Why Do People Steal?
Posted: Tuesday, December 02, 2008
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
Liberal writers are telling us that our economic slowdown will drive many people to resort to stealing. With their conclusion I beg to differ.
With the rare exception of the starving person, people who steal are dishonest. They steal whether prosperity is in or out of season. Honest people do not steal! Hard economic times provide a convenient excuse for those already inclined to steal. They also provide a suitable rationale for the liberal thinker who rejects personal responsibility, preferring to blame all bad behavior on anyone or anything other than the offender.
Throughout history there have been some cases where starving people have been forced to steal, but that is not the case in America today. A whole subculture of people have chosen to forego working, preferring to live as beggars on the streets of our cities. They often need a bath and clean clothes but they don't suffer from starvation. There are provisions made to feed them.
If anyone is out of work there are numerous resources to help them through their difficulty. There are unemployment payments. There are food stamps. There are community food banks. Churches and other organizations assist those who are truly destitute. The poor need not steal to provide school clothing or supplies or Christmas gifts for their children. Each year, in every city, scores of community groups provide clothing, and school supplies for the poor. They gather Christmas toys and other gifts for children of the poor. If the poor are sick or injured, they can go to the emergency room of a hospital and receive treatment for which they are not obliged to pay. In disasters such as hurricanes and flood, our government even supplies the displaced with lodging and cash to purchase needed supplies.
In economic slowdowns there will be found two types of people. Honest people who tighten their belts and do without all but necessities until they can find employment. If they need assistance they turn to those community services, but not to crime. To them, hardship is never an excuse for theft. But there are dishonest souls who have no scruples about ill-gotten gain. They cheat and steal even when times are good. Hard times are just another excuse to prey on others.
So save the rationalizations. There is no shame in being poor, but there is shame when one resorts to stealing to get what he or she wants. People in our society steal because they are thieves.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)John, while I do not condone sin, stealing is a sin. I will not cast a general net over everyone who is stealing. They shouldn't, I agree. I see your way of thinking. There is no excuse for taking something that does not belong to you without paying for it. There are some desperate people out there who have never been in their current situation before. Some are are first-time offenders. If someone who steals once and repents, are they still a thief? Just because I may appear to have more compassion than the next person doesn't mean I am correct. I just wanted to give you another point of view.
I have faced dire circumstances before and no, I did not steal from others. There are blue-collar and white-collar thieves. The latter are responsible in part, to our current economic condition.
Good article. Happy Holidays!
Dear Avis: While stealing is a sin, it is not unpardonable. Many people have at some point in their lives stolen something. Along the way they realized the wrong they had done and repented of their theft. If possible they restored to the owner what they had taken. Now they are forgiven of that wrong. When God forgives he also forgets the past. If however we continue to practice thievery, be it ln large or small things, we are in fact thieves. We can all forgive and accept the reformed sinner. They are no longer a threat to us and our possessions. Thanks for sharing your views. John
John, you are 100% right. That's exactly the way I feel about stealing. Those looters in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are a prime example of what you are talking about. They weren't taking food. They were thieves looking for an excuse to steal.
John,Get a grip! What does liberal thinking have to do with stealing? The economic slowdown WILL cause people to steal. It is a writer's EXPLANATION, John, not an EXCUSE! Your concept of homeless people lacks total compassion. A majority of these folks were forced to the streets due to untreated mental health issues. They have no resources for receiving their psychotropic medication which would keep them functioning like you and me. Can you wrap your conservative Christian head around that idea at Christmas time? Sheesh.
Dear James: Was it conservatives or liberals who came up with the idea of reducing our mental health hospitals and sending all but the most dangerous of them out into the general population? They are too unstable to live with their families, they are unable to function on a job so they wander our streets. That explains the mentally ill who are homeless. How about those who are just shiftless and too lazy to work, who are contented to live off of the handouts of a compassionate society? My point was that even the homeless have food and even a bed in a shelter in which to sleep (if they want it). They are not starving for food.I strive to keep the spirit of Christmas throughout the year. Do you?John,It was the conservatives who closed the hospitals. Under Ronald Reagan, as governor of California, the mental hospitals were closed due to budget cuts. This then carried over to his years in the White House. Read your history. By the way, if you didn't read about it, I believe we lost 500,000 jobs this month! Shiftess jerks. I am sure they, along with the homeless, will have a Merry Christmas, especially with the support of people like you.
John, I'd like to add something else in regard to thieves. People who commit identity theft are the worst of them. To me, that ranks only behind murder, rape, and armed robbery. Not only do they create great financial loss, they also ruin people's credit -- something that took them years to build.I think these people should be hung up by their ankles, naked, in the public square and beaten with sticks until they're bloody and bruised. However, I guess that would be a bit too harsh and unchristian. But if they don't repent, they'll get their just desserts in the next life.
Terry: You are are right about the venality of the identity theives. We need laws that would make this crime a felony in every state that would have a mandatory sentence of 10 years or more, depending on the damage done. With the millions of illegal immigrants, the buying and selling of other people's identity records has become a major industry. John
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