Is graffiti a sin?

[4EverHis]

This is sort of a strange question… but there’s a wall in my university where a lot of people write random messages, some of them of a very personal nature. People write about problems they’re having etc. I only saw it today. They keep on re-painting the wall but people still write on it. lol. Well I saw that a couple of people wrote about God, like “God is real and He loves you” sort of thing… and then others replied, saying that God is imaginary. I wanted to support that person who said that God is real, so I made a little arrow and wrote that I agree. But then I started thinking, is this a sin?? Cause I don’t know if it’s entirely legal to write on walls… and it’s discouraged. I’d never do it otherwise.

 

[Melissa]

Unless it is your own property, or you have the permission of the actual property owner, I would consider it sinful (most likely venial). If it’s someone else’s property and the action is without permission, it would fall under the seventh commandment which doesn’t just forbid stealing but also the unjust damage to other’s property as well as commands us to respect what belongs to others.

I would say that in this case, the continued repainting of the wall answers the question of whether the actual property owner permitted the writing or not–I can’t imagine why one would permit and then cover.

 

[ack]

I don’t know anything about your particular situation, but it is somewhat common for universities to condone this kind of “graffiti” on a certain wall or rock. Sometimes, there are even rules governing what can be written, and when.

The repainting is to make way for new messages, so the surface does not become unreadable.

In general, writing graffiti is immoral, but I’m not sure in this case, because we don’t know what the university really thinks about it.

 

[stringbeanduck]

If it is illegal to write on the wall then it probably is sinful. However if it is generally accepted that said wall is designated for graffiti then it would not be sinful. Graffiti isn’t exactly immoral it is the trespassing and illegitimate use of overpasses, walls, property that is immoral. There are some very talented artists that do their work on walls. However the correct way to do this is gain permission first.

 

[Newbie2]

I don’t know anything about your particular situation, but it is somewhat common for universities to condone this kind of “graffiti” on a certain wall or rock. Sometimes, there are even rules governing what can be written, and when.

The repainting is to make way for new messages, so the surface does not become unreadable.

In general, writing graffiti is immoral, but I’m not sure in this case, because we don’t know what the university really thinks about it.

That’s true. I’ll bet that that most colleges and universities have some sort of an “anti-graffiti” regulation, but also that they sort of look the other way if there is a traditional place (wall, rock, whatever) where they allow it.

In a practical way, it probably limits having to clean up graffiti all over the campus.

 

[4EverHis]

Thanks everyone! I’ll confess it just in case cause I feel bad about it and I wish I hadn’t done it, even though the message was good. I actualy have no idea about the wall itself or what the university would say. I felt guilty afterwards though so I’ll just go with my conscience, and won’t do it again