'Thou shalt shoplift' says priest

Published by You on 21 December, 2009 - 22:57

A priest from North Yorkshire has advised his congregation to shoplift if they find themselves in hard times.

Father Tim Jones, the parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda in York, said people should steal from big chains rather than small businesses.

He said society's attitude to those in need "leaves some people little option but crime".

However the Archdeacon of York said: "The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift".

North Yorkshire Police described the sermon as "highly irresponsible".

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Submitted by Suhail (not verified) on 22 December, 2009 - 02:15

lol :o

Submitted by sephy (not verified) on 22 December, 2009 - 10:37

Ahhh... finally an defence burglars can use in court.

GOD told me to do it.

Submitted by Suhail (not verified) on 22 December, 2009 - 11:34

sephy wrote:
Ahhh... finally an defence burglars can use in court.

GOD told me to do it.

lol say that and they'l think ur insane lool

Submitted by malik on 22 December, 2009 - 13:45

Stealing is never right. It is a sin.

—

Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".

Submitted by Joie de Vivre on 22 December, 2009 - 17:44

He's not, if I read him right, a kleptomaniac who has slipped up. His compassion for the erstwhile shoplifter who has to eat or has a family to feed is consistent with his reading of his faith, which urges goodwill to all and leaves him uncertain what those individuals should most immediately do, especially given the recently exposed moral decrepitude of perfectly legal economics. I might be wrong, perhaps they'll let the vicar out and he'll murder again. Let it be a disclaimer.

Another shoplifting thing:

Carol Robson has instead been given a reprimand and ordered to take ''diversity training'', the Office for Judicial Complaints said.

A disciplinary panel had recommended she should be removed from her job, but Mrs Robson appealed and the punishment was reduced after a review found she had ''no racist intent''.

Mrs Robson made the comment during a hearing at Sunderland Magistrates' Court in June 2008. Sentencing a shoplifter, she told the offender not to go back to the ''Paki shop'' where he was caught.

If she isn't really racist I can picture her saying it quite innocently in a Geordie accent, perhaps echoing comments made by the defendant (or not), and the silence that probably then descended over the court (as the defendant realised a lawyer would have been a handy thing at that point; or failing that a trendy vicar).

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  • It can never be satisfied, the mind, never. -- Wallace Stevens
Submitted by You on 22 December, 2009 - 17:52

I don't think the leniency against stealing for necessity applies in the uk - there is a welfare system here.

It may not allow people to live like royalty, but it also stops people from starving to death.

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by Joie de Vivre on 22 December, 2009 - 17:58

You're right, and there are soup kitchens and so on. Taken at face value it is a shocking thing to say - but I still recognise he has an underlying point.

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  • It can never be satisfied, the mind, never. -- Wallace Stevens
Submitted by You on 22 December, 2009 - 17:59

Joie de Vivre wrote:
You're right, and there are soup kitchens and so on. Taken at face value it is a shocking thing to say - but I still recognise he has an underlying point.

Same here - just not in the UK as I see it.

—

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

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