A question about situations and how they affect right and wrong?

Question

Seriously we need to realize that situations can affect a person and their decisions.
Are we not as Christians told to follow the law of the land?
Case in point if the law says you MUST join a group are you not obligated to join even if you do not actively approve of it?
The same with stealing: Is a man stealing money for drugs to be considered the same as a man stealing bread to feed his hungry child? Do situations and personal dillemas not affect things? I believe they do. What are your opinions please?

Exactly my point Pangel we do not know anothers heart only the Creator can read it. Part of this is in reference to Pope Benedict and the party he was required to join as a youth.

Consider a man by who he is today not 50 or more years ago!

I am not saying that stealing isn't always wrong but that situations may change the tone of it.

Answer 1

I'm not Catholic and I don't agree that there should be a pope. However it is not reasonable to expect a young boy to stand against the whole war machine that the nazis had. I don't think it is right for anybody to hold that against him. In fact the experience likely made him a better man since he may hold himself accountable.

Answer 2

I will address the man who steals money to buy drugs, and how he doesn't differ much from the man who steals bread to feed his children. If a man is addicted to a drug, and this circumstance leads him to steal, every time he steals is an opportunity to be caught so he can be helped out of his addiction. But also, our Divine Creator made his life take this turn for the worse so he could learn the evils of drug addiction and how he may not have done these things if it weren't for the addiction. The man who steals bread to feed his hungry child is in the same position, except he has no habit to kick except his own disbelief in himself to provide better than that. So we must have empathy for both men. How your life situations affect right and wrong isn't really the issue as much as your awareness that it is only a temporary circumstance, because every new minute is an opportunity to turn your whole life around. And yes, these people need help, but the blessed man knows how to help himself, and this is the lesson presented here. Learn how to help yourself, and those in your stewardship will be better provided for. The drug addict who knows that stealing that money is wrong, but still does this, has every opportunity to save his own life by putting that money where it belongs, whether that means not stealing it at all, or if it means taking that money to go get a stomach-full of food, and thanking God that he survived his last binge. A lot of drug addicts do not feel worthy of empathy or love, and it causes them to remain isolated and addicted. We must reach out to these people, and give them a hand up; help them help themselves, so to speak. Good question. Blessed Be.

Answer 3

There are three components to moral decision making.

The Person (or their intentions), the Action, and the Circumstances.

So if a person intends to do good (feed his starving child), and he is without money and the child is starving through no fault of his own, say a civil war (the circumstances), but he steals the food (action of stealing is bad), then the intent, and the circumstances, mitigate the evil of stealing.

You have to take all three into account. If you go too far on the "intent" being important, you get to "the end's justify the means". If you go too far on the "action" being important, you get a rigid Law approach. If you go too far on the circumstances being important, you get "situational ethics".

Answer 4

If an Ultimate Truth can be swayed by a Situation, then it is not a Truth and all is False. If Truth can become anything I want it to be, I am a False Prophet. A man shouldn't have to steal for bread for his family. And if he is true to himself and whatever Deity he believes in, he will find another way.

Case 1:
Victor Frankl. A Jew during the Holocaust. He HAD to go to the Camps, but he didn't have to submit to their tortures. No matter what they did, he kept himself in his mind. He knew that his body was theirs, but his freedom was not. In the end, he survived and was an inspiration for prisoner and guard alike.

Case 2:
Jesus. All he had to do was stop saying he was the Son of God. All he had to do was follow the laws of his land....... but he knew there was a Message. He knew he would die for it. And he said it anyway..............

Answer 5

We are expected by The LORD to follow as the government says,aslong as we are not betraying Him.

Stealing is wrong any way you look at it, but a man who steals, and goes aginst The LORD for his own, sinful habits, is disgusting.
Where as a man that does whatever he has to, to provide for his family, is respectible, even if he must set aside his morals, or his beliefs to do it.

And of course, The LORD will forgive us for what we do in our youth, or what we do in our ignorence, or what we have to do to survive.Aslong as our heart is repentent for disobeying Him, and we truely want to serve Him, and love, respect, and fear Him.

Answer 6

i have asked this same question myself Debra and used the man stealing bread example many times ... we can never judge what a person does without understanding the circumstances surrounding them
even down to the most horrific cases of murder etc .. we do not know how ill the person is , what life they have had that leads to them murdering .. perhaps they murdered in self defence
never judge another till you have walked in their shoes
love to you Debra

Answer 7

Support your country, as long as it allows you to support your beliefs. For though the government is greater than you, God is greater than the government.

If you have faith, you need not worry about dilemmas, for God will provide a way if you are willing to take it.

Answer 8

I feel we all must make sacrifices to serve god. jesus told his followers to pick up their torture stakes and countinually follow him, no matter what. true, full hearted christians, will stick to god's law no matter what the circumstances. thats my personal view on the matter.

Answer 9

I kinda agree with you, but if there is another way. Then I think you should try that way first!

Answer 10

Yes, to a point.