Idiot In A Dog Collar

A witless moron speaks:

"My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift.

"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 national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices."

Now, unlike Father Tim Jones, I am not a professional God-botherer but from my limited knowledge of the scriptures I'm pretty sure that they are adamant that stealing is a bad thing. In fact, I think it is called a sin. And as such, the Invisible Sky Fairy himself is pretty much against stealing. In fact, this here priest fella is offering the sort of advice that, within the fictional world of Christianity, would lead people to the gates of Hell. Which I'm fairly sure is the exact opposite of what a priest is supposed to do.

But I'm not that bothered by this priest ignoring minor bits of the Bible like one of the Ten Commandments. After all, Christians acting in direct contravention to the teachings of the Bible is the rule rather than the exception in much of history. No, what bothers me is the total naivete of this cretin. He is talking like a first year undergraduate who believes that having a social conscience means that stealing is ok. As long as you steal from the big, nasty capitalists. Contrary to what this priest states, there are consequences to stealing from big chains - and it is more than just prices going up. The stores will employ more security guards, who will watch more people, and as such make shopping less comfortable for anyone who looks a little scruffy. The more shoplifters there are, the more confrontation there is. There will be more conflict between store workers thieves. There will be more violence. And what happens to those who are caught shoplifting? The fact that their priest told them it was ok thankfully doesn't make a big difference within the justice system. These thieves will be banned from stores when caught; they will be prosecuted. They may even be imprisoned. And having a criminal record is going to make it even more difficult for these people to get any sort of a income that gets them away from needing to steal and hopefully well away from the likes of Father Jones.

Jones has simply highlighted how divorced he is from the real world, and why the opinions of priests like should be ignored.