I got this article from Sunny Rustbucket. The article poses a bold question for me: when we read Les Miserables, or watch the musical, we are posed with a truly profound dilemma: is theft always unjust? If we adhere to the biblical tradition that we are called to help the suffering and treat all with equal measures of opportunity for happiness in Gods Kingdom (Gods Imperial Rule) by sharing that which God offers voluntarily (a form of divine mandated socialism where ownership of all property remains in the hands of God, and where we lowly temporal humans act merely as stewards who are charged with said propertys care and use according to Eir charge; also, as Children, all that is Gods is ours, which means that we are truly to share all that we have with all others), then if one of little means steals or takes from those of great means, it would be well argued that it was the unjust actions of those who turned away from the one suffering in need that drove them in desperation to act as such, and not the fault of the one who had nothing (or little) and out of desperation stole. This is why the priest gives the theif all of the silver in order to live. We must then contemplate as Christians: how are we called to live in a world whose narrative: selfishness, compels us to hold onto wealth for our own sake when others suffer needlessly and often by our own hands, how we can claim that they are thieves, when it was our own selfishness that drove them to desperate actions in the first place? It is to this call in the book of Matthew which teaches it is Gods will to provide for all of those whom He/E has created, namely the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and everything that creepeth and crawleth over the face of the Earth, how we in our foolishness can concieve of such a God who, while deeming us the most loved, the most precious of all His/Eir Creations, in this great scheme of life, beings so loved that this God would give up Eir only Child in sacrifice to protect all of the children, the creatures who He/E so loved, how can we expect Him/Em to neglect us so, to act so disproportionately against the innate logic of this Will? How can we expect to be neglected? If we do not hold onto material possessions in preference to human lives, we shall all greatly prosper, for God has in fact already done His/Eir part and it is us selfish creatures who are to blame for our own suffering by holding onto wealth when our neighbors suffer needlessly. It would be by this reasoning, for us to see our inability to act to promote the greater part of suffering, for if we are all giving that no one is without needs, it could only be by reference to sin, a desire to have more than another that would drive people to theft or other forms of harm against one another in this way, that the message of Jesus extols. I might wonder then if as the article directs, the poor, those deprived of rights and justice, the minorities and underclasses of this world, who take up arms against those prospering off of their or their ancestors misfortunes, are not in fact well justified in doing taking what they need to live as their sin is nothing compared with the sins of those who idoly refuse to act when they could otherwise have acted to help these people. Not to mention, can you steal that which has already been given to you? If the Lord has decreed that all is Eirs, then to take from your brother to live when your brother has withheld from you that which you need to survive, that which is only in your brothers care, how can this be stealing when the Lord has decreed that this should be used for the care of all Eir children? How can you stea that which has already been freely given you by the rightful and lawful owners? So, we may well be asked whether theft is truly unjust for the poor to take when they have nothing else (or very little) from those with much wealth, for it was never theirs to selfishly covet in the first place. A bold statement of faith, indeed.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:20:11 +0000
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