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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (61733)4/25/2008 1:42:27 PM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 541687
 
Tithing or donating an amount close to 10% is something that all "Christians" are taught.

Maybe not all Christians. I never ever heard of the practice until I was in my thirties and one colleague mentioned to me that another tithed. He said it the same way as he might have said that the guy was a former star point guard at Duke. I had to look it up. Didn't know what it meant.

My experience has been that adults put a dollar in the plate and kids a small coin. I've been to mass with my aunts a couple of times recently and it's still a dollar. Sometimes they split it. The only people I know, two, to be precise, who give that much in charitable contributions are non-religious.

Of course we all apply our own standards to presidential candidates and some might well consider the failure to tithe a demonstration of meanness. They're entitled to that but it's hard for me to imagine that's a large part of the electorate. At least not a large part of Obama's constituency. But thanks for your insight. It's interesting.

As a practical matter, we all tithe if we pay more than minimal taxes. I withdrew my contributions to poverty causes during the Johnson administration when the government took over the poverty role. My contributions since have gone elsewhere, except for the Salvation Army which I use as a convenient way to rehome good stuff I no longer want.

Edit: I see belatedly your quotes around "Chrisitans." Hard to tell how many "Christians" there are as opposed to Christians.



To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (61733)4/25/2008 2:03:11 PM
From: Cogito  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 541687
 
>>Tithing might not be significant to you but it is considered quite important to many church congregations. <<

Patricia -

It is my understanding that Obama's tax returns do show charitable contributions on the order of 9%. If that's correct, is it the one percent you are concerned about? Or are you aware of some other information about his charitable giving?

- Allen