Thou Shalt Not Steal

Ok
Time for my 2c worth. I've kept out until now, so you've all ahd your chance.
1. These are not the best of times, but there the only times we've got.
2. Nature and or nurture are to blame equally.
3. I worked in some pretty easy schools and some pretty darn tough ones, and the song remains the same, kids will muck up as much as you let them.
Same with a society, people will obey laws if those laws make sense to them eg. people will drive at a sensible speed on a strange road even if there is not a policeman for miles, why? because it makes sense. People also will disobey a law that seems stupid to them. Also people will break rules if the punishments are given arbitrarily (like drink driving punishments) or if there is any sign of weakness in the authority.
4. I've taught in two different schools in this town for nearly fifteen years now and the difference is astounding. The kids are the same, they eat the same food, drink the same (soon to be flouridated) water, and have essentially the same socio economic backgrounds. The difference is the expectations placed on them, where I work now the kids know the consequences are certain. They don't have to be severe, just certain. That, I think, is the answer. Start with your own family and community and don't expect others to do the disciplining. is right, it all starts with self respect and self discipline.
5. Recently I bought some mujingfang planes through CraigB who bought them and sent them to me and I sent him the money. I never thought of not paying and he never thought of not sending them. We respected each other enough as users of this BB and as people who share a hobby to not try anything fishy. Does this mean I'm a good person or a self interested ar3ehole who is only out to protect his reputation on this BB? Possibly either answer. I'd prefer to think the former. I know my mum would kill me if she thought I'd ever stolen anything, the same as I made my kids take back the macdonalds tray they were very proud of having.
6. The very fact that we spend so much time on such a topic is proof that we aren't all bad. But is teasing others like we are wont to do also bad???
In that case I'm a real sinner, and therefore better stop ranting, sorry about the long diatribe. :)

Don't forget the 11th commandment "Thou shall pay thy taxes until the river Styx calls"

Cheers :)

Your right, Hovo
I think you have taught me something..
I will remove the bucket of stones from my computer...........
thanks

I want to counter the wild accusations being made that this thread does not have a topic. I want to, but I can't. There is a topic, I just don't know what it is yet.

How about another one: thou shalt not kill. We all know that killing someone is wrong, don't we? But this seems only to apply to people. It's perfectly OK to kill animals, sometimes we do it for fun. So what's the difference? We also spend a lot of time killing people during wars. These have often been fought on religious grounds. Why is it OK to do that but you can't shoot someone for breaking into your house? Are the soldiers who fight for their country doing something wrong?

I think the topic might be something to do with paradoxes but I can't be sure.

What about killing someone softly with a song?

Is that OK?

P

was listening to the radio last night and one of the guys chatting away said that some churches have changed "thou shalt not kill" to "though shalt not murder".

Are they allowed to change the rules like that? Aren't they carved in stone somewhere? :confused:

My understanding is that the christian religions are based upon translations of documents that were written in another language a long time ago.

Anything that is translated is capable of reinterpretation ... translators are people too and their translations will be the result of their own backgrounds, beliefs, knowledge of their own language and knowledge of the language they are interepreting from ( and possibly how much someone is paying them to put a certain spin on the words :eek: ).

As not many of us are capable of reading these documents in the original it would be fairly difficult to say whether the change is valid.... and there is of course the assumption that the original language had both words and that they meant EXACTLY the same to the writer as they do to us.

Exactly Jackie.

Translation is something to think about when interpreting any writing from a different language, culture or even time.
A powerful example (that I in no way have an opinion on one way or the other) is that until recently words for unmarried woman and virgin were interchangeable in many languages (consider 'maiden'). Consider the implications, world wide, if the mother of Christ was described as the maiden Mary ..... was it a miracle or a sin? The fact it has been translated as virgin could be because the translator assumed that she was holy?

As I said I don't know or care either way, but WOW think about the impact it would have. :eek:

BTW I don't want to drag this thread in to articals of faith and the denial of faith by proof etc.

I think there is a good deal of sense in the views of Peter Singer, the famous, or notorious, Australian philosopher, who teaches at Princeton. Rather than following absolute prescriptive rules, like the Ten Commandments, he suggests that one should take the big picture and try to act so as to bring the greatest good to the most people. His views sometimes lead to conclusions that may seem morally repugnant to some, like his advocacy of euthanasia for severely disabled infants, but, on the whole I think they are sensible.

When it comes to killing animals, it is hard to see where to draw the line. Is it wrong to kill bilbies and koalas, but OK to kill termites and mosquitoes? And how far down the evolutionary scale do you go? Albert Schweitzer thought it wrong to kill ants, but I presume he would not have minded killing bacteria.

Rocker

Im not sure why you would want to kill a koala, they taste crap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rocker

Is it wrong to kill bilbies and koalas, but OK to kill termites and mosquitoes?
Rocker

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I'd change that to white ants:D

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eastie

Im not sure why you would want to kill a koala, they taste crap.

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It's just the way they look at you out the corner of their eye. I don't trust the buggers.

Yes, I favour a utilitarian approach to things in general - whatever does the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Unfortunately it's unpleasant to be on the wrong side of a utilitarian decision. I would not like to be a hostage in Iraq for instance.

Its the nature of the Human Beast, to feather ones own nest. If there is no strong policeman the rules get bent/buckled/fettled and broken to suit ones needs. It happens, and sometimes for the better good. Laws need to be upgraded from time to time, its called evolution ...no maybe thats going to far.

Or the rules can just stay static. Some religious organisations have grabbed a hold of their internal problems, kicked aside a traditional veil of silence and got on with it. Others are still being dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21 st century. Not a religious debate just an example of what the true topic of this thread is about.

Anyway, where was I. Thou shalt not kill Koalas???. I sorry but if I step out the back door and squash an ant well...All living things make an impact, like the bugs on your windshield....wheres this going...Oh bugger.

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't - you are right. Henry Ford


Cheers

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Originally Posted by craigb

Well the sad fact of the matter is that breeds .

The fact that you were brought up properly by responsible people meant you didn't need to have it drummed into you. You knew what was acceptable and what wasn't. Quite possibly you may have even copped an occasional hiding for transgressing, which you probably deserved.

To go back to your biblical thing, you were pretty much taught to "do unto others"

Because of this background you are going to teach your own childdren the same or similar values, although I doubt that kids cop a hiding these days beacuse it's gone out of fashion, maybe rightly so.

However, the opposite is also true. Have the misfortune to be born into a family of scumbags and it's London to a brick that you'll turn out to be a scumbag yourself.

So I guess I'm saying it's nurture not nature thats the overriding influence on what sort of person you turn out to be.

Just my opinion of course.

Craig

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Well said and I agree....:)