Recently I have run across many friends who pirate software, movies, songs, whatever they can. Before I go on let me say, I am not perfect and don't claim to be so. I am trying to be like Christ and when I identify sin in my life, with Gods power I take it captive and do it no more. So recently my friends say pirating in not against the law and it is not a sin. They following is the part that bothers me:
1) They defend what they do by asking questions of me like, "have you ever sped on the hwy this week, have you taken candy into the movie theater.......". This seems to be a wide spread way of justifying their actions. As if my sin negates theirs.
2) They say, "Judges will not punish users of pirated software. They only punish those who produce it for other to use." Does this make pirating ok? Pirating is so wide spread that law authorities have to target the dealer rather than the consumers. This also must make pirating ok.
3) They say to me, "different people have different convictions, God hasn't convicted me yet." This I don't understand. When did God need to convict us not to steal when the Bible says, "do not steal."
I hope I don't sound hostile but this topic bothers me. I wish it was okay not to pay for stuff I wanted. Someone please convince me its okay. Oh yea, one more thing. If you are going to profess the name of Christ and you are openly declaring that pirating is okay, please please find some less embarrassing reasons for justifying what is wrong.
