Priest tells congregation to SHOPLIFT

[Nictoshek]

Thou SHALT shoplift: Priest tells congregation it's better than robbery or prostitution

By Chris Brooke
22nd December 2009

Poor people who are desperate for cash have been advised to go forth and shoplift from major stores - by an Anglican priest.

The Rev Tim Jones said in his Sunday sermon that stealing from successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution.

He told parishioners it would not break the eighth commandment 'thou shalt not steal' because it 'is permissible for those who are in desperate situations to take food that they might not starve'.

But his advice was roundly condemned by police and the local Tory MP. Father Jones, 42, was discussing Mary and the birth of Jesus when he went on to the subject of how poor and vulnerable people cope in the run-up to Christmas.

'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,' he told his stunned congregation at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York.

'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. I offer the advice with a heavy heart. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift.

'The observation that shoplifting is the best option that some people are left with is a grim indictment of who we are.

'Rather, this is a call for our society no longer to treat its most vulnerable people with indifference and contempt.

'When people are released from prison, or find themselves suddenly without work or family support, then to leave them for weeks with inadequate or clumsy social support is monumental, catastrophic folly.

'We create a situation which leaves some people little option but crime.'

The father of two, whose parish has a wide mix of social conditions, said his advice to people in dire circumstances is that 'they should not hurt anybody and cope as best they can'.

He added: 'The strong temptation is to burgle or rob people - family, friends, neighbours, strangers.

'Others are tempted towards prostitution, a nightmare world of degradation and abuse for all concerned. Others are tempted towards suicide. Instead, I would rather that they shoplift.

'The life of the poor in modern Britain is a constant struggle, a minefield of competing opportunities, competing responsibilities, obligations and requirements, a constant effort to achieve the impossible.

'For many at the bottom of our social ladder, lawful, honest life can sometimes seem to be an apparent impossibility.'

Anne McIntosh, the Tory MP for Vale of York, has campaigned in Parliament for stronger sentences for shoplifters.

She said: 'I cannot condone inciting anyone to commit a criminal offence.

'Shoplifting is a crime against the whole local community and society.'

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: 'First and foremost, 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, that is a guarantee.'

The Archdeacon of York, the Venerable Richard Seed, said: 'The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift, or break the law in any way.

'Father Tim Jones is raising important issues about the difficulties people face when benefits are not forthcoming, but shoplifting is not the way to overcome these difficulties.

'There are many organisations and charities working with people in need, and the Citizens' Advice Bureau is a good first place to call.'

[pieter]

By the way, in 1996 the former Dutch bishop mr Muskens of Breda (the Catholic province of North-Brabant) caused some turmoil in the Netherlands after he proclaimed that it’s ok to steal a loaf of bread if you are very poor and don’t have money to buy one. From left to right politicians condemned the bishop, and the bishop had meetings with Social-democratic Dutch Labour prime-minister Wim Kok (PvdA) and the social-liberal D66 party about this issue. The politicians said that social-security in the Nehterlands is good enough and that nobody has to steal and bread. And that the bisshop gave a wrong signal to people who are unemployed or less wealthy as the rest of the Dutch.


Former bishop of Breda Tiny Muskens

Muskens is retired and on februari the 2nd 2008 he joined the Order of Saint Benedict in Teteringen als 'regular Oblate '. On oktober 31 2007 his discharge was officially accepted by the Pope. Hans van den Hende became the new bisshop of Breda.

Links: www.religionnewsblog.com/19031/tiny-muskens
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_van_den_Hende

And from ICCS INTEREUROPEAN COMMISSION ON CHURCH AND SCHOOL

Spirituality and Europe: contributions from general and religious education.

Strasbourg, 24.July 1997 Hans Spinder

I quote Hans Spinder:

3.1 The Roman Catholic Church and Europe

The commitment of the actual Pope John Paul II to Europe became e.g. obvious in 1990, when he convened a special European Bishops Conference to assess the special situation in Europe and to determine the challenge of the church. Two questions were at stake at this conference:
• an historical question: which gifts have the churches east of the iron curtain to offer to the churches in the west and vice versa?
• and for the future: how has this exchange of gifts to be developed in the mission in Europe, which means for the new evangelisation of Europe?
This question about a new evangelisation of Europe evoked many critical questions, especially in the Protestant and Orthodox world.
In the many publications and speeches it becomes clear how important this theme of European integration is for the RC Church. And it is conspicuous how self evident it is for the RC Church, that this integration or unification presupposes a Christian foundation.
In this vision Europe is a creation of the Gospel: “Europe is built up by peoples and nations, who had the privilege to receive the message of the biblical Word, the Gospel.” and: “Our civilisation can only be saved by a new evangelisation of the culture”, so said the arch bishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. That is the motivation of the RC Church to support the European integration process. A central item in the Catholic policy, and in the statements of the pope, is the respect for human rights. A second item, and also often underlined by this pope, is the open character of the EU: middle- and eastern Europe, as the ‘other lung of Europe’ belong to it.
In the Netherlands the RC bishops recently showed their commitment to Europe in the media. Bishop Muskens - who gained some international fame by his statement that when you are hungry, and there is no other solution, it is morally acceptable to steal a loaf of bread - published a book under the title Every man has a name, Plea for a social Europe. For him, the task for Christians is to protect and support a social Europe. He sees too much of calculation and distance and too little of compassion and commitment in European policy. The quest for a European identity is crucial to him. It is clear that the responsibility for Europe belongs to the fundamental convictions of the RC Church.

[Nictoshek]

I have to agree with Bishop Muskens that Europe desperately needs an identity.

In short, Europe is in the midst of a moral and spiritual identity crisis. Europe today does not appreciate America, especially American foreign policy, because it no longer understands it. From the European standpoint, American idealism and an appeal to religious convictions is a fundamentalism as wrong and as dangerous as any other. Although Europe and America share the same history, the current European continental drift is more risky for Europe than for America - The Heritage Foundation

Europe, America, and the Continental Drift

_

[Eric]

That priest should definitely be prosecuted for inciting people to commit a crime.

[Jaga]

I agree with the priest that it is Ok to steal a loaf of bread or expensive medicine for a child.
Life decisions are not always black and white. There was a famous story written by the Polish woman-writer in XIX century entitled Martha. It was talking about a mother who stole a medicine for her child since the child was dying and she was desperate to save the life of the child.
What was worse - stealing the medicine which can help to save a life of a child or let the child die?

[Nictoshek]

To put things in perspective: There was a true story during WWII when the fleeing Nazi soldiers were moving POWs to the rear, when one of the soldiers spotted a starving prisoner picking up an apple from one of the fields. In a fit of rage, the Nazi guard shouted to the scrawny prisoner, that those rotting apples were the property of the Third Reich.....and then shot him dead.