In 2011?
June 15, 2011 (Wednesday)
When I saw the headline in an online newspaper which reported that somebody stole a lady’s lawn, I began a quest to learn about the types of things stolen these days.
A restaurant reported that somebody zeroed in on their restrooms, stealing signs, soap dispensers and little framed herbs and flowers. In Boston the thieves cut the phone lines from the telephone poles, taking the copper wire and stopping the phone service. In Yuba City, California, they took a lady’s two pet dogs from her backyard. In Cleveland, Ohio, they grabbed the historical plaque that marked the place where Superman was created. In Aledo, Texas, thieves climbed atop the Catholic Church and took the copper parts from the air conditioners, but one of them left a bracelet behind–he’ll be sorry he went to church there.
I could probably write from now until Christmas on the different kinds of things that criminals take from their fellow human beings. A complete list would encompass just about anything you can bring to mind.
My first reaction to this knowledge is, “Didn’t the parents teach these people “hands off what does not belong to you?” Well, that hope was dashed in a story I read last week about a mother who took her small child into a store to teach him how to shoplift. When spotted by the cops, she sped away, leaving her child behind.
The Eighth Commandment says simply, “You shall not steal.” It’s a law of God that’s as basic as it gets. If suddenly everyone in the world decided that he/she would become a thief, chaos would reign and anarchy would prevail.
If you think you have something nobody would want to steal, think again. Obviously, based on the latest news accounts, nothing escapes the covetous reach of the lawless.