For some weeks now, a video has been trending online. The video depicts a short clip of a supposedly good thief who “Takes or (do we say) Steals” from a commuter to do charity, as he assists a beggar. The questions that tend to follow the clip are: Was a sin committed here? What sin was committed?
With express permission, I copied the response shared from a platform by a priest. It opened my eyes to another beautiful way of analyzing the issue. Below is the video clip and next, the explanation of the priest, who choses to remain anonymous.
An analysis on the subject matter…
I don’t think the church sees any difficulty in this situation.
It is simply a sin against the 8th commandment.
And we may not do any evil in hope of attaining some good. The end never justifies the means.
And there is no restitution yet in this situation. Rather, this is a false understanding of restitution or reparation.
When we cause any injury, We are expected to repair the injury done to the one the injury is dealt with.
E.G, A man may steal 1 million from the bank and give the entire one million to the church or the poor; he has done no repair to the injury caused to the bank. And that’s a lot of injury to others. (Bankers, customers, etc)
From another angle, The man could have had (plans or better) use for the money stolen from him. Being better dressed does not make him in less financial crisis than the shabbily dressed beggar.
That he failed to give it immediately to the person who appears to be in dire need doesn’t make him a bad person.
We may not assume the position of judge. We must teach and encourage and then leave people to their conscience; not take actions into our hands like this.
Also, the poor woman who collected the money commits a sin by cooperation and consent.
The truth of what is right and wrong should be very clear irrespective of the situation.
I think the explanation given by the contributor is filled with wisdom. We live in a society where the mantra has become: “The end justifies the means”. This new normal has eroded our value system. As the writer said the truth of what is right and wrong must be very clear.
Do you toll the line of the explanations presented above, or you have a contrary view. But first ask yourself, does the end justify the means?
You can lend your voice to the subject matter… send in your comments!