Abingdon Youth |
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| Christian Pirates? | |
by John Gocke Since the rise and fall of Napster, I have witnessed many spirited conversations about downloading files from the Internet. Sometimes the debate centers around music mp3s, sometimes software programs, sometimes images, and sometimes even movies. File sharing is on the rise, and the question of sharing being piracy and thus unethical makes me wonder whether one can be a “Christian pirate” surfing on the cyber seas. When someone downloads music or videos free, is he or she stealing something that he or she would have bought; or is he or she using these tools in a way to expand his or her music tastes? Is downloading similar to trying a sample of something before buying it, such as free food-tasting stands at the grocery store? Perhaps, this taste-testing stimulates retail sales. Maybe what might have been non-buyers are getting turned on to a particular artist. Or maybe not. The pro-pirate community thinks that all information should be free to the masses; and, thanks to the digital age, much music, movies, and images have been rendered into digital transmissions, which are easy to reproduce and disseminate. Many pirates also exclaim that the big record companies and software giants have tons of money and do not need or deserve the hard-earned cash from the more economically challenged. It’s a Robin Hood mentality. But those are secular pirates. Since many Christians routinely download files, a variety of explanations and justifications are cited by Christian pirates: • They think that since they are using the movie or song lyrics at a church, it is OK to withhold payment to the movie producers to show a clip or even a whole movie. It is especially easy to withhold payment from Christian music artist’s lyrics, since we all work for God. • They don’t charge people to see the movie clip or hear the music, so it’s OK. • The church can’t afford to pay license fees. • The church needs to teach people about what is happening in entertainment, without contributing money to Hollywood. Let us consider how Jesus handled these situations (WWJS? — What Would Jesus Steal?). In Mark 2:23-24, when Jesus and the disciples were walking the fields and started to get hungry, didn’t they just start picking food off a nearby stalk? Were they stealing it, liberating it for a higher cause, or obeying the law? The answer is that they were obeying the law, since it was customary under the laws of the land to allow travelers to eat from the grain and other crops by the roadside. Remember that there were no restaurants or rest stops along the way back then. In John 2:1-11, did Jesus steal from the local vineyards by making that huge amount of wine at that wedding at the occasion of his first miracle? No, of course he didn’t steal from wine producers. If any of us has the ability to originally create something out of thin air (or water), there are no laws against it; since nothing is taken. If you film your own movie or write your own song, then you are safe. In Matthew 22:17, Jesus was asked a trick question by a team of Pharisees and Herodians. They were trying to trip him up with their query about taxes and authority with regard to paying or not paying. Jesus replied that persons should give to Caesar what you owe Caesar, but give to God what belongs to God. Is it fair to say that this passage is telling us that we need to be honest and fair, paying due wages to those whose services we enjoy? Would Jesus encourage us to “render unto (your favorite artists here) what is due them”? Downloading copyrighted material is against the law. And in a civilized society, we respect the laws of the land. Someone’s intellectual property (a term that reflects the current law of the land) is his or hers to sell and a way to make a living. Without copyright laws, that person could lose the incentive to produce a good product, and even the ability to go on producing it. Just because it is so easy to get music, movies, downloaded lessons and information without paying for it in cyberspace doesn’t justify Christians doing it. God is sovereign in cyberspace just as in the physical world. Logging on to the Internet does not constitute our leaving behind who we are. Want to read more on the subject of piracy? Start with these: For further reading on dealing with showing movie clips legally to your youth group, as well as other tips, download this free PDF. from www.IleadYouth.com The Recording Industry Association of America has numerous informational articles: Launch Link. Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc. resources: Launch Link. The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation has a page on copyright law. Launch Link.
Other articles by John Gocke: Brought to you by your youth ministry colleagues at Cokesbury. © 2005 The United Methodist Publishing House. This material may be reproduced for educational purposes only.
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