Question for everyone (this gets more serious)?

Question

So in previous questions I've asked about morality, and we've uncovered that sometimes people are guided by "set in stone" ie, 10 Commandments, or "God's Law"

One of God's Laws is not to steal. Some people believe God's very own hand wrote in stone DO NOT STEAL.

So this question is for everyone, based on your morality, (which for some will be based on God's morality).

Hypothetical: I am broke. I have no money. I am without family or friends. I walk by an outdoor restaurant and see a man sitting by himself his waiter brings him a sandwhich. The man gets up to go to the bathroom. No one is watching.

Is it moral of me to take that sandwhich? Assume if you will, in this hypothetical, that I don't speak the language, say i'm in a foreign country. The hypothetical person is a 29 year old male. College educated, just doesn't speak the language of the country he is in.

Answer 1

As a 29 yr old college graduate you would know that the concept of taking something that which does not belong to you to be both immoral and unethical; however, you would also know that the first instinct in a human being that will supersede all morality is survival. One's mind can only turn towards the aesthetics of life when the basic needs have been fulfilled to keep you alive in the biological sense.

As with most things in life it boils down to intent. Your actions were not meant to be intentionally harmful but for self-survival. In those instances even the immoral and the unethical unless horribly extreme can be set aside.

Answer 2

Good question, and well put.

First off, there is always the option to beg. It transcends language barriers to point to food, point to your mouth, and prostrate yourself before the person... or even to hold a cup out you dug from the trash, or the hat you wear, and turn your pockets inside out.

Perhaps you could wander the countryside, and find dandelions, ants, and grasshoppers (since they're seemingly everywhere), and sustain yourself off of those. Sure, it's not tasty or that filling, but you'll live.

Worst possible scenario, know this: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23 and "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:16-17

If you absolutely *have* to steal, with no alternatives at all, and it became a matter of life and death, if you are TRULY sorry for stealing that man's sandwich, and wished there would have been some other way, and ask God's forgiveness for it, God already knows the circumstances, and will forgive you. The sin you committed of stealing out of need is no better, nor worse, than the man who steals out of fun. But, the fact is, is you have sinned (it's like a light switch... either on or off. I just sinned. I did not just sin. No dimmer switch here. All sins are treated as just that, "sin", be it theft, murder, lies, or whatnot). God will forgive you, if you are truly sorry, and would have much rather been given the opportunity to eat what was findable, or be able to have received money from begging.

Stealing out of need does not make it any less wrong than stealing out of want. Stealing is stealing. But knowing that you're sorry, and would've rather had it another way (and that you tried other ways!), and have the mindset to make amends to that person willingly, makes it, in the eyes of man, completely overlookable.

Answer 3

But what if the person that you're taking the sandwhich from is having the same problems as you, and finally managed to get a little money to buy a nice sandwhich! And also, if you believe in God and trust him then you should believe that he will provide a "moral" way of getting food. And the fact is, no matter how hungry you are, you'll feel bad about taking the sandwhich.

Answer 4

The problem with hard and fast rules like The 10 Commandments is that they do not take into consideration the necessity to live. There are always extenuating circumstances and even in Jewish Dietary Law, "life" trumps everything else. Meaning, if you are on an island and the only food you can get is that little piggie running away from you, if you do not kill the pig and die of starvation because of it, that is a greater sin in the eyes of god.

Regarding your question, I believe the correct course of action would be to first try every conceivable legitimate means of getting food first. If all else fails, then do whatever you need to do to live.

Answer 5

Put yourself in his posistion instead. How appreciative would you be if someone you didn't give permission to took something you had bought and paid for, something you had earned. If your hypothetical were true, there are still ways around it. But it takes a bigger person to walk up and actually ask someone for their food. And yes you could find a way to talk to someone even with a language barrier. It's pride and embarassment that prevents you from asking for help when you need it the most. You would be walking around after stealing it, having that weigh on your mind. I would think you would rather have a clear conscience.

Answer 6

Our sins are forgiven. Meaning God knew that we would not be able to stick to the rules 100 percent of the time. So yes, it is a sin. You have good reason to commit it. You have already been forgiven for it. Society is another thing. If you get caught, even though we supposedly live in a Christian world they will not let you off when you say "but God already forgave me!" This is one of the conflicts that make people doubt God. Society itself can not allow God to be ruler. Too many people have no morals, don't live godly lives, commit heinous crimes and would run amok if we didn't punish them. I am an evolutionist rather than a creationist. I notice that my church every Sunday, WWJD pin wearing friends are the first ones to speak badly of someone or shoot the bird in traffic or tell off the teacher when their child is getting bad grades. I wonder about this.

Answer 7

Stealing is wrong no matter who you are and no matter what your circumstance.
Sorry. No sandwich for you!

And thank you, kichka_2002!
You've helped prove a point I have. The point I like to make is that... if there is no God... everything is permissible. Think about it. Everyone, no matter what their circumstance or upbringing, has an in-born clue as to what is right and what is wrong. You believe differently than I do, but your question about stealing leads me to believe that something inside you says it's not quite right, whether you believe in God or not. Kichka_2002 is an atheist and he agrees that stealing is wrong. Why?
The deal is that something somehow sometime somewhere, somebody had to set a standard. Something had to make the decision of what is ultimatley right and wrong. Everybody on this planet would agree, unless deranged or mentally ill, that murder is wrong. Why? Because there is an absolute standard set in the universe that says what is right and what is wrong. If there was no God, then murder and stealing would be perfectly permissible, which anybody can point out, it is not.

Answer 8

A 29 yr old male who is contemplating stealing the sandwich is 1) able bodied at least enough to snatch and flee, and 2) not blind. A young man who is able-bodied can find work, even if it pays so little that it will only get him food. Besides, it's breaking God's to not steal. This wasn't a request, but a commandment.

Answer 9

In your story, you neglect quite a few things. Number one there is a univeral language for help needed and that would include nourishment.

Any number of people in foreign countries can get help for a lost and broke foreigner. Police, embassy, church, hospital etc.

So stealing is still wrong, no matter the situation that you may be able to come up with to try and justify it.

That being said, we still do it. I may not have ever stolen food or a car, but I have been know to have quite a collection of pens at the end of the month inside my purse. They were mine to use, but not to take, and still somehow I manage to take them.

I am truely not understanding of this compulsion to steal.

Answer 10

Of course it is not moral to take the sandwich in this case. (And it doesn't matter if he can talk or not or the age or the education) There are plenty of other things he could still do to get a sandwich without resorting to theft.

And to the guy who claims Jesus stole the donkey... How do you know that Jesus hadn't already hired the donkey for Just this occasion when he was there before (or from a guy down the road the day before) He did tell his people that they were supposed to mention they were getting it for him.