Father Tim Jones facing criticism after advising his congregation to shoplift following his Nativity sermon. (Daily Mail)
An Anglican priest named Tim Jones, 42, delivered a controversial sermon this past Sunday to his parish at St. Lawrence Church in York, England:
My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,' he told his stunned congregation at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York.
I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
I would ask them not to take any more than they need for any longer than they need it. I offer the advice with a heavy heart. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift.
The observation that shoplifting is the best option that some people are left with is a grim indictment of who we are.
Rather, this is a call for our society no longer to treat its most vulnerable people with indifference and contempt.
When people are released from prison, or find themselves suddenly without work or family support, then to leave them for weeks with inadequate or clumsy social support is monumental, catastrophic folly.
We create a situation which leaves some people little option but crime.
My advice does not contradict the Bible's eighth commandment because God's love for the poor and despised outweighs the property rights of the rich.
I'd like to focus on that one sentence if you don't mind. We can do a little Biblical exegesis together.
I think the Reverend Jones ought to be defrocked and banished, not for suggesting that people oughtta shoplift, but for demonstrating such an abysmal misunderstanding of theology.
Consider carefully, the reverend's understanding of Christian theology. His advice that people go out and shoplift, which violates the Eighth Commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," is not a violation of the Eighth Commandment, in the opinion of Reverend Jones, because God's love for the poor and despised outweighs the property rights of the rich.
In other words, if you’re poor enough, go ahead and take what you want.
I don’t see exceptions or escape clauses here. And following the Eighth Commandment, the chapter in Exodus then goes right into commandments nine and ten, warning us against lying and coveting our neighbor’s property. The Tenth Commandment warns that you are not to covet your neighbor's goods or wife and so on. In other words, that which belongs to somebody else belongs to somebody else and you are not to take it.
But Reverend Jones is not saying it's okay to steal; he's saying it's not stealing in the first place because God loves the poor.
There's no doubt the Bible makes that clear --God has a preferential option for the poor. Those who read scripture will know of such things like the Beatitudes and the hundred of verses on the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both.
God said that one should assist the poor, clothe the naked and feed the hungry, but he didn't tell the naked, the hungry and the poor to steal. I will yield to anyone who is a scholar on Scripture, particularly those of you who are ordained, but I do not recall any place in the Testament or the entire body of Christian theology, given its preferential option for the poor, which some theologians might argue with, does not include exempting yourself from the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, allowing you to go out and steal someone else's goods, particularly from a national store because they're rich.
Quite the opposite. What the Bible demonstrates is that what God does, what Jesus does, what whoever wrote the Bible did, was to be smart enough to address the rich directly and challenge them to use of their substance to help the less fortunate, leaving the decision with the rich.
Indeed, it's disappointing to read the reverend's advice and wonder why his church and flock are not providing of their own substance to aid and comfort those in need.
Nowhere am I aware in any one of the synoptic gospels or any place in the New Testament is there any such theological drivel as what the Reverend Jones served up to the parishioners of St. Lawrence Church in York, England when he said, it's okay to violate the Eighth Commandment because God's love for the poor and despised outweighs the property rights of the rich.
Not to mention, aside from the very real risk of getting arrested and sent to jail when you steal, the reverend's advice opens up a whole other can of worms: How poor is poor?
Exactly how poor to you have to be to steal? Is it enough to just have less than someone else? Is there an income threshold? Who decides "need"?
How small must a small business be for shoplifters to keep hands off? Don't steal from the local mom and pop but the big chain stores, that's okay.
If you just go out and steal what you need, then what do you need of God? So if you take the priest's advice and you shoplift in order to meet your needs, in addition to violating the Eighth Commandment, you'd demonstrated a lack of faith in God's generosity.
In all fairness to the Church of England, it quickly moved the staunch the damage by trotting out no less a person than the Archdeacon to address the comments of Reverend Jones, the Archdeacon of York, the Venerable Richard Seed, who said, "The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift, or break the law in any way."
The sermon the priest should've given should've been directed to the people in the parish who were well off, not the poor, and to remind them that if they are not extending themselves to assist those who less fortunate, they are commiting a sin against God's generosity under the Christian tradition.
Two questions: Should the priest be defrocked, or at least be admonished and given the opportunity to recant to his congregation?
Second: Have your needs been met by God when you faithfully asked for help?
Comments
I think he should be given the opportunity to recant and give a different approach to asking the city to help the poor. If he can make headlines for his previous sermon, possible recanting would make headlines but for a better way of getting people to help themselves and others. Pay it forward.
I hope people realize he is NOT a Roman Catholic Priest!!!! He is Anglican,not Catholic.
I SAY GO TO HIS HOUSE AND TAKE SOMTHING FROM HIM AND GIVE TO THE POOR
I SAY GO TO HIS HOUSE TAKE SOME GOLD FROM THE ALTER AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR
This is extremely dangerous, and a bit hard to swallow. Stealing is simply WRONG. Do you recall "thou shalt not steal" Father? To tell people to steal from big department stores will only desensitize them and make stealing easier each time they do it. The real danger is that eventually there will be no differentiation between big stores, small stores, and citizens who are perceived as a bit better off.
PbR: Does that really matter? He is a member of the clergy for heavens sake. This is progressive socialist indoctrination of the masses. It is telling those less fortunate that they have a Right to take from those better off than themselves. His religion is irrelevant.
Which is the bigger wrong? Stealing or a society that does not take care of it's citizens? I mean really ignores them as the church dude says. They have no money, no jobs, no places to live, no health care. Many are elderly and many are children.
Children die in the US from a lack of food. People die from being homeless. People die from a lack of health care.
Do you really want to quibble about whether it's ok to steal from Walmart?
Defrock him? They should give him his own TV show.
quite a role model! will his parish make bail for those that accept his advice?
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