General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Is it a crime to steal bread if you have no money for food? [View all]last1standing
(11,709 posts)If breaking a law is illegal then doing something ethically wrong would be unjust or criminal. Some believe you cannot separate the two; that all laws are just and therefore there is no difference between what is illegal and what is criminal.
My belief is that they are not the same thing. As an example, it is illegal to steal bread when you are starving but it is not illegal to withhold that bread from a starving person. Is withholding that bread just? I believe it is not. And if withholding the bread is not just then where is the crime in stealing it to survive? The law may say it is wrong, but I believe that the withholding of the bread is criminal, not the taking of it.
In other words, the law has failed the starving person and so has society. What do the laws of society matter when it has left you to starve? At that point, isn't it society that is criminal even if it is not unlawful?