Do you tithe a portion of your income to a place of worship?
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ties to the Mormon Church have once again focussed attention on the issue of tithing.
As a Mormon, Romney says he abides by the practice of giving 10% of his
income to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And he can certainly afford it.
Only a small minority of Christians tithe that full 10% it seems. In fact, according to the Huffington Post, most Christians give an average of only 2.4% of their income.
It's not clear just where those numbers come from, however. Nor does it say anything about non-Christians and their donating habits.
Whatever you may feel about the relative merits of of tithing, it’s certainly clear that most religious institutions are getting better at collecting money than they used to be.
Today, it's all about dealing direct. One big player is a service called ParishPay, which works with churches and synagogues to help sign up worshipers to pay via credit or debit card or automatic payment from their bank accounts, the New York Times reports.
But that's simply too much, argues one critic.
"Tithing is a really bad thing to do if you want to get ahead financially," says Nelson Smith, who blogs at Financial Uproar. "Giving away 10% of your income is a pretty poor way to get rich."
"It doesn’t matter who you give it to, it’s gone. It can’t be invested for long term growth, or used to pay down debt, or even used to buy food. Getting ahead on 100% of your income is hard enough, cutting it down to 90% is just placing an unnecessary weight upon yourself," he maintains.
Since somebody has to pay the rent, how much should churchgoers tithe?By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Viver | Sep 19, 2021 11:48:03 AM
My place of worship is the earth and the oceans and this is where I donate, to the animals and people who cannot speak for themselves. I give the World Wildlife foundation, the humane society in my city. International Fund for Animal Welfare, WISPA etc. I plan to do some echo vacations when I retire and give back to try and save this planet. If everyone did just one thing, just think of the difference it would make for our planet. Can you imagine if the instead of protesting over their religion but were protesting about the destruction of this earth by some corporations instead of about some entity they have never met but to protest about actual atrocities happening around this world. Oh, it would be a wonderful world, but unfortunately as the book of "Power versus Force” humanity is very low on the scale of enlightenment and has a long way to go.
Posted by: Jay | Sep 19, 2021 1:27:20 PM
I have no place of worship (in the formal sense of the term), as I have no religion. Therefore I give 0%.But to answer the question: "how much should churchgoers tithe?" Well, that it entirely up to them, and there is no right or wrong answer as far as I am concerned.
Posted by: Mr. Negative | Sep 19, 2021 2:24:55 PM
It is kind of like tipping isn't it? You give what you can? It is unfortunate, but churches are very much a business and run off profits from the customers who go to them. After all, they are the largest real estate holder in the world. Mcdonald's is number 2.
Like anything else, if you want to participate, you must pay. Asking for 10% would be a bit much!
Posted by: GlennS | Sep 20, 2021 8:07:35 AM
Tithing in its true form is a means of being thankful. It is an understanding that I as an individual am part of a greater reality. I am blessed with material goods (my paycheck) and there are many many others who have less than I. This does not mean that low income people cannot or are not to be considered able to tithe. The lowest income earner does indeed have more than someone who is too ill or unable to work.
In our self centered and greedy culture of today it is indeed something that is looked down upon. Yes it is "redistribution" of wealth. (Ironic that Mr. Romney claims he tithes as he indicated that he does not believe in redistribution to "victoms").
As a person that does tithe - although not 10% - I am VERY happy to see my hard earned cash help out the less fortunate and the environment.
Try it some day, being thankful and sharing makes you feel good.
%)Glenn
p. s. I am not rich in the money sense compared to North American monetary standards.
Posted by: Al-Man | Sep 23, 2021 4:19:08 PM
If I did go to church and believed the endless stories and never ending interpretations of a book that promises happiness to make people go on with their lives, I might fork over a few bucks. But as Mr Negative points out, the church, no matter what denomination, is a business. And this business makes money selling salvation to those who have to believe in something because they do not believe in themselves. If the church is able to entice people to fork over a large quantity of their money, then hey, all the power to them. But so many people give their rent and food money to the church in hopes of salvation. This is where I shake my head.
Tithing comes from some a 500-1000 yr old practice of churches scaring up money to keep going without actually working to survive. If you didn't tithe, the church might call you a heretic and burn you at the stake, or tell heaven not to accept you. So the scared peasents paid up. Too bad the church hasn't evolved to the point where they didn't have to take money from people like the good old days.
Posted by: Jennifer | Oct 2, 2021 2:44:45 AM
I do not now belong to any religion, but was raised protestant Christian. From what I recall, the tithing expected is 10%. Whether that is gross or net I do not know ..nor do I know if it is specified anywhere. I think that tithing comes down to personal ethics/belief. If a person is not formally involved with a particular religious organisation, the issue is moot I rather think. If a person IS involved with their religious organisation, the issue really becomes a non-issue. So pitting tithe-payers against non-tithe-payers doesn't make that much sense ..because there isn't going to be a concensus, I wouldn't think. If you believe in the validity of your particular religious organisation's direction, and your religious texts indicate that tithing (in whatever amount) is expected, I would think that you concur and abide by that 'rule'. If you disagree, I would expect that you should re-think your membership in that particular religious organisation. At the end of the day, we all have to make contributions to the society in which we live. Whether it is a matter of religion, politics, education, etc., our responsibility is to enable our chosen officials to conduct the business of society in the best and most ethical way possible. Funding these undertakings is done through tithing, taxes, tuition, etc. And as the saying goes, 'put your money where your mouth is'. Also, VOTE ! And, continue to hold officials responsible for their actions.