Is it a mortal sin to dumpster dive?!

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Rascalking said:
It’s repulsive. Even if your starving to death it’s still disgusting. Why in the world would anyone do that?

Disturbing and gross
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You must be truly blessed to have never seen a person die of starvation.

I would recommend you expand your horizens. Speak to an African missionary if you ever get the chance.
 
Calgar said:
You must be truly blessed to have never seen a person die of starvation.

I would recommend you expand your horizens. Speak to an African missionary if you ever get the chance.
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I never said it’s not a problem in Africa. I think it’s a huge problem. In America, regardless of what the media is telling you, people aren’t starving.

Re-read my post.
 
Tenofovir said:
Hehe. But my dear friend, a person starving to death hurts the same whether he is a Congolese or a Californian.
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Ok, one more time.

I never said starving wasn’t a horrible way to die. I think it’s beyond tragic. However, what I did say, and stand by 100 percent, is that a person in California doesn’t have the same odds of dying of starvation as a person in the Congo does.

Where in the world did ANYONE get the impression that I thought starvation was something to be aimed for?
 
But you said “Even if your starving to death it’s still disgusting.”. Now maybe you meant that figuratively.

On the subject of starvation in California, I’m sure it happens. Sure it involves homeless people who are probably alcoholics, but severe malnutrition, alcoholism and mental illness (schizophrenia) does occur, even in relatively rich countries. Sure it’s less common, but still.
 
Tenofovir said:
But you said “Even if your starving to death it’s still disgusting.”. Now maybe you meant that figuratively.
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Yes, and I stand by that. It may be vital to your survial, but it’s still disgusting. Sometimes you need to do disgusting things to survive- I get that- but it doesn’t make it less disgusting.
 
Rascalking said:
Yes, and I stand by that. It may be vital to your survial, but it’s still disgusting. Sometimes you need to do disgusting things to survive- I get that- but it doesn’t make it less disgusting.
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It is disgusting, i.e. eliciting a feeling of disgust in you, or it is morally wrong?
If it’s not morally wrong to eat dubious food to save oneself for a greater purpose, why should others’ reaction matter? Surely we should not care what others think, but what is objectively good?
 
Rascalking said:
I said it’s not morally wrong/sinful in my first post.
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I gathered that. But what counts the most is whether something is moral or not. Not whether it makes other people feel uncomfortable or not. Surely, we shouldn’t live for appearances. 🙂
 
Tenofovir said:
I gathered that. But what counts the most is whether something is moral or not. Not whether it makes other people feel uncomfortable or not. Surely, we shouldn’t live for appearances. 🙂
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It’s still disgusting.
 
I don’t think it would be a mortal sin to dumpster dive. Most of the signs are generic. Yes, it might technically be illegal and trespassing. I work in local government and lots of things are technically illegal. They are not necessarily enforced unless someone makes an issue of it. If you have been warned not to dumpster dive, I think you should respect the owner’s wishes.

I don’t believe breaking the law is always sinful. Some laws are board and non-specific. It might technically be trespassing to pull into a parking lot to take a break from driving and read a book but most store owners aren’t going to have a problem with it if their customers have plenty of room to park.

I think you just have to use common sense. If it’s a situation that is commonly prosecuted and serious if caught, you might have a sinful situation, especially if it’s a felony. Playing a $5 poker buy-in game with buddies at your house might be illegal but I don’t think it would fall in under the same moral category as running an illegal underground casino.
 
Rascalking said:
It’s repulsive. Even if your starving to death (quite hard to do in America, actually) it’s still disgusting. Why in the world would anyone do that?

But-it’s not sinful. Disturbing and gross, but not sinful.
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Some people collect aluminum cans for money…
 
surritter said:
Violating a civil law is sinful, because you are disobeying legitimate authority. However, if there is just cause to violate a law that has no intrinsic morality, then no sin is committed.
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I’ve always understood it that it may not be a sin if it’s a minor offense and you accept the consequences. For example, a 10 mph speeding ticket on the interstate but willing to pay ticket or perhaps fishing without a license for 10 minutes but will accept the consequences.

Not trying to encourage people to break the law…but I don’t think the state means to bind people under the pain of sin for everything.
 
Well, NZL is a little different in that you can’t sue every man and his dog everytime your stupidity blows up in your face.

They’ve had cases mentioned in NZL about freegans. My poppa used to… still does, “dumpster dive”, not for food, but for things like chairs, old electronics, he then goes and fixes them up, and on-sells them.

They were in the bin, therefore, they have no owner any more.

I see no problem with it as long as you’re not breaking into private property to get the thing, or as long as there’s no padlock on the skip. Usually the locks are to prevent people dumping stuff in them, not taking it, but it boarders on destruction of property.

Its not the sin of thieft, but I think there could be some minor venial sins of endangering your health - not just dodgey food but could be glass or nails in boards [my Poppa always checked before grabbing], or tresspass and destruction of property if you start having a go at locks.
 
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