Personally I'm an atheist, but I still find this piece of religious text interesting. It tells us that this is as old problem as human civilization is. How do people share the work and the fruits of the labour?

> How do people share the work and the fruits of the labour?

Atheist now, but formerly not. This story isn't about that. See my other comment for the broader context it is contained in.

> It tells us that this is as old problem as human civilization is

Only if you presume human civilization started with the bible. Fair bit of civilizing went on before that.

You're painting in broad strokes and getting some flak for it, but there's definitely some truth to this. The context surrounding the story is extremely relevant.

The Workers in the Vineyard is a story being told by Jesus within the larger story of the Gospels. It is a parable. It's not a beast fable with some clearcut moral. The whole story itself is intended as a metaphor for salvation and heaven.

He's not even indirect about it this time, he makes it clear from the beginning:

> For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard..."

The workers object because (surprise) this actually is unfair in a landscape of mortal human struggles. It's jarringly so. It defies common sense and notions of fairness. In that confusion, Jesus is trying to make a point about just how incomprehensible the generosity of the godhead is. He's saying it breaks your prior notions and that salvation doesn't map to time and money.

There's literally no other point being made by the parable, and it's a total error to try to divine another message.

It's surprising Jesus din't make the point that being good is its own reward, instead of focusing on the ultimate payoff of heaven.

Flattery gets you far, bribery gets you farther

Dismissing a text, simply because some people consider it holy, seems a worse folly.

Yeah but there are some timeless truths in many religious texts. This one seems to be applicable.

You can also mine out some awful stuff by plucking certain passages without the right context, and we have certainly seen hatred and violence justified that way through history.

This story is also missing the larger context that explains what it's really about -- and the answer isn't labor and wages.

As opposed to basing them on...some system you came up with?

Almost as good, one might imagine. No truth written in the Bible gets less true. No lie gets less false. About the only benefit is that you know the Bible as a whole is fairly Lindy and full of powerful and competitive memes.

Which may mean that the text is useful as a means to express your opinions.

What's your preferred alternative for making ethical judgements?