Lesson 7: The Seventh Commandment
Neither shall you steal…
Down through the ages most people realized there were many different ways to steal. It can be done in our society by sticking a gun into someone’s ribs and demanding their money or by setting conditions in which a vulnerable person ends up owing you money. Both involve putting one of God’s children in jeopardy.
In this context both the Bible and Martin Luther included the way we do business in their reading of this commandment. The scriptures constantly called for honest commerce such as using fair weights. Luther’s explanation explored the purpose of business dealings. He wrote, “We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor’s money or property, nor get them by false goods or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business that his means are preserved and his condition is improved.”
I decided a good way to bring out the demands the command makes on modern life is simply to list the main ideas from a lecture on modern Roman Catholic social teachings given by the Fordham professor, Christine Firer Heinze. Here they are:
The purpose of the economy is to produce and make accessible ample provision in order that all people have enough.
2. The means to achieve this is to practice solidarity with all people. Vatican II put it, “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” Canadians bishops in 1983 interpreted this to mean, “This option calls for economic policies which realize that the needs of the poor have priority over the wants of the rich; that the rights of workers are more important than the maximization of profits; that the participation of marginalized groups takes precedence over the preservation of a system which excludes them.”
3. The wage economy should provide for the caring economy. Money is simply a tool to provide services for people. This can mean making sure money is provided for caring services such as nursing care as well as for family support. At times this has been interpreted as making sure one person in the wage economy can provide enough to support one caregiver in the family.
4. The common good that includes the needs of the family, civil society, working conditions, and basic workers’ rights overrides market forces.
Obviously these challenge the idea that the only purpose of business is to make a profit. However, it is not an attack on Adam Smith’s capitalism but simply the way it is interpreted far too often today. Smith always put profit making in the context of providing goods and services for society, exactly what Roman Catholic social teachings are trying to do.
Our ancient faith has always understood that respect for a person includes respect for their personal possessions. That is clear in its including care for a person’s property in two of the Ten Commandments, many of the Torah laws, and among Jesus’ most prevalent teachings. However, possessions never define a person’s worth. Correctly understood, they are tools to care for others as well as self.
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