Stealing

[tafan]

Ok, one more post and I will leave it alone. Our society is being torn apart by lack of respect for sexuality, lack of respect for life, but also lack of respect for property. Somehow, we Catholics get the first two, but not the third. We don’t realize how corrupted we are by our culture. There is a reason why in the past, laws against stealing carried such harsh penalties. People realized how this could tear up society. Aquinas talks about this. So does the CCC

*2401 The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one’s neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this world’s goods to God and to fraternal charity

2410 Promises must be kept and contracts strictly observed to the extent that the commitments made in them are morally just. **A significant part of economic and social life depends on the honoring of contracts between physical or moral persons *- commercial contracts of purchase or sale, rental or labor contracts. All contracts must be agreed to and executed in good faith.

So whileI can understand that stealing is obviously worse when it the victim is someone who is not wealthy or even poor, all of this talk about the victim being a large company justifying immoral actions drives me crazy. It mitigates the sin only in the sense that stealing from the poor is completely evil and horrible; stealing from the rich is not quite so bad, but very bad. And we are all so desensitized to it.

But yet we think nothing of downloading music or copying software we did not pay for. We think nothing of having a body shop fix an old dent in a car when the insurance company is paying for repair from an accident. We think nothing of large awards from juries, because its a big company or insurance company and they can afford it. We think nothing of keeping a $20 bill found on the ground, instead of giving it back to the person who dropped in unknowingly. And we all pay for this, everyone and every company has to do spend so much to protect their property, through liability insurance, massive databases to track installations of Microsoft Office, packages that cannot be easily opened, not enough general practitioners and OB/GYN doctors in some states, stores having to implement electronic detectors on their doors, etc,etc,etc.

And we know deep down it is wrong. I hate to pick on you RosaryFan (I love you name on the forum, I am sure you are a great person), but even you have changed your story in order to make it seem ok. It went from :

RosaryFan:

I once left the supermarket with an entire 20-pack of toilet tissue which I didn’t pay for. It was on the bottom of the cart because it was so big, and I forgot to put it on the conveyor belt.

To “they forgot to put the bag in my cart” and $3.70. It went from “I” and a 20-pack of toilet tissue to their mistake and $3.70. And it was an inconvience for you? Well, have you never shopped in that store again?

No, you do not have to explain yourself to me, or this forum. But just yesterday in the reading from the morning prayer we are told to “proclaim the word, be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvienient; convince; reprimand; encourage through patience and teaching”. So you are rather anonymous on this forum, I mean this through all charity and because I am not slandering or attacking you directly or in the open, but you are wrong. Again, I am sure you are a wonderful person; all of us have been corrupted by our culture and society in ways we rarely recognize. You are certainly not alone.

 

[Simpleton]

I went shopping this past weekend at out local Wal-mart. I left there spending well over $200. While going over my receipt when I arrived home, I realized they did not charge me for an item that cost well over $40. It must have not scanned correctly, or whatnot, but I did not notice this until I got home. Is this considered “stealing”? What should I do? Let it go? Confess? Go back and pay/return the item?

Thanks and God Bless

Bring the item back and tell them they forgot to charge you for it: if you still want the item then pay for it.

 

[KristyRae44657]

You did not do anything then for such to happen…one realized it after the fact. Such was not stealing.

But one ought not decide to just keep it…one should go back and fix things…or give a call at least to a manager and discuss it.

Excellent advice Bookcat

I don’t feel that it is a ‘sin’ because you did not actually steal it. Had you never noticed that it was not rung up and paid for - it wouldn’t be a ‘sin’.

I do feel that it is now a ‘sin’ if you do nothing about it now that you know. It is a moral/ethical call. If it were me - I would take the item and receipt back to the store today and tell them what happened. You may be surprised in their decision - the manager could decide to do absolutely nothing and let you keep the item. But go there with the intent to pay for it.

 

[KristyRae44657]

I will agree that theft is not always a mortal sin, sorry for passing on that tidbit about my upbringing.

Having said that, I am quite appalled at the responses on this thread. The OP is in possision of an item, he did not pay for, which the owner had no intent on giving him for free and fully expected him to pay for it. No one is denying that it was all a mistake on the part of the original owner, which is why there was no initial sin.

But to keep the item without going back and paying for it is a sin, plain and simple. There is no grey ground. The ideas that the OP “ought not decide to just keep it” or that “even if it’s a big giant corporation that seemingly won’t miss it” or " I wouldn’t worry about returning to pay for it unless you’re heading in that direction" are just absurd. Wow, I am quite amazed at the lax moral standards.

WHen you go in a retail store and put something in the basket, you are making an implied agreement to pay for that item before walking out with it. Though admittedly the OP did not mean to breach this agreement, it was breeched. If the situation was reversese and the OP was charged an extra $40, he would rightly expect a refund.

Oh My! Excellent point as well.

And in my first comment on this subject - I had lost sight that this is a $40 item. I shop at Walmart all the time and am very surprised that a $40 item got through the exit doors without setting off the alarm.

And - well - if the item had rung up twice on your receipt - as in being overcharged $40 plus tax - would you go back and demand a refund?

My recommendation is to ALWAYS check your receipt before leaving the store. I do this because I have had times where an item rang up twice or at a higher price than was listed on the shelf or on the tag. Once you leave the store it is mighty hard to come back later and prove that they mistakenly rang up an item twice.

 

[Catholic90]

Oh My! Excellent point as well.

And in my first comment on this subject - I had lost sight that this is a $40 item. I shop at Walmart all the time and am very surprised that a $40 item got through the exit doors without setting off the alarm.

And - well - if the item had rung up twice on your receipt - as in being overcharged $40 plus tax - would you go back and demand a refund?

My recommendation is to ALWAYS check your receipt before leaving the store. I do this because I have had times where an item rang up twice or at a higher price than was listed on the shelf or on the tag. Once you leave the store it is mighty hard to come back later and prove that they mistakenly rang up an item twice.

 

[Catholic90]

The real character of a person is how s/he acts when no one is watching.

What would you have done if your child (or any other child) had been watching you and realized you had not paid for it? Would you have justified it as above, or would you have corrected the situation and paid for it? What would you want your child to do?

Act like the person your dog thinks you are.

 

[Ponyguy]

Act like the person your dog thinks you are.

I don’t even have a dog, but that’s about the best advice I’ve heard all day!

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Same thing happened to me during lent. I went to confession as a condition for an indulgence mentioned the item not rung up and was instructed to make good on it.

When the wife grocery shops she come home checks her receipts and calls back if there’s a discrepancy. Well I never gave it much thought but that honor system should work both ways.

Now I’m of the opinion that if I bring home something of value I didn’t pay for then yes, it is stealing until I make reparation. I usually don’t check receipts but this was a special circumstance.