"Thou (Shalt, Shalt Not) Steal"
Yes. According to a recent podcast, stealing is optional. Three people were chatting about the ethics of thievery, and they decided it was all right to steal from a "Big Box" store because they are so rich anyway. Now it is true that people often reason this way, although most of them are not dumb enough to admit it publicly. Others use the same logic (?) to justify stealing from their employers (they don't pay us what we deserve anyway). Some cheat on their taxes ("I don't like the way the government spends my money anyway"). In the 1977 film, Fun With Dick and Jane, the title characters rob the telephone company, and customers who were there to pay their bills applaud them and cheer them on.
The only problem is that, when God gave the 8th commandment to the nation of Israel, He did not put it this way: "Thou shalt not steal unless…." Yet that has become the way people consider the matter these days. The problem is that, if there is one exception, there can be a dozen or one hundred reasons for violating the principle given. What else results from this way of thinking? Well, let's try this out on the 7th commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery unless…." Hmm. How many reasons are likely to surface in this instance in order to justify transgressing the commandment? Pretty soon it spreads to all the commandments, and people start saying, "It is Corban," so they can release themselves from honoring their fathers and mothers (Mark 7:10-14). How many such departures from God's Word can occur?
One flaw in many people's thinking is that the one being stolen from won't miss it—which is untrue. Shoplifters reason this way, but store owners do not take the loss on these things; they raise prices to pay for the merchandise that will be stolen. (Often employees take more than what the general public helps themselves to.) Stores need to make a profit in order to stay in business. In one city, a Big Box store tried to keep prices low because it was in a poor area of the city. After they had been robbed a number of times, they closed down. Stealing harms everyone.
Furthermore, it cannot be justified. God prohibited it, period. "Oh, but that was under the Law, and we're under the New Testament of Christ." This is indubitably true (Col. 2:14; Heb. 8:6-7). However, God condemns stealing under the new covenant as well. Can it be any more clear than what is stated in Ephesians 4:28? "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." No one has an excuse to steal. No one can justify himself for doing so; he would only be deceiving himself. It does not matter how rich someone else (or some company) is; their money is their own. Christians support themselves—and others.