I like the idea, except the cost factor. You are talking about going from federal funding at a lower level to a higher level as you employ the unemployed as military personnel. It would help their morale/esteem and serve the country well but would cost much more to pay salary and benefits and retirement to a military employee than a welfare recepient.

 

Very true, but you may offset much of the cost with income tax revenue and lower costs of recruiting and retention. Interesting idea.

I have always been in favor of the military over welfare.

 

I would be happy with just some type of community service. School crossing guards, litter control, helping people on and off the bus, helping out at senior centers, etc. What the military idea has going for it is the training for future employment aspect.

I would be happy with just some type of community service. School crossing guards, litter control, helping people on and off the bus, helping out at senior centers, etc. What the military idea has going for it is the training for future employment aspect.

 

It's the future employment aspect that is the key. It's the training a person recieves that prepares them for that future. Also there is a lot of money earned to be used towards a college eduction. IMO you develop productive private sector citizens instead of government dependents.

First off, I would offer as exhibit A, Jesus Christ who went to the cross to die for the sins of people that would spend most of their life rejecting him and offered his life for those that crucified him.

 

He cared and cares for them, even when they don't care but openly reject and fight against him.

 

THey can do that their entire life and within seconds of the end of their time on this planet, honestly come to him and he will accept them with open and loving arms.

 

Exhibit B, Jesus told us to do the same thing.

 

Defense rests but reserves the right to crossexamine at a later date.:thumb:

I can appreciate that, LBBC. I thank you for the explanation. As I said, I just find it awfully hard to care about people so lazy that they don't care about themselves. After all, didn't Paul say in the Bible 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat'?

I can appreciate that, LBBC. I thank you for the explanation. As I said, I just find it awfully hard to care about people so lazy that they don't care about themselves. After all, didn't Paul say in the Bible 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat'?

 

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=3&version=31

 

Warning Against Idleness

6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

 

14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

 

Special Greetings

16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

17I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

 

18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=3&version=31

 

Warning Against Idleness

6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

 

14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

 

Special Greetings

16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

17I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

 

18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

That's the passage I was talking about. So, am I wrong in your opinion for feeling the way I do? Is it not expected of us to work, to not be lazy?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=3&version=31

 

Warning Against Idleness

6In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

11We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. 13And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

 

14If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

 

Special Greetings

16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

17I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

 

18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

 

Good point LBBC. :thumb:

 

I was looking at this for a class I'm teaching and noted the context as important as well. The church at Thessalonica was having a problem. Jesus was not returning as soon as they thought and people were dying. The result was that they were losing hope and the people who worked so hard in the community of faith were quitting. They stopped being active.

 

Now the church relied on the community sharing what it had with each other so when some stopped working (secularlry and religiously) the community was strained to meet the needs. So Paul wakes them up to not stop even if things have not gone as they thought it should.

 

Just some food for thought.

Ephesians 4:28

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

 

Proverbs 21:25

“The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.”

 

Proverbs 26:14-15

“As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.”

“The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.”

 

Proverbs 12:11

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

 

Proverbs 10:4

Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

 

Proverbs 14:23

In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Ephesians 4:28

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

 

 

The rest of the scriptures are directed toward the "unemployable" by choice, but the bold might be the part that applies to the rest of us.

The rest of the scriptures are directed toward the "unemployable" by choice, but the bold might be the part that applies to the rest of us.

I have no problem helping someone in need. It's the lazy people I have a big problem with.

I've been gone for awhile, but I wasn't trying to spin anything with my question. Just from reading your posts you said you would listen to your priest over posters on here. That's where my question came from, no more no less.

Continue letting them be unemployable but be very strict with them. Set guidelines on what they can and cannot buy with tax payers money.

 

Drug testing would solve a lot of our government handout problems. Drug test people who get government assistance once a month. If they fail a drug test, take their children and let them die or end up in prison. That may sound harsh but it's the way I feel.

Many are quoting scriptures where Jesus says love thy neighbor and his working with the poor. I could argue, and would, that he is referring to bringing them to the light.

 

I believe some are twisting a comment on here, way beyond the comment itself, stretching scripture.

 

A huge part of "bringing them to the light" is loving them. Jesus didn't just speak a gospel of love, he lived it. The two cannot be divided.

 

Christian's are to strive to be Christ-like...and as LBBC already pointed out, Christ gave us the ultimate act of love when he gave his life for us, all of us, including those who would reject him, not just those who would accept.

 

The fact that Christians are called to love everybody is an undeniable fact.

 

Now, to a point that I think has been overlooked or ommitted regarding love...

 

Love doesn't always take the form of giving someone something. Sometimes love is tough. There are people who genuinely need help and its not because they've been "lazy"...we should help them. Conversely, there are those who try to abuse and take advantage of the system. They are "lazy" and they expect or want someone else to foot as much of the bill as possible. Is it really helping a person like that to keep giving them the handout? I think a strong argument could be made that "love" for those two examples of people would take very different forms.

 

Love does what is best for a particular person...for one that may be to lend a helping hand, whatever that may be. Money, food, etc. For another, that may mean pulling the plug so they'll realize they have to accept some responsibility and start using their resources and abilities to provide for themselves and carry their own weight.

 

That's just a generalization. All people cannot be typified by those two categories and hopefully each case would be judged by people who are interested in doing what's best for the person in question. It's just an example...

 

But, hopefully, it will open our eyes to think about what it means to love somebody.

I can appreciate that, LBBC. I thank you for the explanation. As I said, I just find it awfully hard to care about people so lazy that they don't care about themselves. After all, didn't Paul say in the Bible 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat'?

 

I think we all have people that we find it hard to "care" about.

 

Going strictly by the definition of the word, caring would be different than helping or loving (depending on how you define love, of course).

 

My point is this...you could make yourself help someone even if you didn't care about them.

 

But, what does it mean to help someone? I argue (see above) that it doesn't take the same form with every person.

A huge part of "bringing them to the light" is loving them. Jesus didn't just speak a gospel of love, he lived it. The two cannot be divided.

 

Christian's are to strive to be Christ-like...and as LBBC already pointed out, Christ gave us the ultimate act of love when he gave his life for us, all of us, including those who would reject him, not just those who would accept.

 

The fact that Christians are called to love everybody is an undeniable fact.

 

Now, to a point that I think has been overlooked or ommitted regarding love...

 

Love doesn't always take the form of giving someone something. Sometimes love is tough. There are people who genuinely need help and its not because they've been "lazy"...we should help them. Conversely, there are those who try to abuse and take advantage of the system. They are "lazy" and they expect or want someone else to foot as much of the bill as possible. Is it really helping a person like that to keep giving them the handout? I think a strong argument could be made that "love" for those two examples of people would take very different forms.

 

Love does what is best for a particular person...for one that may be to lend a helping hand, whatever that may be. Money, food, etc. For another, that may mean pulling the plug so they'll realize they have to accept some responsibility and start using their resources and abilities to provide for themselves and carry their own weight.

 

That's just a generalization. All people cannot be typified by those two categories and hopefully each case would be judged by people who are interested in doing what's best for the person in question. It's just an example...

 

But, hopefully, it will open our eyes to think about what it means to love somebody.

 

Nice post!:thumb: My post was basically in reference to a poster that was being attacked by several scriptures that didnt directly apply to them. I felt he made it clear who he was referencing. I cant deny the point your making though.