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八戒是否需要时时坚持
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全球的经济衰退和不景气，在多个国家尤其是西方国家导致普通百姓的生活困顿。固定的社会模式，使得一些困顿家庭生活陷入走投无路的绝境。对于这些处于社会边沿的弱势群体，基督教会都有哪些教导和指引？上个周日在英国约克郡约克市的圣劳伦斯教堂集会中，教区牧师Tim Jones建议，与其娼妓、抢劫、入室盗窃，建议困顿人群可以到商店去顺些东西。Tim Jones说，在这种极端困难的情况下，穷人的生存权比富人财富的所有权，更加重要。牧师说，他并不是要反对基督教教义中的第八戒（即不要偷盗），而是根据情况的不同，可以灵活应用，比较孰重孰轻。但是人们应该选择一些连锁大商店进行偷窃，而不应该在家庭便利小店进行偷窃。而且不要顺太多东西，自己一个时期够用就可以了。之所以选择大的连锁商店，是因为这些全国连锁商店，最终会将这些损失转嫁到普通的消费者身上，适当提高物价，商家本身并不会有任何损失。
这一说法被公开后，在英国社会引起了很大的震动。约克郡北区警署发言人指出，盗窃在任何时候都是一种犯罪，都是要受到惩罚的。犯罪只会使事情更加糟糕。在这种困难的情况下，穷人应该寻求社会的帮助。保守党议员Anne McIntosh指出，圣诞假日期间，各大商家确实过于关注经营利润。但是同时指出，无论如何她不能认可人们的偷窃行为。
英国零售业联盟发言人说，在商店偷窃是错误的。这种错误的性质不会因被偷窃对象的不同而改变。在这种困难时期，社会福利系统应该承担起应有的责任。而英国零售业每年都上缴成亿英镑的营业税，已经为社会福利做出了贡献，间接地帮助了这些弱势群体。偷窃找不到任何理由。
基督教圣经中对于十戒有明确阐述。其中第八戒明确教诲：你不能偷窃(Thou shalt not steal)。
要阅读英文原文，可点击以下链接：
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6964050.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6964050.ece
The Ten Commandments include a fairly straightforward instruction: Thou shalt not steal. Now a Yorkshire vicar has come up with an interesting interpretation, advising the more hard-pressed of his parishioners to shoplift.
They should do it only from big shops, the Rev Tim Jones said, and it would probably be best if they did not take any more than they needed. Inevitably, some less spiritually enlightened individuals, including North Yorkshire Police, have taken his remarks in entirely the wrong way, assuming that by advising people to shoplift he is in some way encouraging shoplifting.
Father Tim’s remarks came in his Sunday sermon at the Church of St Lawrence, York, when he said that stealing from large national chains was sometimes the best option open to vulnerable people. It was far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than to turn to prostitution, mugging or burglary, he said.
“My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,” he told the congregation. “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.
“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. I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need.
“I offer the advice with a heavy heart and wish society would recognise that bureaucratic ineptitude and systematic delay have created an invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope.”
Arguing that society had failed the needy, Father Tim, 41, continued: “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. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift. Rather, this is a call for our society no longer to treat its most vulnerable people with indifference and contempt. Providing inadequate or clumsy social support is monumental, catastrophic folly.”
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “Shoplifting is a criminal offence and to justify this course of action under any circumstances is highly irresponsible. Turning or returning to crime will only make matters worse. We recognise that some people find themselves in difficult circumstances but support is readily available and must be sought.”
Anne McIntosh, the Conservative MP for Vale of York, who has campaigned in Parliament for stronger sentences for shoplifters, admitted that there had been an overcommercialisation of Christmas that encouraged people to spend, but she said: “I cannot condone inciting anyone to commit a criminal offence. Shoplifting is a crime against the whole local community and society.”
The British Retail Consortium agreed. A spokesman said: “Shoplifting is wrong and it is not more or less wrong depending on who the victim is. It is the job of our welfare system, which retailers support with the billions they pay each year in tax, to help vulnerable people. There are no excuses for stealing.”
What the Bible says
Ephesians iv, 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need
Jeremiah vii, 9-10 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe” — safe to do all these detestable things?
I Corinthians vi, 10 [Neither] thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God
Source: New International Version of the Bible
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