Is breaking a dumb law a sin?

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b04b03 said:
i started driving a golf cart on the road when i was 3 or 4 years old sitting on my grandpas lap. this isnt something new. we’ve always driven golf carts. every one around here has either a golf cart, four-wheeler, or ATV that they drive on the roads. not saying that makes it right or wrong, but its not a rare thing around here
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I started driving at 10 on my aunty’s lap on a farm. No roads, just the farm. It was probably illegal for me to drive at all, but I’d do the same for my children if I had the chance. (With some caution though, just for fear of being caught and the overzealous legalism these days).
 
CRV said:
My, how I wish you were in my neighborhood! It just seems to be my misfortune that if I thought of doing something illegal, within a short period of time a police officer would soon appear in my rearview vision or ahead of me. That’s just my experience.
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I remember an episode from an Australian TV prank show in 2001 which did just that. They had a celebrity named Derryn Hinch driving in a new suburb with vacant lots and he stopped at some lights. The lights just stayed red. After a few minutes he nervously drove forward (nervous, because he knew he was on camera), and a police car swooped on him! He didn’t get the prank and was flabbergasted and apologetic, trying to explain himself. They let him drive off. A bit later he got stuck again at red lights. There was no police car in sight and he eventually drove through. This time a police helicopter swooped in from behind some hills, and he got the joke. 🤣

That was a great show! One of the few TV shows I’ve really enjoyed in the last 20 years, before the mind numbing procession of talent, cooking and renovation contests…😒
 
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Really? I would have enjoyed watching that show too - sounds like it would be quite funny to watch! 😂
 
I don’t feel that breaking any law is a sin without exception, and there are still laws on the books in some areas that literally no one follows but they haven’t been removed even though they are outdated or obscure or just plain silly.

If it isn’t an objective moral matter such as murder, stealing, endangering people etc then I would say that intent and prudence are important.

As for golf carts or ATV’s, I think that’s nothing compared to a bicyclist on the road when it comes to endangering yourself and others, but it’s legal for bicycles to be on every road other than the interstate where I live. Even on dangerous roads with tons of turns and blind hills…they cause horrible lines of traffic going so slow in the middle of the lane and also almost cause accidents. But all perfectly legal where I live, so I can totally imagine there are also areas where golf carts are allowed on the road.
 
Gingersnaps4 said:
a bicyclist on the road when it comes to endangering yourself and others, but it’s legal for bicycles to be on every road other than the interstate where I live. Even on dangerous roads with tons of turns and blind hills…they cause horrible lines of traffic going so slow in the middle of the lane and also almost cause accidents.
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Gosh, don’t get me started on that topic!! 🚳
 
I believe I’m smarter than a electric light controlled solely by a timer.
 
Gingersnaps4 said:
I don’t feel that breaking any law is a sin without exception, and there are still laws on the books in some areas that literally no one follows but they haven’t been removed even though they are outdated or obscure or just plain silly.
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Exactly. That’s the point I’m trying to make. Not every infraction is necessarily a sin.
Gingersnaps4 said:
that’s nothing compared to a bicyclist on the road when it comes to endangering yourself and others, but it’s legal for bicycles to be on every road other than the interstate where I live.
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People ride bicycles on the sidewalk in my town. You’re technically not allowed to but it’s never been enforced… I suppose it’s still a sin though 😒:roll_eyes:
 
Cruciferi said:
People ride bicycles on the sidewalk in my town. You’re technically not allowed to but it’s never been enforced… I suppose it’s still a sin though
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Deliberately doing something that can endanger someone’s life is a sin.
 
Check your local ordinances and see what is being enforced. Every place is different.
 
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Cruciferi said:
Check your local ordinances and see what is being enforced. Every place is different.
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I am not talking about what law is enforced or not. I am making the point that anyone breaking a law, i.e. riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, or an illegal vehicle on the roads is deliberately endangering lives.
 
thistle said:
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Cruciferi:
Check your local ordinances and see what is being enforced. Every place is different.
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I am not talking about what law is enforced or not. I am making the point that anyone breaking a law, i.e. riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, or an illegal vehicle on the roads is deliberately endangering lives.
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While it may be true they are technically breaking a law, they are not deliberately endangering lives. A child riding a bicycle on a sidewalk instead of in the street may be trying to keep from endangering their own life.

I agree with you though about illegal vehicles on the roads. People that do that are selfish and do not care about others safety, only their own wants and needs.
 
Irishmom2 said:
While it may be true they are technically breaking a law, they are not deliberately endangering lives. A child riding a bicycle on a sidewalk instead of in the street may be trying to keep from endangering their own life.

I agree with you though about illegal vehicles on the roads. People that do that are selfish and do not care about others safety, only their own wants and needs.
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A person does not accidentally ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. It’s a deliberate action that could result in someone being injured.
 
Did you read what I said? A child. So okay, you think a child is breaking the law deliberately and intentionally endangering lives. Gotcha.
 
thistle said:
A person does not accidentally ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. It’s a deliberate action that could result in someone being injured
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This is really just your opinion. It depends where you’re riding. Not all cities have good roads or bicycle lanes. Not all cities are crowded with pedestrians.

It’s up to the local jurisdiction to enforce.
 
Are immigration laws “dumb”? Should we break them? What would Jesus say about breaking laws?
 
Most places on private land it is fine to drive without a permit (farms and ranches were the reasons!). People will often take their young kids to private lands (with the permission of the landowner) to practice driving.
 
thistle said:
Deliberately doing something that can endanger someone’s life is a sin.
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Life or safety. This paragraph from the CCC talks about temperance, temperence is not limited to tobacco, speed, medicine, and alcohol

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess : the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.
 
Lemuel said:
What would Jesus say about breaking laws?
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The Church teaches that there are unjust laws.

Traffic laws, I cannot stretch my eyes to see an unjust traffic laws.

I don’t have to look very far to see unjust immigration laws.
 
That we are to obey just laws, as taught by Holy Mother Church.

That the Church does not impart sin to breaking unjust laws.
 
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