Second, and most importantly, stealing isn’t about whether or not someone (or some corporation) has 1,000 hamburgers and won’t miss one. Stealing is about taking something that doesn’t belong to you. It’s about you and not them.
Once you’ll (or I) justify one wrong, pretty soon you’ll justify more and more, and more, and more.
Moral relativism is a slippery and dangerous slope.
Just a thought.
I have never been personally comfortable shoplifting, even from a large store when I was broke. Robert Heinlein’s phrase “too stinkin’ proud” kind of expresses my attitude. I do have to admit that I have occasionally made exceptions – generally if I noticed something in my cart that I missed scanning, I may not take it back in. Not really proud of that, but no point in denying it.
With all that being said, I have to think that the ethics of stealing fromn a corporation is different from stealing from a person. Under our laws, a corporation is a person. I have two commnets on that. First from Charles Dickens. “If the law says that, then the law is an ass”. Second attributed to Abe Lincoln. “How many legs does a dog have if you call a tail a leg. Four, because calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one.”
And calling a corporation a person doesn’t make it one. And if the law says otherwise, then the law IS an ass.
Now none of this means that stealing from corporations is right. Maybe, maybe not. It does mean that it is DIFFERENT, and the right or wrong of it has to be figured out separately.
When the Ten Commandments were given, there were no corporations. Stealing was from an identifiable individual. And, if I remember right, the customs of the time allowed passers-by to go into a farmer’s field and pick up leftover crops. This was not thought of as stealing at the time – but it probably would be in today’s world. So, is shoplifting a tube of hamburger from a Wal Mart more like stealing your neighbor’s cow? Or is it more like eating the grapes in his field?
Maybe it is wrong to steal from a superstore. I’m not sure myself. But I don’t think the right answer is simple or obvious.
-Steve