Taking down a poster a sin?

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Good point. The only thing you should remeber is the difference between something that is unChristian and something that is anti-Christian.
The opposite of Pro is Anti.

Something is either pro- or anti-.

Anti as a prepostion means Opposed to or against. Contrary to.

The themes I mentioned above are all against or contrary to Christian teachings/actions.
 
what about sand, butterflies, cobwebs…are they pro-Christian or anti-Christian? I would think that they are non-Christian items
 
I see nothing morally wrong is tearing something down that promotes evil, but I am not sure if it is the smartest thing to do unless all other methods have been pursued. First, explain why you are offended and ask that it be taken down. Perhaps get a few people to join you. If that doesn’t work then I’d say tear it down.
Answer me this … is destroying somebody else’s property right or wrong?

If it is wrong, then the action can not be made “right” by the reason for which it is done. The Catholic Church OFFICIALLY teaches this in the CCC which is the norm for Catholic morals.
Actually, nobody has the right to own things which are evil and nobody has the right to promote evil. Destroying somebody else’s property isn’t wrong if that property is a slaughter house. Nobody has the right to own and operate a slaughter house. At least, that’s my understanding.
 
Actually, nobody has the right to own things which are evil. Destroying somebody else’s property isn’t wrong if that property is a slaughter house. Nobody has the right to own and operate a slaughter house. At least, that’s my understanding.

ANYWAY I would LOVE to know what a Thomist would say here. Anybody out there who knows St. Thomas’ works well?
Things are not good or evil. How they are USED determines good or evil but the object itself can never be good or evil.
 
what about sand, butterflies, cobwebs…are they pro-Christian or anti-Christian? I would think that they are non-Christian items
They are part of God’s creation, and reveal His glory. Off topic.

Christ said, those who are not for us are against us AND those who are not against us are for us.

My point, fiction and drama is based on the actions/thoughts of characters and there must be underlying morals/ethics. If we get too wound around the axles about one movie that has morals cotrary to Christianity, we should be equally upset about all of them.
 
Things are not good or evil. How they are USED determines good or evil but the object itself can never be good or evil.
It seems to me that by doing evil with something, the person who used his property to do evil has forfeited his right to it.
 
It seems to me that by doing evil with something, the person who used his property to do evil has forfeited his right to it.
So if you intentionally exceed the speed limit, you break the laws of the land which you are required to obey, do you then lose your right to own a car?
 
Would the reaction be the same here if it was a pornographic poster?

Just curious where we draw the line as far as “vandalism is wrong” versus “defaming God is wrong.”
 
I would LOVE to know what a Thomist would say here. Anybody out there who knows St. Thomas’ works well?
Summa, Prima Secundae Partis, 96.6: *Wherefore if a case arise wherein the observance of that law would be hurtful to the general welfare, it should not be observed. For instance, suppose that in a besieged city it be an established law that the gates of the city are to be kept closed, this is good for public welfare as a general rule: but, it were to happen that the enemy are in pursuit of certain citizens, who are defenders of the city, it would be a great loss to the city, if the gates were not opened to them: and so in that case the gates ought to be opened, contrary to the letter of the law, in order to maintain the common weal, which the lawgiver had in view.

Nevertheless it must be noted, that if the observance of the law according to the letter does not involve any sudden risk needing instant remedy, it is not competent for everyone to expound what is useful and what is not useful to the state: those alone can do this who are in authority, and who, on account of such like cases, have the power to dispense from the laws. If, however, the peril be so sudden as not to allow of the delay involved by referring the matter to authority, the mere necessity brings with it a dispensation, since necessity knows no law.*

To summarize, don’t break the law (in this case, against vandalism) since it’s just a poster and isn’t causing any immediate peril.
 
To summarize, don’t break the law (in this case, against vandalism) since it’s just a poster and isn’t causing any immediate peril.
Now all you have to do is provide the legal definition of vandalism and prove malice. Tim
 
Things are not good or evil. How they are USED determines good or evil but the object itself can never be good or evil.
Pornography, birth control pills, cocaine, Oujia boards, tarot cards, inflatable women, etc. I think these objects are all outright evil in and of themselves.
 
Now all you have to do is provide the legal definition of vandalism and prove malice. Tim
Going by the Angelic Doctor’s words, no, nobody needs to prove malice. What needs to be shown is lawbreaking, which you have already done quite thoroughly. The poster was not your son’s property, yet he stole and destroyed it. He broke a legitimate law, without a pressing necessity; according to Aquinas, then, he has done wrong.
 
Pornography, birth control pills, cocaine, Oujia boards, tarot cards, inflatable women, etc. I think these objects are all outright evil in and of themselves.
Paper and ink, or pixels, or film negatives; hormones already present in the human body; powdered plant material; laminated cardboard; an outsize deck of playing cards with pictures; plastic and air.

These things are evil?
 
Pornography, birth control pills, cocaine, Oujia boards, tarot cards, inflatable women, etc. I think these objects are all outright evil in and of themselves.
Pornography is not actually a thing - it is an action. The thing would be ink and paper or plastic recording media and lightwaves and human bodies.

Birth Control Pills are artificial female hormones, again, neutral in and of themselves.

Cocaine is actually used medicinally, there is a problem when it is abused or illegal activities are associated to that abuse.

Ouija board - plastic, wood, ink.

It is not the thing that is evil - it is the way those things are used, the actions associated with the abuse of neutral materials.
 
Going by the Angelic Doctor’s words, no, nobody needs to prove malice. What needs to be shown is lawbreaking, which you have already done quite thoroughly. The poster was not your son’s property, yet he stole and destroyed it. He broke the law, without a pressing necessity; according to Aquinas, then, he has done wrong.
He destroyed less than a dollar’s worth of material, and thought he had a good reason for doing so, meaning that, at best, it is a venial sin. And if fewer people get sucked into the lie that the Magisterium of the Catholic Church is made up of baby-eating witches, then he has done well. 👍
 
"jmcrae:
He destroyed less than a dollar’s worth of material, and thought he had a good reason for doing so, meaning that, at best, it is a venial sin. And if fewer people get sucked into the lie that the Magisterium of the Catholic Church is made up of baby-eating witches, then he has done well. 👍
Reposting this, since it looks like somebody didn’t see it:
CCC: 1753 A good intention (for example, that of helping one’s neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. The end does not justify the means. Thus the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a legitimate means of saving the nation. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving).
The ends, no matter how good, never justify the use of sinful means.

I’m not saying the kid’s damned. It’s a small matter, but the question was ‘is it a sin?’, not ‘is it a mortal sin?’. The answer to the former, according to Aquinas and the Catechism, is an emphatic yes.
 
Since the word vandalism is being thrown around so much, it should be legaly defined. Laws on this differ from county to county and this could be considered something else , like criminal mischief if any crime at all. So confession would follow the court house.:rolleyes:
 
Reposting this, since it looks like somebody didn’t see it:

The ends, no matter how good, never justify the use of sinful means.

I’m not saying the kid’s damned. It’s a small matter, but the question was ‘is it a sin?’, not ‘is it a mortal sin?’. The answer to the former, according to Aquinas and the Catechism, is an emphatic yes.
My take on it is that it was more sinful to put the poster up, than it was to remove it, since the purpose of the poster is to promote hatred against Catholics, and particularly the Magisterium, but the purpose of removing the poster was to protest against that message.
 
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