Do Christians Have a Responsibility to Report Crime?
I am of the opinion that crimes (any type) ought to be reported. (Do I do this? No.) I do not act on this assumption because I am not sure I am right. I do not know what the Lord would have me do.
Here are some scenarios, tell me what you think!
Your teenage nephew smokes pot, and you have discovered him. Do you report him to the authorities? To his parents? Just how far do you have to take the issue? With regards to authority, I think it would be wise to report him to his parents, and allow his parents to decide what to do about it.
Your neighbor gets "free" cable, i.e. they black box it and steal it from the cable company. Do you report him to the cable company? Should you confront him first to see if he will repent?
Your close friend has illegal immigrant relatives. They do not pay taxes, but have used the school systems. Perhaps they are not committing additional crimes, but you do not really know. They seem like nice people. Are you obligated to report them to the INS?
So, help me out blog friends… what would Jesus do? What does the scripture tell us is the appropriate answer? Is it handled differently if the crime you witness is committed by a believer as opposed to a non believer?
Any one??
Meg ?
June 20th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
The nephew.
I would report him to his parents. If they fail to correct the issue, as in, I catch him again, I go to the law. As a member of my family, I would love and care enough for my nephew NOT to let him get away with drugs.
Free cable.
My former neighbour had illegal cable… he got it from a cable provider technician friend of his. The conclusion of the matter: the cable company makes so much money, they figure this illegal activity in their sales projections. Am I making an excuse to steal cable? Absolutely not. In the end, the honest pay extra for the wickedness of these thieves. What I am saying is reporting such theft would be a total waste of time. Nothing would be done.
The illegal aliens.
I wouldn't go out of my way to report them, but I wouldn't lie to anyone to shield them either. My reasoning: we live in a rich land of abundance. The few illegals we have in our respective countries are not a terrible drain on our ressources and prosperity. And the fact of the matter is, in many cases, these illegal aliens are more the exploited than the exploiters.
My answers may seem contradictory to my "fundametalism", but the fact of the matter is we live in a wicked world. A thoroughly wicked world. If I am to make it my business to report all the wrong doing I come into contact with, I'm going to have a long, busy, and frustrating life.
Let the dead bury the dead… and I'll focus I living my Christian experience.
Take care,
June 20th, 2005 at 2:06 pm
So would your response on the last two be different if they were not "dead" but saved? And, regarding the illegal cable, my hubby used to install it, and the cable company DOES care, and WOULD remedy the offense. They just dont check every little thing unless the crime is pointed out.
Meg
June 20th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
If they were saved and were willfully breaking the law, their local church would have to discipline them, and yes, that would mean calling the INS (or the equivalent). To do otherwise would be to condone sin.
Like I said, the illegal cable situation is one I have lived through. I have seen the corruption of not only the people who steal, but of the cable companies' technicians who peddle illegal devices and feeds.
Anyway, all this is moot, I believe my summary of all three situation best describes my position. Let the dead bury the dead; and if we're talking of the living, well, are they not to be "dead to sin"? And when they do sin, are they not to repent?
Later,
Rand
June 20th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
The few illegals???!!!! Is RAND kidding?? Try almost 12 million. Ask the folks in California if illegals are a drain on their economy. I have read many claims that illegal immigrants cost them over 10 billion a year in unfunded medical and educational expenses (and that is just for California!!).
Any illegal, I see I report.
People say I' m being unChristian but, is it right before God for the taxman to come up to me at the point of a subpeona or a gun and say "pay for Jose and his 15 kids" when he just waltzes accross the border and I had to pay thousands and go thru all kinds of garbage to get my wife over here from the Philippines? I believe in LEGAL immigration.
One more little nicety: most of the folks who are supporting illegal immigration are a part of a group that calls themselves "La Raza - the people". Their group is called MEcHA and it is their belief that we stole their country from them (everything from California to Oregon and across to Florida) in 1848. They want to get enough people here to either vote or violently take these states back and they have stated openly their support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda.
They support the complete destruction of the United States with the emphasis on the removal (read extermination) of the white gringos. They declared war on us just exactly like bin Laden did, and the stupid media won't report any of this (including the repeated violent attacks on the members of the Minutemen who are trying to stop the border crossings).
Anyone who supports illegal immigration is betraying this country whether they believe it or not.
June 23rd, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Wait a minute… that's RAND… (not Meg)
June 23rd, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Meg,
Taffy is a internet troll. Don't answer it, it's what it wants.
This thing spends a great deal of it's time going from one Christian site to another just to mock and scorn. It's quite sad actually.
Anyway, I just thought I'd give you the heads up. If you want a short list of it's IPs, I can send you a copy.
Take care,
June 25th, 2005 at 7:06 am
Rand, you've obviously never heard of "satire". Well, satire essentially magnifies or exaggerates actual held beliefs of someone to make a point. I actually don't believe ANYTHING of what I've written.
Also, YOU CHANGED MY WORDS!!!!
I did NOT write "Rand's grandmother" … you are guilty of a lie, my friend.
June 25th, 2005 at 7:06 am
Meg … sorry for an inappropriate exchange on your blog … I'll send my comments via email. My apologies! Mea culpa.
June 25th, 2005 at 4:06 pm
Me again,
Just a little note to say that our little exchange in you comment box may not have been in vain Meg. It would seem that Taffy/Thomas and I have come to a peaceful truce through a short e-mail correspondance.
Take care,
Rand
June 28th, 2005 at 9:06 am
Well finally!
Thomas, If you choose to post here, please try to refrain from satire, because it is easily misunderstood through type only as your actual beliefs. And I for one am not interested in sorting out what you really believe from your over exaggerations.
Rand,
I do believe this may have been a lesson from the Lord for you. God bless you brother!
Meg
(p.s. I am going to delete a few of these so that the arguement is lost to the internet!)