"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

[Maple]

This is the passage in context:

10For even (T)when we were with you, we used to give you this order: (U)if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.

11For we hear that some among you are (V)leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like (W)busybodies.

12Now such persons we command and (X)exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to (Y)work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

13But as for you, (Z)brethren, (AA)do not grow weary of doing good.

14If anyone does not obey our instruction (AB)in this letter, take special note of that person (AC)and do not associate with him, so that he will be (AD)put to shame.

15Yet (AE)do not regard him as an enemy, but (AF)admonish him as a (AG)brother.

So much for being considered "Satanic" Avatar.

Consider the entire chapter (2 Thessalonians 3) to get the context. Paul is trying to set an example. God’s plan is to provide for our needs through our work. This is part of God’s character, because God is always at work, taking time to rest only after the work is completed. A person who is lazy and without purpose is easily seduced by Satan. That's why it's important to avoid such people and those who enable them.

How's that saying go?? Idle hands and minds are the devil's playground?? Just look at Saudi Arabia where all the men don't work and watch television 24-7, the King supports them all with money from oil. It's people from the U.S, Canada and the rest of the world that works those oil fields, not Saudi's. 19 of those who hijacked our planes and killed 3,000 Americans came from Saudi Arabia. Probably a very true statement, men need to work in order to keep evil out of their lives.

 

[MajikMyst]

Sounds like slavery to me.. Wasn't that outlawed??

Funny troll post! I bow to your trolliness!

So?? Because I make a post that slaps you in the face with some common sense.. You call me a troll.. Typical rightwing trash!! Spin it how you want.. You are advocating slavery..

 

[xsited1]

Sounds like slavery to me.. Wasn't that outlawed??

Funny troll post! I bow to your trolliness!

So?? Because I make a post that slaps you in the face with some common sense.. You call me a troll.. Typical rightwing trash!! Spin it how you want.. You are advocating slavery..

Slaps me in the face???
I'm advocating slavery???
I'm rightwing???

Yet another awesome troll post!

 

[xsited1]

Quick question

The way I read it, it says that a person who refuses to work shall not eat.

What happen to people who are willing to work, can find no work, Should we let them starve?


In other words, what does a man live off of while he is learning to fish?? Dirt? Worms? Grass?

That's been covered in the thread. Obviously, we should not let them starve. That is supported in both the OT and NT.

But is this not a form of Welfare? Or is this a "Work Program" or "Study Program" in which the concept of Welfare only applies to people that do no work and do not search for woerk or learn a livable skill??

Of course it's a form of welfare. I'm still amazed at how many churches and other non-profit groups provide for the needy in America. It's great.

 

[Ravi]

Sounds like slavery to me.. Wasn't that outlawed??

Funny troll post! I bow to your trolliness!

So?? Because I make a post that slaps you in the face with some common sense.. You call me a troll.. Typical rightwing trash!! Spin it how you want.. You are advocating slavery..

When taken out of context it does sound like that...but I'm pretty sure that isn't what was meant.

He was more talking against money lenders and investors living off the labor of everyone else.

 

[Kalam]

I would disagree, as Lenin, in his time, blatantly violated the tenants of the Soviet constitution, and Stalin murdered the authors of the constitution in the Great Purge.

I don't consider the actions of Stalin relevant; I'd say that stalinism is an ideology unto itself. The fact that Lenin may have been hypocritical does not mean that he didn't codify what he felt were the tenets of his ideology in the Soviet constitution. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds" is the aphorism most commonly used to pithily summarize socialist thought, correct? It seems to me that "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" is fully in line with this popular understanding of socialism.

In other words, the Soviet constitution is Hadith to the Sunnah (Lenin's life) and the Koran (Lenin's writings). Given how many Russians still worship Lenin, the comparison has multiple connotations.

I don't fully understand this comparison. The Qur'an is the fundamental text of the religion, the ahadith are traditions surrounding the life of God's Messenger (SAWS) that have been collected and recorded, and the Sunnah encompasses the mannerisms and habits of the Prophet (SAWS) as reported in the Qur'an and various ahadith. They aren't at odds with one another as Lenin's actions and words apparently were.

 

[Ravi]

So...to follow the spirit of the bible would mean that taxing the money lenders and the investors was mandated by Jesus.

 

[eagleseven]

I would disagree, as Lenin, in his time, blatantly violated the tenants of the Soviet constitution, and Stalin murdered the authors of the constitution in the Great Purge.

I don't consider the actions of Stalin relevant; I'd say that stalinism is an ideology unto itself. The fact that Lenin may have been hypocritical does not mean that he didn't codify what he felt were the tenets of his ideology in the Soviet constitution. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his deeds" is the aphorism most commonly used to pithily summarize socialist thought, correct? It seems to me that "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" is fully in line with this popular understanding of socialism.

The rhetoric is consistent, but the actions are not. I judge Lenin's ideology not by his rhetoric (ie the constitution), but how he lived it.

In other words, the Soviet constitution is Hadith to the Sunnah (Lenin's life) and the Koran (Lenin's writings). Given how many Russians still worship Lenin, the comparison has multiple connotations.

I don't fully understand this comparison. The Qur'an is the fundamental text of the religion, the ahadith are traditions surrounding the life of God's Messenger (SAWS) that have been collected and recorded, and the Sunnah encompasses the mannerisms and habits of the Prophet (SAWS) as reported in the Qur'an and various ahadith. They aren't at odds with one another as Lenin's actions and words apparently were.

My communist friends who adore Lenin tell their children romanticized tales of Lenin's life, venerate his books as truth, and celebrate the Soviet constitution as their 10 commandments. Despite my arguments, they remain true believers. Remember, in communist societies, the state directly replaces all religion.

The imperfection of this comparison makes my point. Lenin preached about human rights, and then ordered the Red Terror:

"Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what is his background, his education, his profession. These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror."

At these times, there were numerous reports that Cheka interrogators employed tortures of "scarcely believable barbarity."[22] At Odessa the Cheka tied White officers to planks and slowly fed them into furnaces or tanks of boiling water; In Kharkov, scalpings and hand-flayings were commonplace: the skin was peeled off victims' hands to produce "gloves"; The Voronezh Cheka rolled naked people around in barrels studded internally with nails; victims were crucified or stoned to death at Ekaterinoslav; the Cheka at Kremenchug impaled members of the clergy and buried alive rebelling peasants; in Orel, water was poured on naked prisoners bound in the winter streets until they became living ice statues.[23] "In Kiev, cages of rats were fixed to prisoners' bodies and heated until the rats gnawed their way into the victims' intestines."[22]

Red Terror - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia