Posted on 05/03/2013 1:09:31 PM PDT by Kaslin
I get the idea you just read the excerpt, and not the whole article.
Do you remember why Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers ?
The Ten Commandments are ‘absolute truth’. Funny that! Centuries old advice is still relevant in today’s hip culture.
I think what LIVIUS is saying is that you shouldn't have to work in a death trap of a building because of the greed of the owner.
GREED is one of the 'sins'... remember? The Pope is against it, and that is what this article was about.
Well they don’t interpret themselves. What authority are you relying on?
Thou shalt not steal.
Furthermore, Saul (By G-D,Himself) was ordered to kill all the inhabitants of the enemy city, including the animals which are property. He killed the people, and kept (stole) the animals. This act of disobedience doomed his kingship, and short-circuited his dynasty. In addition the the Commandments, this implies that life and property are equal.
Note that he was not commanded to destroy the property and capture the people.
I think it was more to demonstrate disinterest in plunder.
Unless the people were forced to work at gunpoint, this is the sad truth.
The working conditions may seem cruel to us, but "good wages" are relative. This is the first (often ugly) step in economic development.
This kind of labor is far more effective in aiding populations than direct financial aid, which is almost always squandered.
It's very close to it, though. It's implied in the Commandment, "Do not steal."
Free trade is a reality --a law of nature. If two parties are not coerced, or engaging in misrepresentation, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with tradiing. (With a few exceptions, like prostitution, etc.)
You think?
If you withhold your private property from the poor, you’re going to hell. THAT’S a moral absolute.
True, but it also forbids the poor, or anyone else from stealing private property.
You must leave part of your field unharvested, and you must permit them to eat of your field at night, but not carry any away from it, and you must leave that part of the harvest that falls to the ground for the benefit of the poor.
But the property is yours and by a commandment equal to the one about murder, they may not steal it from you, nor covet it.
Sorry; was anyone advocating stealing? But since you bring up covetousness and stealing, let’s be quite clear that for the rich to deprive the poor unjustly is also covetousness and stealing. Your neighbor’s basic human dignity and necessities of life are your concern and in neglecting them you imperil your soul.
If private property isn’t important, then there is no such thing as stealing, is there? So you’re right you aren’t advocating stealing, because you don’t agree with private property. Are you an anarchist?
That was lazy and unimaginative of you. Since I’ve already dealt with the importance of private property, it’s clear you are out of gas: either uninterested in a serious dialogue about its moral dimensions, or else out of your depth.
bfl
I thought it was quite imaginative, and I’ll take “lazy” for a compliment. A lot of good ideas came, not from hard working imaginative people, but from lazy, imaginative people looking for a better, easier, way.
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