Sloth (sin)

A personification of sloth.

Sloth is the sin of doing nothing at all, and is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Bible has many verses advocating industriousness.^[1] See: Work ethic

Sloth can take the form of general laziness and reluctance to exert oneself, or a failure to do specific things that one ought to do. For example, a man who stands idly by while a crime is committed instead of stepping in to prevent it is guilty of sloth, even if he is not directly involved in the crime itself. An eligible voter who knows nothing about candidates running for election to an important office and has no interest in knowing either them or anything about the issues affecting the safety and well-being of families and the community, local, regional, national, and international, is guilty of sloth.

One of the most famous examples of sloth is Pontius Pilate's 'washing his hands' of Jesus' case and allowing Him to be put to death, when it was in his power to free Him. More generally, inactive rulers may be considered slothful: Dante's Purgatorio has a whole section devoted to rulers such as Henry III who did little wrong, but did not use their power to advance the cause of good.

Christians guilty of sloth have no interest in learning more about Christianity, about the Bible, about witnessing to others, about defending the faith, about corporal and spiritual works of mercy, or about the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. The commandment in 1 Peter 3:15 is either unknown or ignored. See Christian In Name Only and Invincible ignorance.

See also: Bible scientific foreknowledge and Health risks linked to obesity and Obesity and its negative impact on intelligence and Obesity

Biblical scientific foreknowledge is the assertion that the Bible possessed scientific knowledge beyond that which is believed to exist at the time the Bible was written.

According to the Bible, both sloth and gluttony are sins.^[2][3]

Most individuals are overweight due to their dietary and exercise habits.^[4]

There is medical science evidence linking obesity to various health risks (See: Health risks linked to obesity and Obesity and its negative impact on intelligence).

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time.^[5]

Between 5 to 7 billion Bibles have been published.

See also: Atheism and sloth and Atheism and apathy

Atheism, sloth and lower economic productivity

Overall, atheistic societies have tended to have higher rates of sloth and as a result have eventually experienced economic problems (see: Atheism and sloth).

American Yeomen farmers hated laziness, ignorance and sloth

In the former Soviet Union, a popular joke was that the workers pretended to work and the Soviet Union pretended to pay them.^[6] A study performed in the former Soviet Union found that over 50% of the work force admitted to drinking alcohol while on the job (See also: Atheism and alcoholism).^[7] In China, the growth in religion has accompanied China's fast economic growth over the last twenty years.^[8]

Western Europeans work less hours than Americans and workers in many other countries.^[9][10][11] Commenting on this matter, Niall Ferguson wrote a 2004 article published in The Telegraph entitled, "The atheist sloth ethic, or why Europeans don't believe in work".^[12]

Niall Ferguson also noted in his article:

Aging populations in secular Europe/Japan and sub-replacement fertility rates is leading to economic stagnation in those regions (see: Atheistic societies, low fertility rates and the work associated with raising children).^[14] Reuters reported in 2015, "Japan plans to include steps to raise the birth rate, such as easier access to childcare and tax incentives, in a package of reforms due this month to tackle the biggest bottleneck to economic growth."^[15]

The regions of secular Europe which are performing better than the rest of Europe often have a cultural legacy of the Protestant work ethic. For example, a 2011 Telegraph article noted: "Either way, not a single Protestant or Germanic EU country has so far needed a bailout."^[16] The Protestant Reformation started in Germany and Germany has one of the strongest economies of Europe.

Due to lower economic productivity, atheistic communism/socialism can lead to a country to eventual financial ruin or significant economic problems which is what occurred to the Soviet Union and is currently happening in secular Europe via the Eurozone financial crisis (see: Sloth in atheistic communist countries and Sloth and Secular Europe's economic crisis).

In 2014, Sweden's new Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Loefven said, "Sweden is in a serious situation -- unemployment has become entrenched at high levels, school results have collapsed and the welfare system has major shortcomings".^[17]

Sloth and poor atheistic responses to theistic arguments

See: Sloth and poor atheistic responses to theistic arguments

Atheism, sloth and obesity

See: Atheism, sloth and obesity

"Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks." - Ecclesiastes 10:18

• Mental toughness and weight loss
• Indifference
• Prejudice
• Hypocrisy
• Atheism and obesity
• Lesbianism and obesity

• Sloth, Britannica
• The Sin of Sloth by Catholic Answers magazine
• What Is the Sin of Sloth and Why Is it Worse than Laziness?, Crosswalk.com
• Bishop Gruss shares a reflection on the deadly sin of sloth and the heavenly virtue of diligence or zeal
• What Is Sloth? Is Sloth a sin?, Christian Pure website
• The Deadly Sin of Sloth and How to Eliminate It From Your Life
• Sloth: The Deadliest Sin