Fridays with the Heidelberg

Lord’s Day 42

110. Q. WHAT DOES GOD FORBID IN THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT?

     A. He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law.  But in God’s sight theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as; inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume; fraudulent merchandising; counterfeit money; excessive interest; or any other means forbidden by God.  In addition He forbids all greed and pointless squandering of His gifts.

111. Q. WHAT DOES GOD REQUIRE OF YOU IN THIS COMMANDMENT?

     A. That I do whatever I can for my neighbor’s good, that I treat others as I would like them to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need.

In working through the section on the Ten Commandments in the Heidelberg Catechism, we have noticed that in God’s eyes, it is not enough to abstain from murder and adultery, but we are to guard our hearts against hatred and lust.  As with the first 7 commands, we see in the 8^th Commandment that God’s holy standard demands more here than avoiding “outright theft and robbery.”   He forbids greed and requires generosity.

Interestingly enough, I have read surveys that identify the 8^th commandment as the easiest command to obey.  Perhaps individuals that make such claims fail to see how far reaching this commandment goes.  One area of theft that I find many involved in is online piracy of music.

I have referred to an article by Bob Kauflin before on this issue because I think he makes some helpful comments.  Click here for the entire article, or read the portions below;

It’s a new world. Music making, distribution, and listening has changed radically in the past twenty years and will continue to evolve. Twenty years ago, who would have imagined carrying around ten thousand songs in a device that fits in the palm of your hand, being able to share music across the world with people you’ve never met, and producing high quality music at home in your bedroom? The digital revolution is far from over and we’ll have to find ways to adjust.
 Copyright laws still exist. Basically, the Copyright Office says :

Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney’s fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights.

 The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) site makes exceptions for personal copies:

Owning a CD means you own one copy of the music, and the U.S. record industry believes you should be able to make whatever personal use you choose. For example, you may make a compilation recording (on tape or on a CD) to use in the car or while exercising. But it’s a very different matter – and clearly neither legal nor fair – to make a copy of that CD or even one song available on the Internet for others to take.

 A 2004 Barna report revealed that only about 1 in 10 Christian teenagers thinks that music piracy is morally wrong.

 Christians have a higher standard than “everyone’s doing it.”Romans 13:1, Deut. 5:19, and Eph. 4:28 come to mind. While file sharing, copying CD’s for friends, and downloading music illegally is easy and attractive, it’s still wrong, despite our rationalizations – “Music companies make too much money anyway. No one will notice. I’m poor. The bands I listen to are rich. I’m helping my friends out. It’s not really wrong, etc.” The fact is, there are an increasing number of options exist for downloading music legally and cheaply, including I-tunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, Yahoo, and other sites. But even if free music downloads weren’t available, we’re still called to support the laws that exist until they change. Which is probably only a matter of time…