Snow and Stealing

So Father Tim Jones has told people that stealing from large companies is now a valid way of existence. The thing is, you can see what he is getting at, that there are so many people on the breadline, that maybe stealing tins of food is the lesser of two evils. I am not agreeing with him, because stealing is stealing and it is wrong, but maybe the focus needs to be increased on those people who live so close to the breadline, they can all too easily be left in the background of the festive season. However, it was to these that the greatest gift of all was given, so how can we balance the message of good news with the poverty that people find themselves in. It is maybe too simplistic to draw parallels with our African brothers and sisters, who compared to us are considerably poorer, yet it could be argued considerably richer in many ways. We, however, live in a country where richness and comfort is plentiful and almost seen as a right for people, and when people, for many different reasons, cannot achieve that, is it then their right to steal? What response does the church make? I have had a bit of time to think about this today as I have been cut off! The roads around Nailsea are still quite icy and it snowed earlier this morning so I thought it best not to risk the 8 mile journey to get in.

See the full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/8425420.stm