Wacky Wednesday--Laziness Is A Virtue

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

--Laziness isn’t a character condition it’s the discernment that something isn’t important.
--Far from being boring, idleness offers a creative time for dreams, thoughts and conversations that is to be relished and fostered.
--Through leisure, the mind is free to wander and invent. My best ideas have come from times of relaxation and reflection. You can’t rush good philosophy.
--Our fast paced life prevents us from hearing God, who moves at a much slower pace.
--Work interferes with family time, to the acknowledged detriment of many families.
--Over-productive people are insufferably active, demanding, and unhappy. They can’t rest in the peace of God, and they don’t know how to be still and are personally insecure about their worth and identity unless producing
--We work so that we can have better things that we can’t enjoy because we’re supposed to be working so that we can have better things that we can’t enjoy because we’re supposed to be working so that we can have better things that we can’t enjoy because…
--If it doesn’t generate income, our American culture treats it as irrelevant. This means that art, poetry, dance, beholding nature, and loads of other very healthy things for your soul get lost in the competition for income.
--We have put such a premium on work as meaningful that loads of women leave their true calling as mothers to go find fulfillment in the market economy.
--Think of the first question we always want to know about someone: what does he DO? As in, is he productive or is he a bum? And think of how odd it would be for someone to say, “I do nothing of that sort.” Oh, you mean you’re unemployed? No, I’m not seeking a job. I don’t play that game.
--There was no toil in Eden. It was after the fall that man was cursed to work. Shouldn’t we be redeemed from the curse?
--In heaven, we won’t do work. Heaven will look a lot more like lounging at the beach than it will look like working at the mill.
--Be still and know that I am God presupposes that you can stand being still.
--God will provide, the lilies don’t toil or turn, you can’t add one cubit to your stature, God knows your needs. Matthew 6:24-34
--Consider the case study of Martha and Mary!
--It’s extremely odd to say on the one hand that you can’t earn heaven but to then turn around and say it’s a grave moral sin to not be working and productive!
--“Labor-saving” technology by definition means “laziness-enabling” technology.

Resources:
Laziness Quotes
Bible Verses About Laziness at InTouch.org
In Defense Of Laziness by Hal Cranmer at Mises.org
In Praise Of Idleness by Bertrand Russell
Quitting The Paint Factory: On The Virtues Of Idleness by Mark Slouka
Idling: Why It's Important Not To Be Busy All The Time by Mortimer J. Adler
The Ideas Of Work And Leisure (5 parts, click on link at end to continue) by Mortimer J. Adler
How To Be Idle book by Tom Hodgkinson
An Interview With Tom Hodgkinson (Katie Renz, MotherJones.com)
American Idle: It Takes Hard Work To Master (Craig Wilson, USA Today)
Selling The Work Ethic book by Sharon Beder
Protestant Work Ethic defined at Wikipedia
History Of The Work Ethic by Roger B. Hill
The Myth Of Laziness book (about underachieving students) by Mel Levine