Slave labour!!!

Much has been said, over the past week, about the plans announced by the Coalition Government for reform of the welfare system in the U.K.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a lot of it has been negative and sensationalist.  I confess to having become somewhat annoyed at being told, repeatedly, that the unemployed - who are fit and able to do so - being expected to provide voluntary labour for a number of weeks in the year, is slavery.  Those who make these grandiose pronouncements appear to have no idea as to what slavery really is!  The folk who will be expected to work in these ways are being paid, all the year round, for the work that they will be expected to do!  They receive a number of additional benefits due to the fact that they are receiving the Job Seekers' Allowance!  The purpose of the exercise, as I understand it, is to break the cycle of benefit dependency that has become a blight on British society - and, many would claim, a magnet for criminal elements from other countries who set out to deliberately exploit the system!

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams is, reportedly, opposed to the whole idea, claiming, among other things, that "It can make people who start feeling vulnerable feel more vulnerable".  With all due respect to the Archbishop - the same one who, not so very long ago, claimed not only that the acceptance of Sharia (Islamic) Law in the UK is inevitable, but also that it wouldn't be a bad idea; who has consistently failed to provide strong leadership with regard to active homosexuality within the ranks of the Anglican/Episcopal clergy; and who appears, at times, to be esconced in an ivory tower - I would refer him to, for example, the inspired words of the apostle Paul, to the early followers of Jesus in Thessalonika:
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don't follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.  Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat."
Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people's business.  We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living." (II Thess 3:6-12, NLT)

It seems to me as one who, at the last General Election, voted for neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats, that while it is right and proper to care for those who are genuinely unable to provide for themselves, everyone should be encouraged to support themselves as far as is possible.  If this new system brings about, for many, a new attitude to work, then it will not have dealt with all of the unfairness in our modern society - both real and perceived - but it will have lifted some out of the 'poverty trap', and made them positively-contributing members of the society to which we all belong (whether big or small!).  That can't be a bad thing!