The Glade 4.0

Wrong is wrong. Pragmatisim be damned.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

From a non-biblical perspective, i would call it the "lesser of two evils." Letting yourself or especially your family starve is more "wrong" (at least from the perspective of the starving person/family) than stealing, given a lack of other options. I'd much rather steal than die, and I wouldn't hesitate to murder if I had to do so to save my kids.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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Morality is a luxury, not a given. If you're totally destitute, and I'm talking sub-Saharan Africa destitute here not necessarily 1st-world destitute, morals don't apply.

If trends of the past 40 years continue it seems middle class America will be testing these waters soon.

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"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." Charles Mackay

So if I become so, you won't have any hard feelings if I kill you and take your money and sell your daughter into sex slavery? Hey, I'm only trying to feed my destitute family. We can chose not to be animals. I am not a huge believer in the inherent evil of mankind.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Maybe so, but it's a false dilemma. At least in the U.S., there really is no shortage of charities that will provide food if you can't afford it. It may not be pretty, but there's really no reason for anyone to actually starve in the U.S. In particular, I don't know of any church that -- even if their foodbank were totally depleted at the moment -- wouldn't find a way to get food for your family if you came to them in that kind of need.

But beyond that, I have to question how much of this pastor's audience were really in that sort of situation (steal or starve) in the first place. Maybe some of them really are, but I honestly doubt it. I suspect that it's false dilemma for many of them simply because they had other means of getting food than either stealing or relying on charity. How many of them had truly tightened their belts to the point that only necessities were left? How many of them had unnecessary possessions (ex. televisions, computers) that they could have sold in order to keep their family fed? Sure, it's unpleasant, but it's better than theft.

And more to the point, how many of the rest of the congregation weren't doing something to help? How many of them could have tightened their belts a little in order to provide for their brothers and sisters in need? That's the really mind-boggling part to me. Explain the situation to the congregation. Take up a special contribution. There are any number of ways that the Church can addressing poverty and hunger by doing good rather than advocating theft.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

Stathol:

Why should they give up their material posessions when people who can "afford it" can just get taxed more or stolen from?

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I believe one poster on these boards on multiple occasions has defended the looting of NO as ethical.

It is essentially the same argument.