This is a Christian question (for Christians only), any spam will be reported, please keep it Christian-Like and friendly.

I know some Christians at church that still download music "illegally" What's your POV on it? I know it's a very broad question, and there is ALOT OF semantics and variables involved.

But for me I think, it is a sin. Illegal downloading music/movies is "stealing". and Stealing is a sin, I don't really care how much you sugar coat it, in the end you stole it. But my question is, were do you stand on the line on what is Illegal to download or not?

Let me know your thoughts, please keep it civilized, no need to spam or turn it into a PARD Debate, keep it a Christian debate. I looked at other Christian Forums, and they have the same type of debate, so I know it's possible, just be friendly.

Thanks

Looking forward for your opinions

This post was edited by HighschoolTurd on Mar 2 2012 04:05pm

In my eyes i don't see nothing wrong with it to be honest. Everyone does it including people working for the government. And I'm sure you have done it at least once in your life. Sure it may be considered stealing but it's no exactly stealing if your getting the music from people that copied then from there cd and posted them on the internet. I don't really care if they ban it though i don't dl music or anything anymore. And for it being a sin i have this quote from a song. Don't take them as spam it's just what i also believe for us sinners.





This post was edited by CvD on Mar 2 2012 04:38pm

You make a good point.

and yes, I am sure everyone has done it, we are all sinners, but maybe the question is, since we know about it now, will you stop?

But how can you tell if that person hosting the torrent site, or the .mp3 got them legally from a CD?

Also, I believe sharing is legal, if I buy a CD and share them with my friends, it should be fine.

CvD: Everyone doing something does not make something right (eg, argument ad populum). I'd be more interested in scripture backing up your cause than quotes (of which I can think of quite a few examples related to those quotes, off the top of my head, though not sure how they would hold up under closer scrutiny in regards to this specific topic).

I actually stopped downloading all together. I think last time i did was almost 4 or so months ago. I got all the music i wanted and most of my songs i have i borrowed cd's from my family. Most of them don't have internet so they still buy cd's legally. When downloading you can't always tell if they are legally copied from a cd but sometimes you can such as if your dling a album if it has the album art then it's from a cd.

If it has the album art from a CD, that doesn't necessarily means it's LEGIT, anyone could have copied the files and just re-hosted them am I right?

I am glad you stopped bro, congrats. For me, I am not going to lie. There was some episodes called "shark tank" on tv, but I never got the chance to watch them (About entrepreneurs giving a pitch to investor's to help there business) so I decided to download them, but I mean, I could have just searched google or youtube and found them right? That is where I am interested in other people's viewpoints about this topic.

Wat is the difference between watching them on youtube, then downloading them from a different site? I mean even though youtube is a free site and allows sharing, it's pretty much the same thing, I am downloading them both in the same movie format, just from different sites, the catch is, I am not downloading a "Hard" copy of the file through youtube, as in with a torrent or a 3rd party site. It's confusing but, then again you are actually downloading a "hard" copy of the movie through youtube, because it downloads through your ISP and to your download history stored on your computer. That is where it goes way to vague for me to understand the difference between just simply going to youtube or downloading the show from a 3rd party site?

Maybe it's not illegal because your views on youtube increase youtube's revenue each time u search for that show? So does that make it okay? but then there's so many variables, where is that money going towards for? Going towards the uploader on youtube that hosted the SHOW ?(If the user is showing ad's on the video) IF so, that is very bad, you are stealing NBC's air time for commercials while watching a 10min video of it hosted on youtube, while having those ad's the uploader chosen for his/her youtube generate money for them instead. That is why NBC/etc try to take down those TV Shows off youtube.

But then again another variable, Youtube has a policy that says "Do not upload content that is not yours", what if somone bought the DVD/show "Shark tank" and thought it was Okay to host it on youtube, then I go search youtube for the show and watch is.. is it still a sin or no? There is just SO SO Many variables that come into play here.

You will probably be wondering, well HST Why do you care so much about this it's just a movie you downloaded offline/watched on youtube.. That's the thing though, Jesus cares for every action we make and I don't want to continue to do this stuff when it's wrong, knowingly or unknowingly. This is somethig i've been trying to find answers for, for ages. This also applies for other stuff you "download" off the internet, games/application/illegal WINDOWS OS/illegal programs/etc.

We don't all have 30k fg and own a popular forum to be able to afford our games, music, movies, etc.


But I agree with you, my excuse isn't a good one either

This post was edited by gramkracka22 on Mar 2 2012 05:54pm

We all have access to what's right or wrong, whether we have lots of money or whether we have no money.

I guess if we're keeping with the theme of semantics, what one person interprets as 'stealing' may not appear to be thieving at all. In this case I think the scope of what counts as 'property' and 'theft' comes into play. And we may as well let legality enter the picture, because what's legal may still be sinful, when it comes to theft (and not just theft). I actually think this is a really interesting topic. A lot of people interpret the Bible differently, and even the Commandments are interpreted in different ways by different people. When I was young, my father provided me with some interesting ways of seeing the Commandments, but at the time I was too young to appreciate those lessons (i.e., I was a literalist and I was actually agnostic then, anyway). So my thought is that we should all do our best to avoid stealing. If we follow our hearts, I don't think we can go wrong. But if we're just following our simple desires, I think we can quickly go wrong.

And of course one could bring up the "Robin Hood" type of analogy with respect to DLs of music and other content. If one feels like it's stealing from the rich to give to the poor, I don't feel that holds water. But I dont know. When prescriptive morality presents conflicts I think it's easy to be confused by the logic involved. Logic isn't always our best guide. Sometimes we can outgrow such conflicts if we go deeper. You don't need to steal to do good for the poor, for example. Charity isn't about property or money imho.

Anyway, HST, I think this is your most interesting topic in a while. I don't have an answer to the question but I hope I added something useful to the conversation

ASIDE: I tend to think of 'morals' and 'ethics' as separate entities that mingle a bit. I generally follow a kind of personal ethics that (for the most part, but not always) informs my thoughts and actions. It's a bit different from following a 'morality'. The Bible is interesting because it provides a sort of deontological morality but it also suggests an ethic and even a kind of cultural and spiritual attitude. I can't think of any piece of literature that matches it. Maybe something from Nietzsche, but he looked down upon Christianity I think he misinterpreted key aspects of the Bible even though he had a brilliant mind.

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Mar 2 2012 07:02pm

...a Christian only has to ask themself whether internet piracy would measure up to Gods perfect mark .

Can you elaborate more, please