Economic Justice Begins with the Commandment Not to Steal

Senator Ron Johnson Hearing on COVID-19 Vaccine Safety-Dec 7, 2022; What they are, how they work and possible causes of injury.
Stew Peters presents Died Suddenly. Many young people and others are suddenly dying. Could the strange fibrous growths found in the bloodstream of those who have died and have been jabbed with the COVID bioweapon have something to do with that?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2289

    In reversing the Fall, Adam and Jesus must unite with the True Parents to restore the positions of formation, growth and perfection. The spirit and physical worlds must unite Adam’s children and Jesus’ children; together they must all enter the realm of Christ at the Second Advent where they can become the perfected Adam’s children. (219-241, 1991.9.8)

    You have parents, children and all the things of creation and Home Church is the expanded version of all these together. These three were lost by Adam through the Fall and must therefore be restored simultaneously and offered to God. What was lost should be recovered and dedicated back to Him through the True Parents; it would then pass through Him and come to us. That which was lost must be recovered, offered to Him and bequeathed back to us by the True Parents. Only then can you have your own homes and world. The foundation for it is the Home Church. This is the offering. This is the altar on which the three sacrifices are offered. (101-338, 1978.11.12)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1058

The family in which the children can say, “Dad, we love you! Mom, we love you! We really like it when you love each other!” becomes a place of rest for them. (30-282, 1970.4.4)

Society

Economic Justice

AS LONG AS A SOCIETY TOLERATES GREAT DISPARITIES in living standards between rich and poor, it cannot be regarded as a just society. Such disparities weaken the bonds of solidarity between citizens, and generate class distinctions and their accompanying prejudices. Furthermore, equality of opportunity and equal justice under the law is a fiction in a society where the wealthy have every advantage over the poor. Visionaries of every age have sought for economic democracy to accompany political democracy. Socialisms of various stripes have arisen in response to this perennial desire of the original mind.
Economic justice begins with the commandment not to steal. Thieves are not only those who steal from other people, but also and more damagingly, those in a position of authority who rob from the public trough. This leads to the question of what is ‘public’ and what is ‘private.’ God created the earth, with its air, water and mineral resources, and in biblical Israel, all the land belonged to God with the people as its stewards. This scriptural viewpoint challenges the capitalist concept of private property, and suggests that a just economic system should involve some notion of shared ownership.
Furthermore, from God’s perspective, all people are members of one family. How, then, can the wealthy sleep in good conscience while some of their brothers and sisters go hungry? The early Christians held all property in common, a tradition that has persisted in utopian socialist experiments to this day. The key to successful socialism, according to Father Moon, is God’s love, which is the fount of the impulse to charity and brotherly love. It can prompt the wealthy to share their blessings, creating a virtuous cycle of giving. (See Chapter 13: Charity)

ommunism, on the other hand, sought to institutionalize common ownership through a state mechanism that took from the rich to distribute to the poor. It utilized proletarian resentment to justify what was essentially stealing, enforced with great brutality. It took this despicable strategy, in Father Moon’s view, because of its atheism and hostility to religion.
Instead of looking to the state to redress economic imbalances, we can look to ourselves. We can cease to strive only for our individual profit and instead regard each other as brothers and sisters, members of God’s family. Then, just as family members apportion income and expenses when making their monthly budget, people of each village or neighborhood would meet on a regular basis and voluntarily apportion income and share expenses to promote fairness and equality. By the same token, employers and factory owners should pay their workers a decent wage, not only to encourage their good industry but also out of regard for their value as human beings. Likewise, in the family of nations, wealthy nations would voluntarily offer aid and technological assistance to developing nations, with the goal that all people on the planet would have comparable standards of living. Supporting this, we should promote a culture that honors people more for their charity than for their wealth. Father Moon envisions this as a practical way to achieve economic justice.

1. Stealing and Misappropriating Public Property

You shall not steal.
    Exodus 20.15

Whoever steals what is considered to belong to others, whether it be situated in villages or the forest, he is to be known as an outcast.
Whoever having contracted debts defaults when asked to pay, retorts, “I am not indebted to you!” he is to be known as an outcast.
Whoever is desirous of stealing even a trifle and mugs a person going along the road in order to take it, he is to be known as an outcast.
    Sutta Nipata 119-21 (Buddhism)

Lo! those who devour the wealth of orphans wrongfully, they do but swallow fire into their bellies, and they will be exposed to burning flame.
    Qur’an 4.10

As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward for their own deeds, and an exemplary punishment from God.
    Qur’an 5.38
Footnote: Qur’an 5.38: Most schools of Islamic jurisprudence no longer employ this punishment, and those that do restrict it to the most serious cases of grand larceny

Woe unto the defrauders,
Those who when they take the measure from mankind demand it full,
But if they measure unto them or weigh for them, they cause them loss.
    Qur’an 83.1-3

These acts are included in stealing: prompting another to steal, receiving stolen goods, creating confusion to overcharge or underpay, using false weights and measures, and deceiving others with artificial or imitation goods.
    Akalanka, Tattvartharajavartika 7.27 (Jainism)

Because what is yours is not yours, how then can you regard what is not yours as yours?
    Talmud, Derek Eretz Zuta 2.5 (Judaism)

Nature has poured forth all things for the common use of all men. And God has ordained that all things should be produced that there might be food in common for all, and that the earth should be the common possession of all. Nature created common rights, but usurpation has transformed them into private rights.
    Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 1.132 (Christianity)

Private property does not constitute for anyone an absolute and unconditional right. No one is justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does not need, when others lack necessities.
    Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (Christianity)

Metals and natural resources as petrol, sulfur, and iron are [public property] the same as water, grass and salt; therefore no governor is allowed to give some men exclusive possession of them, and if he does then his acts are false.
    Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi‘i 346.5 (Islam)

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