Is borrowing something without notifying the owner a sin?

[TryingCatholic]

I borrowed some money from a piggy bank (yeah I know…) and I plan to give it back very shortly, did I commit the sin of theft since the piggy bank was not mine ? It was a small amount of money equivalent to 5 dollars.

 

[MNathaniel]

Relevant factor might be to consider whether you have reason to believe the owner of the piggy bank would have consented to lend you the $5.00 if they were home at the time and you’d asked.

Is this a sibling or parent, and they’ve previously said ‘yes’ to you borrowing coins, or would otherwise be predictably inclined to consent to your request (e.g. if you were rushing for a bus and needed the coins for bus fare, do you believe that if the owner of the piggy bank were there they would’ve said “Of course!”)?

Or has the owner of the piggy bank (regardless of relationship to you) previously said ‘no’ to you borrowing coins, and you could reasonably predict that if they’d been there at the time and you’d asked, they would not have consented to you taking this money?

 

[Vico]

I borrowed some money from a piggy bank (yeah I know…) and I plan to give it back very shortly, did I commit the sin of theft since the piggy bank was not mine ? It was a small amount of money equivalent to 5 dollars.

Such a small amount is not considered grave matter.

 

[Bluebright]

Agreed with MNathaniel and also to add…are you going to tell the person with this piggy bank as soon as is reasonably possible that you’ve done this? Or just hope they never notice? You should tell them, unless it’s not reasonable to. Even if you plan to return the money before they miss it/need it. Otherwise it is deception.

 

[Zaccheus]

Normally taking somebody’s money or property without their knowledge or consent is stealing even if you mean to return it.
But MNathaniel makes good points. If you have good reason to believe they’d say yes, and you don’t have the chance to ask, then it may be okay.

Of course you do have to give it back and tell them you took it. Otherwise it’s a sin.

Also: the amount matters, and the owner’s financial position matters. Would it cause the owner suffering if you failed to return the five dollars?

 

[redcatholic]

You didn’t borrow. You stole. Borrowing implies an agreement. The gravity of the theft is something you can figure out. Later, if you do this to an actual bank. You might go to prison as well as confession.

 

[Kima]

If borrowing something without notifying the owner is a sin then what I´m currently wearing makes me sinful haha as I took my sister´s sweatpants this morning but for what it matters, I will give it back to her sometime soon haha.

 

[redcatholic]

Right,I assume you have her permission to share clothes. Or your relationship is one where it’s considered communal property. If you stole my wife’s outfit and wore it. Yes, you would have to go to confession after you bailed out.

 

[Kima]

Right,I assume you have her permission to share clothes. Or your relationship is one where it’s considered communal property.

Not really, but if I told her why I borrowed it, I´m sure she would understand She has let me borrow her clothes earlier for other reasons too.

 

[redcatholic]

In real life, there is something called check kiting. When you write a check on Thursday for 10 dollars but you don’t have the money in your account until a later date. It’s an actual crime. Intending to pay something back does not mean the theft didn’t happen. The OP took someone’s money without knowledge or permission. While the gravity of that can be debated, the character of the act is defined. It’s theft. It’s dishonest. The old adage, is that if you can’t be trusted with small things then you can’t be trusted with big things. It has to do with character. Good character will immediately recognize the mistake Take responsibility for it, apologize, and correct it, a bad character will rationalize it away for future intent to pay back, small amount involved, and the fact it has as yet been undetected.

 

[redcatholic]

Sounds like your communication with your sister could use some improvement.

 

[Kima]

She was sleeping at the time, I woundn´t want to bother her. We actually have a good relationship, so I think it´s fine

 

[redcatholic]

You know more about the subject than I do.

 

[Kima]

I appreciate your concern tho God bless!

 

[redcatholic]

Not really that concerned. The OP though. A little concerned there…

 

[Beryllos]

@MNathaniel in the first response referred to presumed consent. This is an interesting exception to the rule on theft, but is is usually invoked in cases of urgent need.

For example, if you were lost in the woods on a freezing cold night, and you came upon an unoccupied cabin, you would be justified to enter the cabin for shelter. You can reasonably presume that the owner would give permission if he/she knew of your urgent need.

The urgent-need exception probably doesn’t apply when raiding a sibling’s piggy bank.

From the CCC:

Respect for the goods of others

2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft , that is, usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing . . .) is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of others.

 

[LilyM]

I borrowed some money from a piggy bank (yeah I know…) and I plan to give it back very shortly, did I commit the sin of theft since the piggy bank was not mine ? It was a small amount of money equivalent to 5 dollars.

I would suggest unless there is some sort of urgent need on your part combined with no reasonable possibility of asking them beforehand, then yes it is theft

Sure, someone might have agreed on previous occasions but that doesn’t make it OK now.

I vividly remember as a teenager borrowing a pair of shoes from my sister only to find out afterwards that she had really needed them to wear to an important job interview.

The fact that she may have been OK with me borrowing stuff at other times doesn’t change the fact that they were hers, she needed them that time and I ought to have asked first. Simple respect.

Of course $5 wouldn’t, I should think, amount to grave matter, but it isn’t right to adopt a “what’s yours is mine” attitude without having been specifically told so, or having an urgent need and no opportunity to ask.

 

[MNathaniel]

I agree with the catechism, of course.

I think it’s the factor of “piggy bank” that’s ping-ing my mind to think there’s a close familiar relationship involved here, where a sort of default consent might potentially be pre-established. Like siblings, or friendly roommates. Also, I know some people refer to something as a ‘piggy bank’ when it’s really just an open dish with loose coins in it, so not necessarily something that’s ‘broken into’ so much as sitting open on a dresser, where someone might have been invited previously to ‘dip into it’ so long as they filled it back up.

So making a bunch of assumptions here because the OP hasn’t clarified the relationship, the presumed consent status, or the situational context…

It seems hypothetically possible to me that the circumstance in question could be two close friends who are roommates, and one keeps a pig-shaped () dish of coins on top of a dresser. He’s given his roommate permission to use coins from this dish on past occasions, and the roommate has always paid him back. Now one day, the coin-owner is out of the house at work, and the roommate is rushing around getting ready for a crucial job interview… and suddenly realizes last minute they don’t have the leftover change they thought they had, for the bus. They used it on laundry last night. There’s no way to contact the roommate who’s at work (whoops, he’s down a mine shaft!), but they’re certain that if the roommate was right in front of them, he’d say: “Oh my goodness, of course! Grab the money and run! You need to catch that bus!”

This is the kind of proportionality I’m thinking of. Not necessarily life and death, but a reason the owner would be expected to consider proportional under the circumstances (like needing coins to catch a bus to a job interview), that the hopeful borrower might know them (and their past interactions) well enough to reasonably predict.

Like others have said, I’d presume that no matter what, the ‘borrower’ would tell the owner as soon as possible with an apology and also the full returned amount. I’m just also presuming that there could be many circumstances where a person could really reasonably expect that a given individual would say “Yes,” and might even feel hurt if they later find out someone assumed they would have said “No”. Very much depends on the relationship and past expectation-setting, I think.

Just my two cents though.

(Also maybe I should be adding more directly: if none of what I’m saying above applies (re: presumable consent, urgent need), then yes this is theft. I just made my initial comment requesting more information because I don’t think the OP gave us quite enough to make a definitive assessment one way or another.)

 

[blackforest]

I think it’s rude and inconsiderate but probably not a confessable sin.

Don’t fret about it. But for heaven’s sake, don’t do it again.

 

[Beryllos]

This is the kind of proportionality I’m thinking of. Not necessarily life and death, but a reason the owner would be expected to consider proportional under the circumstances (like needing coins to catch a bus to a job interv This is the kind of proportionality I’m thinking of. Not necessarily life and death, but a reason the owner would be expected to consider proportional under the circumstances (like needing coins to catch a bus to a job interview), that the hopeful borrower might know them (and their past interactions) well enough to reasonably predict.

Yes, my example (lost on a freezing night) was rather dramatic. Presumed consent can easily apply in families or friendships which have established a pattern of trustful sharing and lending.

Like others have said, I’d presume that no matter what, the ‘borrower’ would tell the owner as soon as possible with an apology and also the full returned amount.

Communication is key!