The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-03-02
No Stealing
Lesson for March 4, 1862

Lesson for March 4, 1862
Thief" is a bad word. No
body wants to be called one.
Even a thief himself will COM
plain about other thieves. I've
been robbed" is a common
complaint uttered by those who
habitually rob others. To be
sure, there are twisted minds,
busy in d. evising dishonest
schemes. and proud Of their
success when they do work. But
then there are twisted minds
clever in all ways of crime and
sin. What we can call normal
people don't like to be called
thieves. It Is a fatal objection
to a man that he is dishonest.
Nothing else makes up for the
lack of honesty. HE is a gener-
Gus. Woodworking man but
you have to watch him every
minute. ;" Hes a pleasant gen.
lehman. but don't have any bust
ness dealings with him." Those
are not recommendations" any
of us would enjoy over-hearing
about ourselves.
But Are We Honest?
Nevertheless, such is the
strange nature of the self-de-
ceiving human mind. that it is
easy to "kid" ourselves into
thinking we are more honest
than we really are. One way we
deceive ourselves is by taking
refuge in what is undeniably a
fact: It does make difference
where the money is taken from.
1t is worse to take money from
child than from a man big
enough to fight: it is worse to
take money from a poor man
than from a rich one. OF course:
but stealing lis still stealing:
even if not all forms Of stealing
are equally bad. all forms are
bad. It is not true. for example.
that if the person from whom
we withhold what is their right
full due is rich enough maybe
not a person at all but a cor
poration or a government. then
it's all right to do them for all
we can get by with. Jesus on
one occasion gave a strong hint
to the PhariSees that they we're
cheating the Roman government
by not paying taxes. Saint Paul
Romans 1870 found it neces-
sary to instruct his fellow Ro-
mans to pay their taxes. One OF
the connnonest forms of theft in
America is beating the govern
ment out of tax money. Bust.
ness firms would even make a
joke out of it; expense accounts
were known as IS wind G
sheets"
Another com ION form OF
stealing is to take money from
people who are helpless. To be
sure, few grown Americans
would actually take money from
a child; but some Americans
have slow and creaky con
sciences when it comes to TAX.
ing advantage of their position
by charging much too much
Those price-fixing cases we all
read about were like that. A
city would have to pay enor.
nous sums for electrical equip.
ment. because the bids were
rugged" and not competitive
A landlord will charge exor.
ibant rent for his property. all
because he knows the tenant
has nowhere to go. A union will
charge its members. or a sur.
geon his patients. or a plumber
his customers. with a bill that
is all out of reason; just be.
cause the workman or patient
or customer has no choice but
to pay.
In Good Cause
The incident Of the money.
changers in the Temple MARK
l1:l5-l9 Illustrates two forms
OF stealing at once. The temple
taxes had to be paid in a
special currency. These money.
men would exchange (say) Ro.
man mone1@into temple money
charging Very high fee for the
service. Now they were cheat
ing the public on sacred prem
Uses: but stealing is stealing nc
matter W e it's done. In
America uncounted sums are
lost every year in gambling de.
vices in certain church "festi.
walls" and "picnics" and the
like. not to mention double.
priced white elephant al
church bazaarS. It's al tor q
good cause, we are told. and
even prominent public leaders
set a bad example Of gambling
even # it is for the benefit d
a cancer fund or some char.
table organization. But It's still