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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: haqihana who wrote (21417)	6/24/2000 1:14:00 PM
From: Thomas C. White	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769669

It is particularly bad, when a list is published of those who do tithe, which IMO, is a pressure move against those that haven't. ~H~ There are far more insidious techniques than that that I ran into both first hand and second hand I'm afraid, particularly down in the "heartland" of Texas, Oklahoma, etc. Would that "the list" were the extent of it. I recall more than one church where the pastor's wife was something of a certified junkyard dog tithe collector, who would have put any Biblical publican to shame. She would be in charge of working the distaff side of the congregation. One particularly memorable one (who had attended seminars on "effective methods of church finance") used to go visit the wives at home with the kids during the day while their husbands were at work and collect checks on the spot. The atmosphere is especially rarified in small towns, where there is usually one major Baptist church and half or more of the townspeople belong to it. Word somehow seems to get around quickly in such places when someone is not contributing "their fair share." Mandatory percentage tithing within a church amounts in a sense to a regressive tax, and the effect is actually even more pronounced in many Southern Baptist churches. Much more pressure is typically brought to bear on middle and lower income members of the congregation (who cannot so easily afford the ten percent and may try to wriggle out of it), while the wealthiest ones are usually coddled because of the potential for one-time gifts and bequests, and because they would be welcomed at another church with open arms. I went to school about 90 miles south of Waco. Your spelling and grammar are surprisingly good, all things considered. <g>