A British priest advises his Christian congregation to shoplift (aka steal) in these tough economic times that are bringing us all down. Hey, sometimes you gotta have options. And whom better to point out those options than a Christian priest after all?
Father Tim Jones, age 41, of the St. Lawrence Church in York, England, says shoplifting (as opposed to prostitution or burglary, since burglary is far removed from other forms of stealing) is sometimes the best option for poor people who are trying to make ends meet.
What a concept: steal from the rich, give to the poor. Apparently Robin Hood was way behind the times.
"My advice as a Christian priest is to shoplift," Jones supposedly preached at his Sunday sermon. "I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither."
Not harmless but not harmful? Neither here nor there (nor anywhere, in terms of vagueness). Apparently, with this Christian priest, a sin is not a sin. There's a sliding scale in effect.
And what about getaway? Is it also recommended to steal a car, in the name of God and the poor, to get away with the loot? Or only if you're then distributing the loot, like Robin Hood. Maybe then, additional car theft is justified.
"I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses — knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices," he continued.
So the size of the business is correlated to the vastness of the sin? Yeah, keep stealing from those national, big businesses, because then you'll really find out what high prices are-when they get passed on to the rest of us in the form of price increases. What exactly is his thought process here, that those national businesses are simply going to absorb all those losses.
By the way, oh intelligent Christian priest, those national businesses also tend to have increased security-to accompany their large stature. Better pass around that donation basket, for that get-out-of-jail fund for your congregation. What a great Christmas pasttime-spending the holiday in jail. If any of that congregation do want to get out of jail, did it happen to occur to you that all that fun bail and fines (not to mention increases for any potential members with priors) might add up to a hefty amount far higher than whatever is being stolen? At any rate, bail and jail fines certainly won't help out the member's economic situation, nor will it up that happiness factor.
Just waiting for the police to beat a path to your church door, with charges for you to, when congregation members start getting arrested per your advice.
"I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need ... My advice does not contradict the Bible's eighth commandment because God's love for the poor and despised outweighs the property rights of the rich."
Ok, so long as it's alright for now. Who knew the Bible has been pushing for theft all these years, and that no one was intelligent enough to pick up on that fact until now. Good thing a Christian genius got thrown into our mix, to point that out.
Jones' sermon has not been popular nor advocated by police or the British Retail Consortium. Those silly policemen believe shoplifting is still a crime-apparently they must not be reading the Bible to get the full story. Get more of the full story from the Daily Mail by clicking on this wack's attached url.