Question about signature and sin

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renepape

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Hi!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about this. It’s about business polices, particularly Insurance Policies, so probably some of it is technical. But i thought i’d give it a shot. If you want to switch your policy from one company to another, some companies require you to submit a “Lost Policy Form.” This is a form which is basically a statement affirming you have either lost or destroyed your old policy and that you know of no one who may have it. It requires two signatures, the applicant and a witness. My boss wanted someone to sign it, even though he/she knew that he/she had the policy, so that in case anything happened it would still exist. We were planning on destroying it upon receipt of the new policy. Do you think it was a serious sin to have someone sign this form, even though they knew it was not true, or am I just being too scrupulous and lawyer-like? 😉 I appreciate your opinions.
 
well, on a legal level, I’d say it qualifies as fraud. By signing, you are saying that you agree that the old policy was lost or destroyed which you said you know it is not. That’s lying, yes? Pretty sure that qualifies as a sin.

Better off talking to your spiritual director or priest instead of getting my opinions, though. 😃
 
But would it be a serious sin? I mean, if it’s lying, then the gravity would depend partially on the circumstances and the intent. There was no intent to harm anyone. Also, it was not a sworn statement, but would the fact that it was signed and witnessed make it a grave matter? Or would it not be lying, but defrauding, in which case would it then be a serious sin? Or am I just making too much of this, and is it only a venial sin?
 
my guess would be venial, but then again, as I said, I’m not well versed in these matters, and you’re better off talking to your priest or spiritual director.

If you have to think this hard about it, I would say trust your conscience, and just don’t do it!
 
Well, the problem is that it was signed already…at the time, I took my boss’s word that the Lost Policy form basically just invalidates the old policy, even though I knew what the words themselves said, and he told me we would destroy that old policy once we got the new one, so i got the person to sign. I don’t want to be overly-scrupulous, I’ve had problems with scrupulosity in the past, so I don’t necessarily want to ask a priest. I really don’t want to just assume it’s grave matter, because it seems more of a technicality than anything else, but i don’t know. It’s not like it was a sworn statement, just it had to be signed by two people: the applicant and a witness. But sorry if I keep bugging you.
 
Well, your conscience is telling you that signing it was basically a lie, right? So we’ve got the sin part, it’s just a matter of gravity. This does not rank up there with perjury that results in someone’s execution. But I can’t tell you anything more than that because I don’t want to lead you down a path where you can justify lying if no one gets hurt, you know what I mean?

I think you’re okay, just mentioning it at your next confession, but if you are worried about it, then you need to ask someone more qualified than me…aka…a priest. Sorry to keep sending you in the same direction, but it does seem to be the best advice I can offer.
 
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