Religious/Philosophical question about how God judges stealing.
January 3, 2015 4:23 PM Subscribe
I know a retiree who lives on a very small fixed income. She recently walked into a supermarket and went to the seafood department. She wanted to buy a pound of shrimp but was disappointed to see that it was $18.99 per pound. The seafood clerk’s eyes focused on her as she began to explain to him that - for her, the price was much too high in light of her very limited income. He began to feel bad for her and tells her on the side “don’t worry lady, I’ll re-price it and give it to you for $12.99 a pound”......even though he didn’t have any authority from the supermarket to do so.
My retiree friend recounted this story to me later that day and says “the clerk was so nice to do that for me. God is going to reward him”. I immediately say, "...it might have been a nice gesture from him to you, however God could not look upon his actions as being something good to reward for the simple fact that the act was, without question stealing from the supermarket and that she was also the recipient of partially stolen goods". My friend tried to justify the clerk’s actions in a number of ways. For example, my friend say that on other days “the price is often $12.99 per pound” and “the supermarket’s prices are inflated anyway” and “the supermarket is very wealthy and it doesn’t matter in this instance”. In closing, I explained to her that it doesn’t matter how good or how kind the clerk’s motivation was, he was still breaking the law by falsely lowering the price for her and also breaking one of God’s commandments of Thou Shall Not Steal.
Please opine to the following question: Would God find the clerk’s actions admirable and good or would God find the clerk’s actions to be sinful and wrong? My friend will be reading the replies. Thank you all kindly in advance.
My retiree friend recounted this story to me later that day and says “the clerk was so nice to do that for me. God is going to reward him”. I immediately say, "...it might have been a nice gesture from him to you, however God could not look upon his actions as being something good to reward for the simple fact that the act was, without question stealing from the supermarket and that she was also the recipient of partially stolen goods". My friend tried to justify the clerk’s actions in a number of ways. For example, my friend say that on other days “the price is often $12.99 per pound” and “the supermarket’s prices are inflated anyway” and “the supermarket is very wealthy and it doesn’t matter in this instance”. In closing, I explained to her that it doesn’t matter how good or how kind the clerk’s motivation was, he was still breaking the law by falsely lowering the price for her and also breaking one of God’s commandments of Thou Shall Not Steal.
Please opine to the following question: Would God find the clerk’s actions admirable and good or would God find the clerk’s actions to be sinful and wrong? My friend will be reading the replies. Thank you all kindly in advance.
This post was deleted for the following reason: This isn't really a practical question that Ask MetaFilter can help answer, sorry. -- mathowie
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Would I worry about it? No. Would I have my own justifications and be able to sleep at night ? yes.
posted by AlexiaSky at 4:26 PM on January 3, 2015