Can you judge this?

Question

Should a person be punished for stealing food to eat, or for stealing something to get food to eat?

Answer 1

I dont think so. If a person is just stealing to survive then I guess I would have to say ok.

Answer 2

I would NOT judge this person regardless of who they are, that's not my place to judge them. However, in Ephesians 4:28 it talks about changing your ways and living as a child of the light. It reads....
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Then a few book further in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, it warns us against idleness. Evidently some people quit their jobs to await the coming of Christ and in this verse it corrects the imbalance. It reads....
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

So just take this as some food for thought and use it for words of wisdom for whatever the purpose.

Answer 3

There are people who - no matter how hungry they are - wouldn't even think of stealing anything. They may beg or borrow but they just wouldn't steal. So even among the hungry there are varying degrees of morality.

Then, too, there are people who wouldn't think of stealing anything and yet who may steal to feed their children. (There are, though, services available for people to help feed their children, so another issue might be whether they need to stay away from "The System" for some reason).

I'd have to know more about the situation before I could decide.

Answer 4

Both. A person should work to buy the food to eat, just like the rest of us.

Answer 5

Sounds like a good plot for a book.

Read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

Then you decide.

Answer 6

Good one, Z Town Mom. I couldn't have said it any better.