# Is coveting all that bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 19, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922 "2005-10-19T16:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/1 "2005-10-19T16:03:23Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/2 "2005-10-19T18:28:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![aamco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@aamco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aamco)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/3 "2005-10-19T18:33:09Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > would capatalism exist without coveting? No, but not everyone in the world agrees that capitalism existing is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/4 "2005-10-19T19:03:03Z")
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife…nor thy neighbor’s ass…nor they neighbor’s wife’s ass… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GawnFishin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GawnFishin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GawnFishin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/5 "2005-10-19T19:34:04Z")
> [@Wartime Consigliori](#): > > Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife…nor thy neighbor’s ass…nor they neighbor’s wife’s ass… 😃 What if she turns the other cheek? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/6 "2005-10-19T20:28:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/7 "2005-10-20T01:12:01Z")
[sub]…wish **I’d** started this thread…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/8 "2005-10-20T12:31:33Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/9 "2005-10-20T12:52:30Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) turns up this helpful entry, backing up what others have said: > [@](#): > > To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another’s). ---
**Author:** ![Roberta\_Plant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c89c15/32.png) [@Roberta\_Plant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roberta_Plant)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coveting-all-that-bad/326922/10 "2005-10-20T12:57:42Z")
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.