The Salt Path (The Film)

We're going to have to agree to disagree Lathyrus3

No sneering intended.

As I said previously, I think this was all very well-planned.

Not something done on the spur of the moment but planned with a book and publicity in mind.

My shades of grey encompass compassion for those who have their livelihoods stolen from them and the effect that it has on them. It’s easy for those who steal to just brush that off.

That is the essence of stealing from others. They and their lives are insignificant compared with meeting your own wants.

Actually I think it is a virtue to consider myself and my wants of no more more importance than anyone else and to hold back from doing harm.

I don’t think it’s a virtue to sneer at somebody who has faced some of life’s most difficult challenges and held fast to what they believe to be right.

You might even sway that lacks compassion.

Stealing is obviously wrong.

Having compassion for people who, under duress, once or twice in a lifetime take small things because they are desperate/unwell/bereft/etc isn't wrong.

They used to transport hungry children who stole bread.

I'm going to be honest here. Through no fault of his own my husband was made homeless when he was a teenager. He slept in the floor in other people's sheds and barns (without permission) and, on occasion, when he was hungry, he stole food.

He literally pulled himself from the gutter, got a job and by the time he was 20 had started contributing to society. Has he ever paid back the people he took things from? No, but he has paid his way, paid tax, he volunteers for two charities (including Shelter and our local homelessness charity). He is the most honest, kind, decent, honourable person I have ever met.

People in extreme situations don't always act rationally or do the right thing but it doesn't make them bad people.

Being unable to see shades of grey or an absence of compassion because, 'I've been in a tight spot and didn't do it' aren't virtues.

foxie48 Fri 06-Jun-25 18:43:18
Of course stealing is wrong, she could have left those bits out, but she didn't,

foxie48 Sat 07-Jun-25 09:06:44
Lathrus absolutely nowhere have I said it's ok to steal and I don't think anyone else has either.

foxie48

Well, Lathyrus I think you need to ask those who have defended her stealing to explain their justification, as for me (and tbh most of the other posters that enjoyed her book) I have just accepted that the stealing of the chocolate bar and sleeping in a campsite field without paying is a small part of the story that she has chosen to tell.

Well that’s a defence.

It was ok because it was only a small part of her story.

It was also part of the campsite owners story and the shopkeepers story and may not have been a small thing fir them.

That’s what I mean. Focused on herself .

I read the book and thought they were horrible and stupid people.
If I remember correctly they lost their home partly due to not reading paperwork correctly and then set off without even basic medical supplies.
They then stole from small businesses and seemed to delight in sneaking into campsites to use the facilities. And then they fell out with a friend who had offered them accommodation in return for some manual work.

Well, Lathyrus I think you need to ask those who have defended her stealing to explain their justification, as for me (and tbh most of the other posters that enjoyed her book) I have just accepted that the stealing of the chocolate bar and sleeping in a campsite field without paying is a small part of the story that she has chosen to tell.

Moth Winn has Corticobasal Degeneration. As far as I know, he is still alive.
I had two friends who had the same illness. They both died within about three years from diagnosis.

Then what is all the defence of her actions about me f not a justification for stealing.

It’s simply not logical. If you defend her for stealing to satisfy her wants then you are saying it’s ok to steal.

I haven’t said anything negative about walking with her sick husband. I totally defend their right to do so if that was what they wanted to do.

But the right to make that decision does not give them the right to do it by taking from other people.

It is a self centred focus that puts your own wants above those of others and takes no account of the damage it may cause. I perceived no shame or concern for the people she stole from.

Now I'm curious. What was the condition the husband was suffering from? Is he still alive?
Of course I could read the book, or I could go see the film, but maybe I'll just google these people...

Lathrus absolutely nowhere have I said it's ok to steal and I don't think anyone else has either. Neither have I said I thought it was a good idea to go off walking with a sick husband. I read lots of books about people doing things I don't approve of or wouldn't do myself, I don't need what I read to give me a moral compass I have my own already.

No need to steal then if work was available.

It’s no good.

Either you think it’s wrong to steal from other people if they have something you want or you think it’s ok.

I think it’s wrong. You think it’s ok.

We’ll have to disagree.

I've just looked it up. She worked wrapping sheep fleeces during the walk.

She wasn’t desperate.

She had alternatives, like work, that she chose not to take.

Maybe she didn’t leave it out because she didn’t think it was wrong. The sense of the book was that she felt it was quite funny. Part of the adventure. It shocked me when I read it.

That’s why I wondered if, now that she has money, she has made recompense.

Churchview

The Salt Path walk happened in 2013/14.
The first community fridge started in 2015.

I take you're point though. I just think none of us know how we would react if we were desperate and that a little forgiveness is not a bad thing.

Many of us have done casual work at some time, perhaps when we were young.

I think this could all have been planned with the book in mind so working your way round wouldn't have been so dramatic.
They're very wealthy now, let's hope they've paid up what they owed.

She did take work. They renovated a building in return for a roof over their head at one stage and, it's a long time since I read it so I could be wrong, I feel sure she did some work too during the walk - agricultural or factory work.

The Salt Path walk happened in 2013/14.
The first community fridge started in 2015.

I take you're point though. I just think none of us know how we would react if we were desperate and that a little forgiveness is not a bad thing.

She's a fit woman she could have got casual work, enough to pay campsite fees and buy food.

I don't think anyone has said that it's OK to steal, i don't think Raynor Winn thought it was OK to steal she could have left it out of her book but she didn't. The book is about what she and her husband did when they were faced with difficult circumstances, it is not a moral guide to how we should conduct our lives. Memoirs and autobiographies would be extremely dull if only people with blameless lives shared their stories.

I hope, however desperate I was, I would not stoop to stealing.

Community fridges are available in many towns. Casual work is often available too.

Churchview

No.

It's let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

The Eighth Commandment:

Thou shalt not steal.

No.

It's let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

What’s that? Judge not lest ye be not judged? I’m ma,I guess a guess there.

Well like I said before, I’ve been in almost exactly the same circumstances, except my husband did due. So I lost husband, job, and house.

And I still didn’t think I was entitled to steal from other peop,e.

What’s more I’ve known hardworking people brought to their knees by those who thought they did have the right to just take what they wanted.

I think maybe it’s you that’s making the judgement.

John 8:7