gammaknight:
I went back and read the parable and I see that it really wouldn't apply either way. In the begining it says, "The kingdom of heaven is like. . ." So this parable has nothing to do with earthly wages or greed, but more over it is pointing out that we should be happy that others are saved and not worry about when they were. Basically a person who has been saved since 6 years old shouldn't begrudge an 80 year old man who converted on his death bed. It ends with "So the last will be first, and the first will be last" which sets up how we are to treat others.
Yes, it is about heaven. But I would say that's not
all it's about. There's important wisdom there for more mundane aspects of life that shouldn't be missed.
gammaknight:
What I have been trying to get at is that the government shouldn't be forcing me to be charitable or tell me what needs be fixed by taking taxes and then turning around and wasting it on pork barrel and people who just want a hand out.
Again, though, it's one thing if you're upset about the cost to you. It's another thing if you're just upset about people not working. If the cost of these things is really affecting your lifestyle, then yes, you have a real argument to make. If, on the other hand, it's more that it just rubs you the wrong way to see people not working very hard, and still living well, then I think the problem is actually more internal to you, than with the system. I think it'd be better for
you to change, and learn to accept that sometimes people will get more than they deserve, and that's not in and of itself a problem, than to expect the system to change a great deal. Be how the landowner tells the worker in the story to be: be happy that you got what your work warranted. Don't worry yourself so much that others get something without working as hard as you do.
Put another way: don't wish unpleasant things on others, just because you've had to endure them. Instead, wish that other people don't have to endure them. Hope that people get
more than they deserve from life, not only what they do deserve. Hope that people end up with more than you, rather than hoping they end up with just as much. Begrudging people benefits they get without working hard is a form of selfishness, and is something we should avoid.
Again, if you're complaining about the actual cost to you of these programs, that's a different issue, and we can discuss that. But if it's more an issue of seeing people get stuff without working for it, a change of attitude change your life for the better more than will a change in the system.