Interested in hearing more? You can find the complete chapter, co-written by Barry Asmus and Wayne Grudem, which is entitled “Property Rights Inherent in the Eighth Commandment are Necessary for Human Flourishing” in the recently published work, Business Ethics Today: Stealing. Order your copy today HERE!

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about the Clearwire Corporation as they are contemplating skipping a very large debt payment that is due Dec. 1st. You can view the article HERE.

The business is not yet profitable and is consuming large amounts of cash. The debt payment of $237 million would dramatically reduce the amount of  cash that is available to operate the business moving forward, to the point where they would possibly be at risk of running out of cash sometime in the next 12 months.

They have a 30 day grace period during December, so the fact that they don’t pay on Dec. 1st is not a default. At the end of the grace period the debt goes into default, at which point in time bankruptcy and other possibilities could become part of the discussion.

Questions the CEO is facing are:  a.) Do I pay the debt when it’s due at the end of the month? b.) Do I use the grace period? or c.) Do I go into default all together?

The key points from a pure business viewpoint are a.) Do I have leverage to negotiate against this lender to get better terms so that I preserve cash to preserve the company? b.) Can I raise new cash during the grace period so that I don’t go into default, in which case I could pay my debt? or c.) Do I just pay and scramble?

The 8th commandment viewpoint (thou shall not steal) is very clear– when we make a commitment, we are to honor that commitment. The downside of making that commitment falls on our shoulders not on the shoulders of the lender. In other words, the lender is looking for payment due at the end of the month which was the commitment. The company has the resources to meet that commitment. The Wisdom books of the bible have a number of passages that speak on this topic. (i.e. Psalms 37:21, Proverbs 22:7)

From the Center’s viewpoint, the biggest problem in this business analysis is that it functions under the presumption that God does not exist. The Center would encourage us to start with the fact that it is God’s world, and that He has the capacity to meet a company’s needs as well as an individual’s. This is why the 8th commandment stands as a principle; because God can cover our needs while we should honor our commitments.

Questions:

1. What 8th Commandment concerns does this situation raise?

2. What courses of action would you suggest?

This ad is viewed very positively with comments such as:

“You just have to love this new ad Infiniti, where an Infiniti owner takes offense by his BMW owning neighbor throwing snowballs at him. He plots his revenge by taking out his car with a giant snowball.”

“I LOVE this commercial. LOL.”

“Haha probably the first and funniest Infiniti commercial they have ever made.  lol Im glad Infintii put some humor into thier advertisments, they usually make captivaiting Fancy Modern commercials but this was different, I liked it =)”

“Hahaha nice bmw got dist”

“That’ll teach that deviant little brat not to innocently celebrate the wonderful winter weather with me!”

“It’s a totally proportional response…kids throwing snowballs = I total your car”

“Infiniti you can’t win in a fair fight? Still BMW got steamrolled = happy me ”

Infiniti is getting into the holiday spirit, and it has two new ads that each revolves around one theme: the snowball. The two ad clips are titled “Mischievous” and “Magical,” and the slushy projectile is used in two very different ways in the ads.

The ad starts with snowballs being thrown at an Infiniti owner by a neighbor’s children.  The neighbor happens to own a BMW.  The Infiniti owner then forms a snowball and takes out the BMW that is parked at work, thereby freeing the spot for the Infiniti.

This ad is intended to represent the Infiniti Christmas spirit.

Questions:

1. It is argued that the taking out of the parked BMW is revenge for the children’s throwing snowballs.  Is this in keeping with the spirit of Christmas?

Follow up Questions:

2. The eighth Commandment says, “Do not steal.”  In your view, does this ad raise any issue with this Commandment?

3. Audi has an ad called “Parents” at http://www.bimmerboost.com/content.php?1819-Funny-new-Audi-A6-commercial-titled-Parents-from-Audi-USA. This shows parents taking a son’s car for a joy ride.  Does this ad raise an Eighth Commandment, do not steal, issue?

4. In comparing the Infiniti and the Audi ads, do you have a view on the morality of either as more or less consistent with the Christmas spirit and the Eighth Commandment, do not steal?