tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294580011480550687.post4129759945349292227..comments2023-10-08T06:21:52.923-07:00Comments on Amy Deardon: Is It Ever OK To Shoplift?Amy Deardonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01360116339457651031noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294580011480550687.post-57788030559787236602010-01-15T14:18:11.768-08:002010-01-15T14:18:11.768-08:00Hi Amy, I found your blog through Brandon Barr'...Hi Amy, I found your blog through Brandon Barr's <i>Christian Science Fiction</i> blog. Great topic, and relevant, too.<br /><br />Shoplifting is never right, as it is stealing, which is sin. The whole thing reminds me of <i>Les Miserables</i>. I think we should give of ourselves to people in need whenever we can and whatever we can. Christ told the rich man to "sell all he had and give it to the poor," and His ministry was deeply connected to the poor, so I feel like I should be, too.<br /><br />I posted an incident I had with a homeless man on my blog just a few days ago, available <a href="http://logankstewart.blogspot.com/2010/01/horrible-saturday-with-small-silver.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. If you get a chance, give it a read.<br /><br />Have a blessed day and thanks for the post.logankstewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12269634215857320344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294580011480550687.post-42279690311146869352010-01-04T12:54:56.280-08:002010-01-04T12:54:56.280-08:00Thinking about Ruth and how she was able to feed b...Thinking about Ruth and how she was able to feed both her and Naomi - it was commanded by God that the Israelites not harvest everything - leave things for those who don't have food behind for them to pick it up.<br /><br />Hmm.... its not the "we send them to beg here" for food - they get what they need from the excess.<br /><br />While I don't agree with shoplifting or stealingat all - I do believe that we should be doing way more than we already are. :(Lesliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05648816340111618869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294580011480550687.post-19222325605842549792010-01-04T05:27:28.829-08:002010-01-04T05:27:28.829-08:00this came up on my Catholic parenting board when i...this came up on my Catholic parenting board when it happened. Apparently this kind of social justice (relief for the desperate who are being socially oppressed and unable to sustain themselves) has always been Catholic teaching.<br /><br />From the Catechism:<br /><br />2403 The right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.<br /><br />2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing . . .) is to put at one's disposal and use the property of others.<br /><br />Thus -- someone is starving, and has no other possible way to get food. Someone else has extra food, more than their needs, but isn't sharing it. That "extra" food doesn't even truly belong to that individual at all -- it belongs to the one who needs it. <br /><br />That article states that the priest said that if one is truly desperate, and has exhausted all possible avenues from the state or charities, than it is better to shoplift than turn to prostitution or selling drugs. I don't know that someone in a first world country would often be in that situation, though, because of the helps available in most area.<br /><br />Thomas Aquinas agrees too: <br />http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3066.htm#article7<br /><br />Americans are in a unique position in time/space in that very few of us have ever known actual desperate want. But in other countries, that's a daily fact of living, and the Church in those countries needs to do as Christ did and stand up for the needs of the poor who cannot stand up for themselves.<br /><br />BTW, an act of kindness to a homeless man isn't permission for him to continue living "that kind of lifestyle." He may be one act of kindness away from turning it around. He may be one act of cruelty away from never making it into God's Kingdom. We don't know. We only know that we've been called as Christians to give without counting the cost.Jane Lebakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00851954297667846546noreply@blogger.com