Watching cable news tonight they kept talking about the amount of looting going on. showing people running out of stores with bags of booty.
I understand it’s against the law, but can anyone blame them for trying to survive? Now i’m not talking about the person who is walking out with a new XBOX, or robbing peoples houses. Just those that are stealing food, diapers, etc… .
Would God (or any other supreme being) hold these people acountable? Should we?
The law would adjudge such acts on a case-by-case basis, taking mitigating circumstances into account. As for God, who knows? According to some self-identified Christians, God doesn’t judge your particular actions so long as you get saved by faith at some point this side of the grave; and if you don’t, you’re damned regardless of the kind of life you led.
Reports at the Times-Picayune website say looters are gathering around Children’s Hospital and police and National Guard units can’t respond. I can’t think of a good reason to loot a hospital.
Hospitals have pharmacies. 
…and expensive electronic test equipment. Never know when you might need a sonogram machine. Every home should have one.
My immediate emotional response to looters is to want to shoot them. I don’t even believe in capital punishment; it’s a visceral emotional reaction.
Even if somebody takes something he needs to survive, he should do it with shame. The reports of looting in New Orleans indicate people cheerfully stealing things they don’t need.
Under the circumstances, I would not fault someone for taking food or water or diapers. It’s not like there’s a cashier they could pay the money to anyway.
But those low-life scum who steal electronics or jewelry? Well, this is GD, not the Pit, so I will just say if martial law is in effect, take advantage of it. For Og’s sake, there’s no electricity! Where are you going to plug in that DVD player?
If you’re taking food, I have no problem with you looting to feed your family. It would either rot or get washed away by rising water anyway. But to take other merchandise is stealing no matter the circumstance.
Those people are stuck there…and the water is still rising. Many of those looters probably are too dumb to realize their predicament. If they ever get to evacuate, they won’t get to take such stuff with them, and if they stay - they will be in a disease ridden swamp. Those looters are probably doomed.
I wonder how many people are actually looting to feed their family. I mean, the hurricane hit a couple days ago. Looting started immediately after that. It seems a little far-fetched to think that people would not have at least a couple days’ supply of food or diapers. People don’t start starving right after a disaster. People start starving a week or so after.
There’s no accounting for panic or the passions of the mob, folks.
In the case of perishable food, it’s probably better off in the hands of hungry people rather than rottting on the shelves. Cigarettes, alcohol, jewelry and electronic equipment aren’t survival necessities, and would qualify as transgressions against “thou shalt not steal.”
NPR played a sound bite of a woman crying about how she was reduced to stealing, and the shame of it all. Hey; here’s an idea: keep track of what you took. When normalcy returns, return to the rightful owner and make restitution. Wouldn’t that be the righteous thing to do?
In one article the police and national gaurd were standing by while people took food and other essentials. I see no real crime in an emergency of taking food that would only spoil anyway. Stealing Jewelry, DVD players and what might be considered luxury items during this emergency is pretty low. If you have enough energy for that then perhaps you should try helping others.
I’m sure plenty of the looters were theives before the disaster. One officer was shot trying to stop a looter. This wasn’t just a desperate citizen.
per the OP. I think God has already forgiven them. They still need to deal with the consequences of their choices though.Do we forgive them. Right now the people in need have first priority. By the time we deal with that the looting will be done. I think we need to deal with the emergency and move on. I doubt trying to prosecute looters will be productive in any way.
Don’t know the numbers of looters for profit verus those for survival. However, there are lots of people who live on a fixed income and live hand to mouth. As the disaster happened at the end of the month, they are most likely running out of everything.
Next there’s little to no drinkable water in many places, so unless you have bottle water stored, you’re going to be in trouble very quickly…you certainly can’t wait a week.
What’s far-fetched for you, is everyday living for many of your neighbours.
Or for “Whooiee! The cops are gone!” either. I’d wager most of the looting in New Orleans has as much to do with starvation as the looting in L.A.
-Joe
People have been making a lot of of stealing blue jeans, but even then I can’t bring myself to codemn people for wanting clean clothes.
I disagree completely. L.A. was lashing out in response to a verdict. New Orleans is desperation because you got interrupted power service, little food in the house and you have no idea how many days or weeks it’ll take for normalcy to reign. Again the prospect of starvation leads to panic. Anything big enough to shut down schools, the mail and most public services indefinitely would have me thinking long-term.
I could probably barter me a nice stolen TV with the extra canned goods I had stashed.
The New York Times has used this quote in its coverage of the aftermath:
If this is true, I think it’s unlikely that the people who are looting are doing it for food and other survival needs. That sounds like gangs getting together to rip off everything they can and keep the cops away.
…The one looting-related photo I’ve seen that ran with that coverage showed a group of people cleaning out a sporting goods store.
This probably sums it up the best.
What are you going to do in a few weeks, if you survive, with all the stuff you’ve illegally acquired? Everyone, at that point, will know you’ve stolen it. The usual reason you steal the stuff is to resell it. Who’s going to be able to afford the loot when the water resides? People will be way more concerned with getting their personal itmes and their homes back in order than getting cheap jewelry and electronics off sum scum who stole the stuff from their neighbors.