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In 1956 Philip Dick published a science fiction short story about a method of fighting crime before it happened. In The Minority Report, a special law enforcement office received reports about violent crimes days before they were committed, so that future perpetrators could be arrested for what they would have done. As a result, the founder of the division could say, "In our society, we have no major crimes…but we do have a detention camp full of would-be criminals." The book wrestles over whether people are culpable for crimes they haven't committed but have desired.
This is the question also provoked by the Tenth Commandment: Are we responsible for our sinful desires even if we don't act on them? The Bible's answer is, yes. Even if we don't take another man's wife we are wrong for desiring her. Even if we don't steal another man's property we are wrong for coveting it. Our desire to sin is criminal in God's legislation. For this reason, the tenth commandment urges us to consider our inclinations to sin. God knows that "the best way to keep men from committing sin in act is to keep them from desiring it in heart."