Post by Beryllos on Mar 1, 2017 4:40:01 GMT
Here's another question on the fringe. It seems like all the big questions of morality were settled centuries ago — or millennia — and maybe that's why it's interesting to look at little questions.
I saw a news article:
BBC News: Woman who found £20 note on floor convicted of theft
It raises a question I have previously pondered without a clear answer: How do you determine the morality of keeping money when you find it in a public place?
I suppose it depends on the amount of money and the likelihood that you will be able to find the owner. Today I found a quarter ($0.25 coin) at the public library. It didn't seem practical to search for the owner, so I pocketed it and didn't give it a second thought... until now.
The choice wasn't quite so clear when I found a $10 bill at McDonald's, on the floor in front of the counter where customers order and pay. I handed it over to the cashier and explained that they should retain it in case its owner came looking for it. She was impressed by my honesty (or my foolishness? See 1 Corinthians 3:18-19) and thanked me. I suggested that if the money went unclaimed by the end of the shift, the workers could keep it. Her reply impressed me: "I would never keep it. I'll put it in the donation box [for Ronald McDonald House Charities]."
So what do you think? When are we morally obligated to turn in found money?
I saw a news article:
BBC News: Woman who found £20 note on floor convicted of theft
It raises a question I have previously pondered without a clear answer: How do you determine the morality of keeping money when you find it in a public place?
I suppose it depends on the amount of money and the likelihood that you will be able to find the owner. Today I found a quarter ($0.25 coin) at the public library. It didn't seem practical to search for the owner, so I pocketed it and didn't give it a second thought... until now.
The choice wasn't quite so clear when I found a $10 bill at McDonald's, on the floor in front of the counter where customers order and pay. I handed it over to the cashier and explained that they should retain it in case its owner came looking for it. She was impressed by my honesty (or my foolishness? See 1 Corinthians 3:18-19) and thanked me. I suggested that if the money went unclaimed by the end of the shift, the workers could keep it. Her reply impressed me: "I would never keep it. I'll put it in the donation box [for Ronald McDonald House Charities]."
So what do you think? When are we morally obligated to turn in found money?
??
