Thou shalt not steal
Posted on: December 23, 2009
At one of our Conversation meetings the subject of theft came up; it’s a very interesting topic. Many people steal when they know (or believe) they can get away with it, but doesn’t that automatically make them immoral?
And now Tim Jones, a vicar in York, has come out and said it’s okay for poor people to steal from large companies. What a naive sentiment! Okay, I’d feel compassion for anyone in such dire straits that they felt compelled to shoplift some groceries, but it’s ridiculous to advocate such behaviour as a matter of course. Firstly, Jones is recommending a course of action that might cause someone to end up in prison, even less able to support their children (who might be taken into care). And secondly, when you start waffling about “victimless” crimes you’re on very shaky ground.
I was surprised to find that atheist commentator Blair Scott agrees with Jones – but surely we can find better ways to help the penniless than to dare them to walk out of a shop without paying?
Recommended viewing: Heavens Above!
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December 23, 2009 at 7:43 am
Surely it can only make them automatically immoral if either it is inherently wrong to take something that is not yours, or if they are stealing for selfish reasons.
If some homeless chap stole a bag of apples from Tesco, he would cost Tesco about twenty pence, and have six apples. The relative benefit for him far outweighs the cost to Tesco, which is so little that not even the branch manager will know about it. Probably not even the section manager for fruit and veg. The supplier will already have their money from Tesco, and Tesco will be able to make that money back easily.
It’s hard to say things like that without appearing to encourage theft, and I don’t mean to do that, because getting caught can result in prosecution. So I would say that it’s not to be encouraged, but if the situation was a certain way, I wouldn’t condemn someone for stealing, either.