Does it matter where the money comes from, if the money is used for what could be perceived as an honorable purpose?
Does it matter if stolen money is used to buy drugs and in turn that money is handed over to be used to pay people to do jobs that are not illegal? Is it ok, that women are traded as commodities and the money they earn is used to build elite golf courses, where groundskeepers can then afford to feed their families? Does it matter if people are murdered to further the goals of a criminal organization to ensure maximum return on investment, and those profits are used to support real estate development where high paying jobs in the construction industry ensure there is a consumer market for new cars and trucks and the subsequent requirement for fuel?
If your boss told you that he was using money that he got from criminals to pay you; would you be ok with that?
Try not to tie this to anything that is going on in the news and just ask yourself if you would walk away from a paycheque if you knew the funding came from illegal sources.
As for me; yes it would matter, but it would be a harder decision to make than it should be. I would try to find a new source for income, but if my back was up against the wall, I don’t know what I would do. I think I would do everything I could to convince myself that if I could do something good with the money, that maybe it would cancel out the bad that it came from. That of course is bull shit…at least it is to me.
Why? One reason is that literally millions of people have been killed defending our higher ideals. They went to war to protect our freedoms and believed they were wearing the “white hats”. if we dishonour ourselves now; we are dishonouring them and the ultimate sacrifices that they made for us.
I will try to remember that when the shit hits the fan.
© 2026 – SoulSequel
19 responses to “Does it matter?”
It matters very much. The money shouldn’t be in their hands. When authorities find out, don’t they usually take the money from them? If I was being paid with that, I would report them to the police. I’m not willingly getting scooped up in that person’s mess. Now, I personally don’t mind the money being used in drugs, if we are talking about just drugs with willing and consenting adults. There is still the issue though of knowing where it came from and not reporting it. It isn’t a ship I’d want to go down with.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
It matters if it’s stolen and you know about it from a legal standpoint. Knowingly Taking stolen funds is illegal.
It also depends on who’s getting hurt. If a mass murder’s estate of millions of dollars (or whatever the local currency is) is confiscated due to his / her trail as recompense for the families… I wouldn’t see the harm in that.
On the other hand if one population is harmed who did no harm to others… for instance money gained from women who are trapped in prostitution through no fault of their own is a no go for me.
If the money comes from theft and I knew it, I would back out of being paid and find employment elsewhere.
I am against taking money if someone loses along the line. It is why I don’t go to Las Vegas and gamble. If I win at the slots, it is because someone fed all that money into the slots and lost it. I would not want to win because someone else lost. My happiness is not worth someone else’s grief.
However, in my younger days, I worked in a bar as a stripper and topless cocktail waitress. While the bar patron threw his money around (to impress women he could never get —- and if he could get her, does he really want her?) Still, the money flew around the room and about $300.00 a day landed on my tray. $24.00 of it went to my “Money to make change” glass, and the rest of it paid my bills and fed my kids. Then, a big chunk was saved to buy a house. I did not give a thought to the wives of these bar patrons —– the wives at home wondering what their husband is up to. ——- The wife that wants a new dress or vacation, while he is throwing $20.00 bills at a flock of bitches-in-g-strings.
When I was a housekeeper and maid, I would clean out under the couch cushions. The customer (my client) would say that I could keep any money I found. But, I considered that to be stealing. I would stack the coins on the kitchen counter with a note “Now you can buy that little candy bar in Wyoming that you have always dreamed about.” I considered that money was lost by someone sitting on that couch. It belonged to the person who owns that couch —– and not the housekeeper.
A few days ago, walking out of a grocery store, I found a dime on the floor. I handed it to a cashier. “I found this on the floor.” I know, finders-keepers, but the dime was not mine to keep. Someone dropped it. I do not want to gain from someone else’s losses, even if it is a dime dropped on the floor.
Once you know, it matters.
Even if you don’t think it matters. Somewhere in the back of your psyche is the notion that you have or are still profiting from something wicked.
@griz you know it’s interesting that in biblical times, crime/ sin was simply paid as a tax to the priestly caste in terms of sacrifice. If you were rich enough you could infinitely/ commit most any crime you wanted…
@Jear77
That sounds more like shades of the Catholic religion.
Free Christ there was the concept of giving up something very precious to you as part of the remission for sin process. It showed that nothing was more important to you than being right with God.
But it was a never-ending cycle; and is Paul noted no matter how many sacrifices you made it never cleanse you of the desire to sin.
The sacrifice of part of God’s own self, now becomes the ultimate one time sacrifice for all.
The only sacrifice we are called upon to make, is that of our foolish ego and pride.
@griz Look at the old testament in the parts where sacrifices are discussed and to what sins they’re attached to. Nowhere in there does it state how many times a priest is allowed to accept a sacrifice to cover the sacrificer’s sins.
@Jear77
Apart from that being an old Covenant that is totally fulfilled and no longer in effect, no, it does not put a limit on how many times a person can ask forgiveness for the same sin.
But upon seeing this over and over again, don’t you think a good priest would say something? Either privately, or make it part of a teaching\preaching series?
Even in this old Covenant, the intent was to teach the children of Israel that rote rule following could only take them so far.
Remember, this was Far More Than Just a UD-style Judicial Code to punish trespassers.
@griz ironically enough, I VERY highly doubt that much preaching was going on (outside that of the profits) as such isn’t recorded in the bible…
@Jear77
As it is today, even good Spirit-filled people can be found even within corrupt religious structures.
Why would we presume yesterday was any different just because the Bible didn’t specifically say it?
Chances are there was a lot going on that the Bible did not specifically record!
@griz did they have theological colleges to teach the priests on how to preach? Not likely.
@Jear77
I missed where the Bible says Jesus came to establish theological colleges!
I’m guessing you haven’t read John 16 in a while?
@griz I know what you’re saying… but talking “off the cuff” without having an appropriate education behind it to make sure what you’re saying is sound theologically and historically is sure to end in disaster.
@Jear77
Actually the Bible gives good solution to that with church structure (elders, deacons). Also remember that save for Paul, the Apostles where the opposite of “well educated”.
Remember the Bible says that the Gospel came first to those society deemed foolish, “to confound the wise”. Shepherds, fisherman, prostitutes, little children were the first it came to. The “well educated” were already too full of themselves in their own eyes.
At some point I would appreciate your sharing just which denomination or sect you were involved with. Mainly for my own education into religions and their ultimate folly.
– would you buy a house at price being offered or would you try to get the best deal for you? people lose money on real estate deals every day.
– and as for Vegas, do you go and not gamble? that whole city was build and paid for with losing bets, even the nice rooms, inexpensive entertainment and cheap buffets.
– every played the stock market? same thing, make money while others lose it.
just sayin’ just because someone chooses to be (or wittingly becomes) a loser (real estate, car, gambling, stocks, garage sales, anything) does not mean we can’t gain because of their loss.
So my answer is NO, it doesn’t matter to me.
@Fletch The question then becomes “would it matter if the shoe were on the other foot?” i.e. if YOU lost your home because of a domino effect whereby someone up the ladder indirectly caused a chain of events that caused such a thing to occur?
@Jear77 you mean losing money on a home deal? I have.
Isn’t that what we all try to do, better ourselves and our situation?
i figure as long as there was no malicious intent, all’s good
@Fletch you do realize that not everyone’s motives are pure, yes?
@Jear77
purity can be a cloudy area – residential real estate for example –
If you try to get as much for your home, is that greed? Most of the time you never meet the people buying your home, so you don’t know their financial situation, or whether they can really afford it or not. I can’t be responsible for their finances or their choices. As long as they sign on the line that is dotted, its all good to me.
We buy real estate to make money. It’s basically a numbers game. If you don’t have the chips to play, don’t sit at the table. Buyer beware, I say.
ca·ve·at emp·tor
the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made.