Before reading on, please watch this video about piracy. Click HERE.
A: To answer honestly and bluntly...no, Christians (or anyone for that matter) should not be downloading. Let me explain to you why.
When I was about 11 years old, I was out with my mom and we went to a Bi-Way (which is like a discount store and no longer in business). In the store, I got hungry. So I took a Sesame Snap, went to the back of the store, opened it and started eating it (basically, I was stealing...and was fully aware of it). Well, my mom found me with my mouth full and in a furious rush, grabbed me, took me out of the store and proceeded to lecture me. In the midst of this lecture, she said one sentence that has stuck to me to this day and I apply it to my stance on downloading and pirating. She said, "if you cant afford it...than you cant have it".
1. Anything that you normally have to pay for and you are getting for free, means you are stealing it.
The fact that you just got that cd for free on the internet, when it should have cost you $15.99 at HMV, means that you are stealing it. The product costs money for the artist and the producers to make...and you just got it for free. This is stealing.
The proper order of sequence should be:
(a) you want cd, (b) you go to store (or iTunes), (c) you pay money, (d) you receive goods.
Instead, you went from (a) you want cd to (d) you receive goods. You've skipped the whole money transation part.
If you wanted a pair of jeans at American Eagle, the transaction is that you pay money to receive it. But if got the pair of jeans without having to pay for it (and it wasnt a gift), than you've stolen it. If you wanted to eat at a restaurant, and you leave without paying for it, than you've stolen it.
It's really as simple as that.
2. mainstream culture vs. righteousness
If you watched the video above, you would see that our mainstream culture says that it's okay to take from large corporations. In fact, it's almost encouraged. The justification is that no one gets hurt if we steal from companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Sony, etc. There are TONNE of people doing it and the general consensus is that it doesn't hurt anyone. Downloading is culturally acceptable...and what's more...those who are paying for their software or music are laughed at because "they could have gotten it for free".
Well, Biblical righteousness almost always goes against the wave of culture. As Christians, we are called to uphold the name of Christ, live a worthy testimony, to be holy as God is holy. I dont believe that stealing can be categorized as any of these. And furthermore, think about this: downloading is almost always for entertainment. It's not even a matter of putting food on the table.
Like my mom says, "if you cant afford it, than you cant have it."
3. downloading = stealing = sin
There are no excuses and no justifications around it. You just cant spin this in your favour. God was quite clear when He gave out those 10 Commandments - thou shall not steal. A sin is a sin, and unrighteousness is unrighteousness.
I'm not tooting my own horn here...but I dont download (toot toot) and have figured out some ways around it. It's called Open Source.
I use Open Office instead of MS Office (click HERE to download)
I use Picasa instead of Photoshop (click HERE to download)
[GIMP is another good one, click HERE to download)
I go to websites like CTV, CBC, or MuchMusic to watch shows if I missed them
I get my music from iTunes. I sample the songs that I want, and only pay for the tracks that sound good. If you want to upgrade to the whole album, you can later on. There are also weekly .99 cent movie rentals. What a steal! (no pun intended. haha.)
There are a TONNE of practical solutions to getting around this downloading thing. Bottom line is that we have to be firm in what we believe in, and not allow the temptations of this world to dictate what we can or cannot do. That line ultimately, is to be drawn by God and Biblical truth.
[answered by Pastor KJT]
