Is copyright infringement theft?

[Bro. James]

On The Road to: Squeaky-Clean Holiness

It all belongs to God--we will give an account of every farthing.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and The Truth is not in us."

There is nothing free--some one paid the price, even for things called gifts.

The question is not what is wrong with a deed, but rather what is right with a deed. The standard is the Holiness of God--no mortal can qualify. That is what Jesus is about--the innocent propitiating for the guilty.

Love God with everything you got...and your neighbor as yourself.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

[SaggyWoman]

I agree with the OP

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

One last thought (maybe): What is Jesus saying here ... ?

Matthew 5, NASB
21 "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."​

If you do not see that He is equating hate and vileness toward a brother with murder, you have missed the point. And if speaking against someone without cause is equated with murder, how can one not see that theft is theft is theft, whether by shoplifting a CD, buying a pirated CD, or downloading it from a bootleg website?

I recall the words of Paul:

Romans 2
21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
24 For "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU," just as it is written.​

Paul is -- as was Jesus -- speaking in terms of degrees of guilt. Certainly one faithfully counsels against outright theft, but does one forgive oneself of other forms of theft and call them something else in an effort to assuage their guilt, or falsely reason that it is not the same thing? Does one counsel rightly against adultery, but then commit the same sin in forsaking God in certain areas of his/her life, and is this not also adultery? Does one properly condemn idolatry but hold up personal liberty as an excuse for placing something, be it material wealth or intangibles such as work or family, between oneself and God?

We must adopt God's attitude toward sin, and surrender. There is no room for the first in our lives, and in order to avoid including it in our lives, we must accomplish the second by forsaking everything, including family, friends, work, material wealth, in order to follow Him. That includes convenient definitions that I know I like to use in order to claim I am within His will, when deep down inside, I know full well I am not.