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View Full Version : Is coveting all that bad?

BluePitbull
10-19-2005, 11:03 AM
The 10th commandment did express this as a sign of disobediance but is it all bad?
Is wanting something bad if you are willing to work honestly? One of my parents does not think that it is the same thing as the biblical idea of coveting but would capatalism exist without coveting?
mrklutz
10-19-2005, 01:28 PM
The bibilical injunction is not against desiring something, but against excessive desire for that which belongs to other people. It doesn't say don't yearn to have a spouse, it says don't go lusting after someone else's spouse. Same with your neighbor's belongings. Big difference there, and fairly easy to see why it would be frowned upon the way the bible phrases it.
aamco
10-19-2005, 01:33 PM
would capatalism exist without coveting?No, but not everyone in the world agrees that capitalism existing is a good thing.
Wartime Consigliori
10-19-2005, 02:03 PM
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife....nor thy neighbor's ass....nor they neighbor's wife's ass... :D
GawnFishin'
10-19-2005, 02:34 PM
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife....nor thy neighbor's ass....nor they neighbor's wife's ass... :D
What if she turns the other cheek? :D
Walloon
10-19-2005, 03:28 PM
Coveting your neighbor's wife is not just wishing you had a wife like her. It's wishing you had her. Likewise, coveting your neighbor's goods is not just wishing you could also afford things like that. It's wanting to take his goods.
Bryan Ekers
10-19-2005, 08:12 PM
...wish I'd started this thread....
ParentalAdvisory
10-20-2005, 07:31 AM
The 10th commandment did express this as a sign of disobediance but is it all bad?
Is wanting something bad if you are willing to work honestly? One of my parents does not think that it is the same thing as the biblical idea of coveting but would capatalism exist without coveting?


Wanting your neighbors wife, and making an agreement in exchange for goods and money are two different things.
norinew
10-20-2005, 07:52 AM
Dictionary.com turns up this helpful entry, backing up what others have said: To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's).
Roberta Plant
10-20-2005, 07:57 AM
Another aspect that makes coveting bad is that when you are coveting other people's spouses, assets, etc., you are not appreciating the good things you do have. So you are robbing yourself of that potential enjoyment as well as wishing for things that belong to others.