LYING AND STEALING
We should never lie except to save somebody from serious injury. Then it is only
not telling the truth but it is not lying because you don't have an alternative.
In other words, you are not a liar when you are forced to state as fact that
which you know to be false. The truth can hurt but at least the person will know
they can trust us and that is all-important and will give us a better peace of
mind in the long run. To feel good about ourselves we have to be what we are
seen to be. It is not silent lying when you know that a woman's husband is
adulterous when she praises him and you say nothing for it only means you don't
want to tell when you know it would be the wrong circumstances to tell.
We should not steal even for a greater good unless somebody will be severely
hurt if we don't. Then it is not stealing for we have no choice and the concept
of ownership is only for our good so the pharmacist no longer owns the injection
you stole from him to save a life. Gambling for big money involves stealing off
the other gamblers when temptation has taken them over. Secret stealing from a
boss who has unjustly cut your wages is wrong for it is deception. What is
stolen has to be returned except in the case of the boss (when you are sure that
nobody knows) for then it is the deception that is wrong. Not paying a fair wage
or as good a wage you can is theft. All wrongdoing must be made up for and
apologised for.