The Good Samaritan and a Stranded Theif

[ThinkingSapien]

I stopped by a petrol station in another neighborhood after letting my car reach dangerously low levels of fuel. While I was at the pump a man approached me and asked if I could help him out, his vehicle had run out of fuel and he had not the funds to purchase more. I interrupted him in his story to get straight to the point. “Are you asking for money for fuel?”

“I’m not even asking for money. If you could just pump some gas into my tank I would be happy…”

I get approached by people asking for things daily never really knowing if their request are genuine. But when this person continued he said something that made me more inclined to think he was being honest about his intentions. In referring to the children in the back of his vehicle he said “…I was on my way to the grocery store to go steal some food for these kids.”

Assuming that he is being completely honest in his intentions how would you respond to this scenario? To provide assistance with his fuel needs is entangled with contributing to a legal (or if you prefer, moral) offense.

Oh, and in case any one is curious, I did go ahead and give him some gas, after which his sister invited me to her church.

 

[JDaniel]

I stopped by a petrol station in another neighborhood after letting my car reach dangerously low levels of fuel. While I was at the pump a man approached me and asked if I could help him out, his vehicle had run out of fuel and he had not the funds to purchase more. I interrupted him in his story to get straight to the point. “Are you asking for money for fuel?”

“I’m not even asking for money. If you could just pump some gas into my tank I would be happy…”

I get approached by people asking for things daily never really knowing if their request are genuine. But when this person continued he said something that made me more inclined to think he was being honest about his intentions. In referring to the children in the back of his vehicle he said “…I was on my way to the grocery store to go steal some food for these kids.”

Assuming that he is being completely honest in his intentions how would you respond to this scenario? To provide assistance with his fuel needs is entangled with contributing to a legal (or if you prefer, moral) offense.

Oh, and in case any one is curious, I did go ahead and give him some gas, after which his sister invited me to her church.

TS:

It’s sad, but your story is not a hypothetical problem these days. My Church feeds about 700 people a week, that otherwise would not eat. And, I live in America. Welfare just doesn’t cut it.

I appreciate your charity.

God bless,
jd

 

[oldcatholicguy]

I stopped by a petrol station in another neighborhood after letting my car reach dangerously low levels of fuel. While I was at the pump a man approached me and asked if I could help him out, his vehicle had run out of fuel and he had not the funds to purchase more. I interrupted him in his story to get straight to the point. “Are you asking for money for fuel?”

“I’m not even asking for money. If you could just pump some gas into my tank I would be happy…”

I get approached by people asking for things daily never really knowing if their request are genuine. But when this person continued he said something that made me more inclined to think he was being honest about his intentions. In referring to the children in the back of his vehicle he said “…I was on my way to the grocery store to go steal some food for these kids.”

Assuming that he is being completely honest in his intentions how would you respond to this scenario? To provide assistance with his fuel needs is entangled with contributing to a legal (or if you prefer, moral) offense.

Oh, and in case any one is curious, I did go ahead and give him some gas, after which his sister invited me to her church.

I would have bought him gas and food for his family. If you are at the point of needing to steal food in order to feed your family I don’t view it as immoral (I don’t think the Church views it as immoral either, but that is just an uneducated guess on my part.) The immoral action in my book would have been to allow the guy to go ahead and steal food when I had the ability to stop him from doing so without depriving his family of food. Yes, I could have reported him, but then I wouldn’t know for sure if his family would get food.

 

[Alberti_Devoveo]

I would have bought him gas and food for his family. If you are at the point of needing to steal food in order to feed your family I don’t view it as immoral (I don’t think the Church views it as immoral either, but that is just an uneducated guess on my part.) The immoral action in my book would have been to allow the guy to go ahead and steal food when I had the ability to stop him from doing so without depriving his family of food. Yes, I could have reported him, but then I wouldn’t know for sure if his family would get food.

The Church would view stealing food as immoral, regardless of the circumstances. A good cannot come through evil actions.

The proper thing, I think, is as you suggest in the first sentence: give the guy the gas and food he and his family need.

On a related note: a friend of mine was actually held at gunpoint in Philadelphia PA for his money. My friend got to talking to the robber and found that the guy had not eaten in 3 days and just wanted some money for food. So my friend took him out to eat, then walked him to a nearby food bank to show him where he can get food without resorting to robbing people.

 

[Marc_Anthony]

I stopped by a petrol station in another neighborhood after letting my car reach dangerously low levels of fuel. While I was at the pump a man approached me and asked if I could help him out, his vehicle had run out of fuel and he had not the funds to purchase more. I interrupted him in his story to get straight to the point. “Are you asking for money for fuel?”

“I’m not even asking for money. If you could just pump some gas into my tank I would be happy…”

I get approached by people asking for things daily never really knowing if their request are genuine. But when this person continued he said something that made me more inclined to think he was being honest about his intentions. In referring to the children in the back of his vehicle he said “…I was on my way to the grocery store to go steal some food for these kids.”

Assuming that he is being completely honest in his intentions how would you respond to this scenario? To provide assistance with his fuel needs is entangled with contributing to a legal (or if you prefer, moral) offense.

Oh, and in case any one is curious, I did go ahead and give him some gas, after which his sister invited me to her church.

The best answer would be gas and food. But even if you just give him gas, remember that less than helping him steal food his children are stuck there too. Regardless of food are you going to leave children stuck at a gas station?

 

[ThinkingSapien]

I would have bought him gas and food for his family.

I actually gave him $5. Not sure what difference it would make as you can’t get much for 3 kids with $5 as far as food goes. I usually keep $5 in my car for parking and tools. Gotta remember to replace that.

 

[SonCatcher]

I would have bought him **gas and food **for his family. If you are at the point of needing to steal food in order to feed your family I don’t view it as immoral (I don’t think the Church views it as immoral either, but that is just an uneducated guess on my part.) The immoral action in my book would have been to allow the guy to go ahead and steal food when I had the ability to stop him from doing so without depriving his family of food. Yes, I could have reported him, but then I wouldn’t know for sure if his family would get food.

[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 5:40-42[/BIBLEDRB]

 

[Phaedra777]

Oh, and in case any one is curious, I did go ahead and give him some gas,** after which his sister invited me to her church**.

Well, slap my face and call me cynical, but I would’ve found it a giant red flag that they didn’t turn to her church before they accosted strangers and planned to steal.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

Well, slap my face and call me cynical, but I would’ve found it a giant red flag that they didn’t turn to her church before they accosted strangers and planned to steal.

Doesn’t raise a flag for me as that would not be unusual. I’ve found it to not be a universal that churches will provide material support. I’ve already had friends that have left their churches (and in at least one case this contributed to apostasy) because in their time of need the assistance the church provided began and ended with a promise to pray and consisted of no action.

There are some churches that will help members, but only if those members have been consistently paying tithes. And there’s another church not more than a few miles from my house that keeps a budget for providing community assistance. It’s not something that all churches will do.

 

[Lochias]

It’s possible that the guy could have been joking as well, or using what he thought was an endearing sort of slang. Kind of like “rustling up some food” doesn’t mean that the typical person is going to go out with a rope and catch something for dinner with it. (Though “steal some food” does still sound like a stretch).

As for giving the guy gas money in order to commit theft? I think I’d give him money for gas, then offer to lead him somewhere that he doesn’t have to steal, like the foodbank or whatnot.

 

[Todd_Easton]

The Church would view stealing food as immoral, regardless of the circumstances.

Not quite. Ordinarily, it is indeed immoral to steal food but there are extraordinary circumstances when stealing food can be moral.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
**2408 **The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs (food, shelter, clothing…) is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of others.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

The Church would view stealing food as immoral, regardless of the circumstances. A good cannot come through evil actions.

I actually believe that this is not correct. Food is a fundamental necessity of life, and therefore cannot be harbored by any one entity. It belongs to everyone because it is necessary for everyone. Similar concepts can be applied to water and air. (just realized that the previous poster touched on this issue, and did so with actual backing… how do you people find these catechism quotes so easily ?)

That said, I don’t think he should take from the store. Not because taking the food would be immoral, but because it presents a likelihood for him being caught and taken away form his children, and thereafter become completely unable to care for them and raise them.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

It’s possible that the guy could have been joking as well, or using what he thought was an endearing sort of slang. Kind of like “rustling up some food” doesn’t mean that the typical person is going to go out with a rope and catch something for dinner with it. (Though “steal some food” does still sound like a stretch).

You raise a good point. But it’s hard to say. My father used to work security at the particular grocery store that this gentlemen had identified as his mark (It is also in the vicinity of the Church they mentioned). He came home with stories about the rather innovative things that people would do to get out of the store with food.

I suppose I could have asked for clarification. Then again if I had he might have thought I was an authority. While in college a self employed street side apotacary approached me at a gas station offering me a glance at his merchandise. Having no interest in recreational drugs I thanked him for his consideration but informed him I wasn’t in need. Apparently this isn’t the proper reply. The frail man immediately suspicious and informed me he would give me quite a thrashing if I turned out to be working for “the man”, which I am quite certain is a reference to local law enforcement. I assured him that I had nothing to do with the conflicts he was having with “the man” and suggested that he return to his original waiting space behind the dumpster to continue with what ever he was doing back there.

That was an interesting night to learn about communication. For example, that same night I found out that if a person waves at you with weird hand gestures from a street corner it’s not always a good idea to repeat the gesture back. It isn’t necessarily a salutation. It’s sometimes an acceptance of an invite from another worker of the streets to hop into your vehicle. Oh, and I also learned you should always drive with your doors locked.

Look at me, I’m rambling. Let me stop before I derail my own thread!