T
truthseeker777
Guest
Hi. I’m new here. I’ve been doing some musing over some ethical and moral things lately, and I’ve come across a few hypothetical situations that could come up over the course of a life. If any of this were to occur to me or anyone I know, I’d like to have the advice I need to handle it. I would like anyone to give their opinions for me; it would be much appreciated.
My first question is: I understand that you have to return any stolen property and benefits of that property to its rightful owner, but if you sell the property to buy something else, will you have to compensate for the price of the property and give the victim what you bought? In my opinion, it seems that what was bought with the money from the sold stolen property is not exactly a fruit seeing as you did not get the benefit along with keeping the property. Would it be alright to compensate for the original value of what was stolen but still keep what you bought?
Next, I want to know if a person dies before you can make restitution to him/her, are you still bound to restitution (if they don’t have any descendants who deserve it or anything like that)? I mean I know somewhere in the Bible it says that once someone dies that person is free of the law, but I know at that time Jesus was speaking of marriage. Does it apply to the seventh commandment as well? If you have to make restitution, would it all be through charity?
Also, is it possible to steal knowledge – i.e., non-copyrighted/non-patented ideas, facts, information, skills etc. – by getting someone to teach you them through deception? Say you cheated to get to the next level of education and learned new skills and knowledge there? Besides secret information and/or information that could hurt someone, isn’t knowledge free and just the expression of knowledge restricted? How about if you were to acquire common knowledge through the use of a stolen medium – i.e., stole a computer, book, etc. used it for common info; stole some money to buy book, computer, etc., then used it for info – would the knowledge then be stolen?
Next, what if you benefit from a personal injustice done to someone by yourself? What I mean is: if the benefit neither necessarily belongs to the victim nor does it contribute to the injustice, is it okay to use it? For example, if you do something that messes someone up, you would repent of the injustice (hypothetically), and then try to help that person get better. Let’s say you get an inspiration to do something creative like music or art that comes indirectly or even directly from the victim’s condition you caused. If you manage or fail to help the victim overcome the injustice you caused him/her, will you be able to morally use the inspiration for creativity?
Finally, is it possible to steal situations? I suppose it’s somewhat similar to the question above. But say if you were to stay at say your parents’/friend’s home until you got a job, but they didn’t know you deserved to be kicked out for something wrong you were doing (like drugs), would you be bound to restitution? I mean of course your parents might not want restitution even though they would want you out of the house, but suppose they do would they be entitled to compensation and the fruits of whatever resources (computer, appliances, commodities) you used in their house in order to further your financial means?
Again, any opinions or advice is appreciated.
My first question is: I understand that you have to return any stolen property and benefits of that property to its rightful owner, but if you sell the property to buy something else, will you have to compensate for the price of the property and give the victim what you bought? In my opinion, it seems that what was bought with the money from the sold stolen property is not exactly a fruit seeing as you did not get the benefit along with keeping the property. Would it be alright to compensate for the original value of what was stolen but still keep what you bought?
Next, I want to know if a person dies before you can make restitution to him/her, are you still bound to restitution (if they don’t have any descendants who deserve it or anything like that)? I mean I know somewhere in the Bible it says that once someone dies that person is free of the law, but I know at that time Jesus was speaking of marriage. Does it apply to the seventh commandment as well? If you have to make restitution, would it all be through charity?
Also, is it possible to steal knowledge – i.e., non-copyrighted/non-patented ideas, facts, information, skills etc. – by getting someone to teach you them through deception? Say you cheated to get to the next level of education and learned new skills and knowledge there? Besides secret information and/or information that could hurt someone, isn’t knowledge free and just the expression of knowledge restricted? How about if you were to acquire common knowledge through the use of a stolen medium – i.e., stole a computer, book, etc. used it for common info; stole some money to buy book, computer, etc., then used it for info – would the knowledge then be stolen?
Next, what if you benefit from a personal injustice done to someone by yourself? What I mean is: if the benefit neither necessarily belongs to the victim nor does it contribute to the injustice, is it okay to use it? For example, if you do something that messes someone up, you would repent of the injustice (hypothetically), and then try to help that person get better. Let’s say you get an inspiration to do something creative like music or art that comes indirectly or even directly from the victim’s condition you caused. If you manage or fail to help the victim overcome the injustice you caused him/her, will you be able to morally use the inspiration for creativity?
Finally, is it possible to steal situations? I suppose it’s somewhat similar to the question above. But say if you were to stay at say your parents’/friend’s home until you got a job, but they didn’t know you deserved to be kicked out for something wrong you were doing (like drugs), would you be bound to restitution? I mean of course your parents might not want restitution even though they would want you out of the house, but suppose they do would they be entitled to compensation and the fruits of whatever resources (computer, appliances, commodities) you used in their house in order to further your financial means?
Again, any opinions or advice is appreciated.
Ask a Priest or Deacon and get the full explaination.