This is possibly the best way anyone has ever explained honesty. Definitely something that children need to be taught. If the adults don’t know it, then they should be taught as well. 
There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft..
When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father.
When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.
When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.
When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father.
When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.
When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.
Quote from “Kite Runner”
I wouldn’t say it’s theft. Theft implies the thief owns more of the stolen after the act. I also wouldn’t call it selfishness, because a selfish person would work to keep his interpersonal relationships clean, so that his or her own mind can also stay clean. Our minds are connected.
Instead, I’d upper that sin does not exist, really. Or if it does, you’d need to be fully aware of the impact of your deed at the instant you commit it. And even then a bad deed can have good consequences.
But I wonder, why would someone unify all actions to one? Theft in this case. Without heaving read the book, I think this implies the person who contemplates about Sin is trying to take a distance from it. Understand it. Which is sad, as that would imply he or she is often faced with it. And beautiful in a way, because it shows that light exists also in dark places. A beauty that would not have existed without sin.
Does this imply that there is only one principle of ethics? And that is property rights?
What page is that quote on? The quote from Kite Runner…
I have thought about it Jordan, and if someone steals something to eat for their children it does not seem to be a selfish act yet it is still a sin to steal, no?
If someone kills one person to keep another from being killed it is not selfish, yet it is still a sin, correct?
There is only one real sin. But it is not stealing. It’s selfishness. Selfishness is at the root of every sin we could ever possibly commit. Think about it, and you will see.
I am not really sure to what the previous comments are referring…
First let’s define stealing…what is stealing? Stealing is the taking of something that does not belong to you.
Cheating in any sense is stealing because if you are cheating you are trying to gain something, be it a victory, be it a roll in the hay with someone else, or what have you that otherwise is not yours. For example, when a husband or wife cheats on their spouse, they are not cheating their child/children they are cheating their spouse. They have made an agreement, vow, promise, bond, contract with one another to be as one. They have agreed to go through life as one entity because a wedding is a “union” of two souls. So, in essence the one person is stealing from the other person by sharing a part of their self with someone else. It is no longer just theirs to do so with…
As for betrayal…I am not sure as to what Kip referring to in regards to betrayal. However to say that ending a person’s life is not theft is because you are only looking at theft as being an action in which you take something to be your own. However, to take another person’s life, or as you put it, to just end it is taking something and ending when it is not yours to end. You are ending/taking a life that is not yours to take/end, so you are stealing someone else’s life…be it that you just throw it away after you take something does not make it something different. Try going into a store and smashing a big plasma screen TV and then refuse to pay for it and see what you are charged with when the cops show up…do you think it will be rendering the TV inoperable? I don’t…
By the way…”causing loss” (in you own last words)…is causing someone to lose something by taking it or destroying it, either way it is gone and if it is gone because of you, you stole it from them…it is stealing…
When you lie you cheat only yourself. When you cheat you cheat yourself of knowing a truth, again cheating yourself. When you steal, you risk everything, again cheating yourself of having selfworth and dignity. I agree, when someone cheats on their spouse they cheat their children of having a parent or both. Its all deterioration of mankind
and will be the ruination of our country. I believe its an inside job. I suppose the love of money really is the root of all evil. Then it depends if you are the predator(deciever) the prey(victim).
I suppose to could argue betrayal is a theft of trust, but it’s not really, it’s more like breaking trust. Theft implies you take something from someone for yourself, not just ruin it. In that sense, murder is not theft. It may feel like theft to the loved ones, but you aren’t stealing their life, you’re just ending it. With adultery, you’re not stealing trust, you’re just ruining it. I would say the only real sin is to cause harm or loss.
Also, spending 3 minutes in this world ought to be long enough to learn there’s no such thing as a “right to fairness.”