Something on my Mind: No Buyee? No Takee! (2)

Let me start off by listing two other possible motivations for stealing:

4. Boredom. We are raising a nation of bored, directionless children, with social media being one of greatest contributors to this problem. There is a rush (see #2) to taking something that isn't yours (so I hear), and it simply breaks up the daily tedium.

One antidote to this factor is to have a real life: a fulfilling job, meaningful relationships, and a touch of character and courage, works every time.

5. Anger. This sounds something like: "I couldn't help it, I was ticked off." This is the "blame game" rationale and it is so full of holes that it's hardly worth wasting even moments addressing it. In this case, the blame is based on family life (usually no father present), the colour or race card, or socio-economics factor. These are all real issues, no question, but they are never excuses to go out and rip someone off. Never.

Have you ever considered the cost (pun not really intended) of taking what is not yours? We referred to places where stealing can take place, but I will remind you what I said last week:

"There are job sites, supply yards. regular retail outlets, public places and institutions, and, of course, houses, where we call it breaking and entering." I must add that mugging people and robbing banks should be listed, too. Let throw the way our taxes are dealt with by the CRA, while I'm at it.

Things stolen must be replaced. Inventory that was purchased must now be purchased again. That likely leads to greater surveillance, more staffing to maintain that surveillance . Perhaps there has to be a re-working of how merchandise is presented.

And that all costs money, which will be passed along to the consumer. So, in other words, the thief may not pay, but you and I will.

There may be the shortsighted view that it's just one chocolate bar, or one light bulb, or one tie, but it's not. It's one item by one person in one store at one time. Multiply that by many items stolen by many people in many stores over many hours –all in one day—and you get the picture.

There are many ways that stealing takes place. It may be by shoplifters in some retail outlet. It may be fraudulent returns. It may be employees ripping off their employers.

Then there is gas and dash, where it may actually cost the clerks their lives, in trying to stop scumbags from gassing up without paying. And beyond the cost to the retailer, there is the cost to family life and the courts when these people are charged and put away. Stealing is a very expensive way of getting free things.

I did some googling on the cost of stealing. The dates are a little old, but that only suggests to me that the figures are higher today (as we're not getting better as society, you know).

They say that shoplifting costs retailers worldwide $112 billion (that with a "b," not an "m") on an annual basis. Even when employees rip off their bosses, it costs the employers anywhere from $20 billion to $40 billion (again, starting with a "b"), though I don't know if that's here in "enlightened" North America or worldwide.

There's more, but I trust you get the picture. The main thrust of this eighth commandment is the forbidding of taking something that is not yours.

Here are a couple of really simple principles to live by:

1. If it's not yours, don't take it. Plain and simple. If you want it and it's available, go through the proper channels, namely, pay for it, work for it, or earn it somehow. There are agencies that help people who just can't afford the basic necessities; ripping others off is not an option.

2. If someone else is stealing, deal with it. Dealing with it could involved being a "fink," one way or the other. I know that word is so '60ish, but it fits in right here. Maybe you do not have the physical or personal wherewithal to confront the thief, but there is a 9-1-1 phone call/text to the cops, the venue itself, or even a friend.

And yes, we would be much, much better off if we stopped stealing. It makes sense at every level.

Something on my Mind: No Buyee? No Takee!

I suppose this could be the start of a couple of Christmas newspaper columns in a roundabout way. I plan one or two Christmas-themed papers columns in a couple of weeks, as I take a break from my Ten Commandments series.

The token link between this "do not steal" commandment, so cleverly expressed in the title, and Christmas, is because Christmas is one of the busiest shopping frenzies of the year (next to Black Friday)—and one of the most fertile times of this vile practice of shoplifting.

I work a few hours a week in a thrift store, and even there, the epidemic of thievery is out of this world. It is beyond me how people can stoop to taking what is not theirs, especially in a retail outlet that already has rock bottom prices, to say nothing of a store that provides high quality wares for those who need a break. Another factor in these low prices is that the workers are volunteers.

It's the retail version of biting the hand that feeds you.

Thrift stores are not the only vulnerable venues for stealing. There are job sites, supply yards. regular retail outlets, public places and institutions, and, of course, houses, where it gets its own designation, namely, breaking and entering.

I am appalled, yet aware enough to recognize that stealing, whatever form it takes, is not on par with sexual assault, murder and any other form of violence. But stealing is stealing, and taking something that is not yours is wrong

That's W-R-O-N-G, as is selfish, ignorant, evil, and costly. We may play the "blame game" by attacking the rich retailer, or playing the "needy victim card" by blaming our family life, but taking what is not yours is still so very wrong.

We may even play the word game, and sugarcoat it by calling it pilfer, poach, filch, borrow. I like "five-finger discount," but I don\'t want to sound glib about it.

I once stole a candy bar from a local corner store when I was ten-years-old. My parents made short work of that, one of many blessings coming from a traditional family that embraced common sense, along with consistent, caring virtues that we sadly lack today. We really need to get back to having parents who are allowed to be, well, parents these days.

I have always wondered why people steal. I don't know directly, of course, so I can only surmise the following reasons:

1. Need. There is no legitimate reason to steal, but this could be the closest. However, clothes are so inexpensive these days in thrift stores, and soup kitchens and food banks are so plentiful, that "need" is not a really good reason. It's a sad reflection on our society that these safety nets are necessary and available, but it's helpful they are around.

There used be the other safety net (family) that took care of its members when the chips were down. But then someone stole the chips. Of course, with family life imploding, no longer an option anymore.

2. Thrill. I suppose there is some rush in getting something for nothing, daring the clerk to catch him, pleasing the gang that's watching. If the thief would take a second to think that one man's thrill is another man's ill--loss of inventory and sales, as well as security issues, for example—he might give it a second thought.

But then again, I can't use "think" and "thief" in the same sentence. Scheming and stealing are not hallmarks of a rational person, no matter how clever they appear to be. I would put "thief" and "ignorant" in the same sentence, though.

3. Dare. The daredevil approach seems courageous and heroic, though neither word comes to mind when I think of common thieves. A lot of dares are picked up because the ingrate is actually cowardly and spineless. There is no positive word to describe this type of person.

Peer pressure is a crummy motivation for doing something really stupid.

We'll finish the rest next week. In the meantime, if you take something, pay for it

Something on my Mind: No Hanky-Panky (2)

I cannot fathom how relevant these ten commandments are, even as we
finish off 2017. I trust I have conveyed how significantly appropriate
obedience to them makes for better individuals, homes, and, society.

And this seventh one, namely, "do not commit adultery," may be the most
important.

I have a pretty good idea why it is seventh on the list, but I don't
want to digress too much. Just think in terms in being right with God
(Commandment #1), then the rest fall into place. I know that's an
oversimplification, but that's the truth.

Unrestrained passion with someone who is not your (married) partner, in
or out of a marriage, is a dangerous habit. In Scripture, it is a
forbidden practice, but owing to the secular, godless culture we are
immersed in, my Bible argument doesn't have a lot of credibility.

You would find it an interesting study to see what stats there are on
the economic, emotional, social, sexual, physical, and mental impact
that affairs, pornography, peep shows, strip shows, and flings have on
society as a whole, which is made up of the workplace, homes, and yes,
even churches.

I don't have the stats at my fingertips, but the Internet is a wonderful
tool (usually) for that. You would be shocked to read of the massive
damage that serial infidelity and rampant unfaithfulness has on our
society today.

And I am not even using God, the church or the Bible to support my
argument.

What would happen if we all kept our hands to ourselves, our eyes for
our wife (or husband), and our money where it should be spent responsibly?

Saying that, it's almost as if I can hear a collective "whoopee" on the
part of every victim, every humiliated wife, every abandoned child, and
every legitimate social agency. Maybe even the courts and law would
shout out, too, while we're at it. They have to deal with the rampant
violence, senseless fraud, and utter depths of humanity, on a daily
basis, when it comes to the results of adultery. We mustn't forget the
danger that officers put themselves in when dealing with a domestic dispute.

No stable society remains stable for long with this chaos in the
bedroom. No society can endure for long when there are incessant
attacks on its moral foundation.

A generation ago girlie magazines came through the mail, shrouded in
paper bags. At least there was token discretion back then. Today,
however, all shame is off and there is access to everything through the
click of a button in the privacy of one's home. And no, by God's grace,
I do not speak from experience.

You're possibly wondering if I have wandered off from my "no
hanky-panky" commandment. No, not at all. You see there are many
"roads" leading to an unfaithful lifestyle. And when we sound the
alarm at what's available on supermarket shelves, on cable television
offers, or what can be downloaded on the Internet, we have solid grounds
for concern.

In other words, often times the actual act of adultery is the end result
of careless morals.

A more positive, uplifting angle is simple: Keep yourself pure for the
one you will be committed to for the rest of your life (or if you are
married, stay committed to her or him only). Keep yours eyes, hands,
and mind under control. Don't allow yourself to come under the bondage
of unbridled pornography. (And I did say "bondage"; it's certainly not
freedom.)

As I said last time, the Scriptures make it very clear that sex is good
(as well as healthy and necessary), but sex must be within the context
of a monogamous marriage between a man and woman. No ifs, ands, or
buts. This point can be affirmed without using the Bible.

Physicians, economists, psychologists, and others will attest to the
fact that serial infidelity is a counter-productive, destructive habit.
I don't think they would weigh in on the moral or spiritual element.
They don't need to.

There may be the momentary rush of illicit sex, but that's as far as it
goes. Even the Scriptures speak of the "pleasures of sin for a season."

Think long term and big time. Do the right thing and back off and away.
It's not merely a one-night fling that is at stake: it's a
generational, self-destructive one.