The price of religion?

Post by **Lalaith** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:58 am

That is very strange to my mind. Interesting!

And, yes, Eru, 10% is the general baseline given for a tithe of one's income. I can only speak for the Southern Baptist church in America. It's not required; you're not pressured. Pastors nowadays tend to shy away from the subject at all, since it has been used in the past in abusive, harmful ways.

(And I specified Southern Baptist because I will not speak for any other Baptist churches. I probably should specify the SBC churches I've belonged to to be extra safe. YMMV.)

Post by **yovargas** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:10 am

Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way but taxing people for going to church sounds like the gov. trying to give incentive to stop going to church, which sounds like exactly what's happening. That's utterly bizarre, IMO.

Post by **Túrin Turambar** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:07 pm

yovargas wrote:Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way but taxing people for going to church sounds like the gov. trying to give incentive to stop going to church, which sounds like exactly what's happening. That's utterly bizarre, IMO.

You and I come from countries with a formal divide between church and state where this sort of thing wouldn't be possible. I have to say that I'd never heard of it and it struck me as odd that there isn't a huge controversey over it, but the history is different. As Nin points out, after the Reformation and various wars over religion the Holy Roman Empire adopted a principle of cuius regio, eius religio (the religion of the realm is the religion of the ruler) with certain official state-supported religions, and this seems to me to be something of a hangover of that.

Post by **Pearly Di** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:13 pm

Lalaith wrote:That is very strange to my mind. Interesting!

It's mighty strange to mine, too.

There was a time in England when the Church forced people to pay the church tax but that was a long time ago, thankfully.

And, yes, Eru, 10% is the general baseline given for a tithe of one's income. I can only speak for the Southern Baptist church in America. It's not required; you're not pressured. Pastors nowadays tend to shy away from the subject at all, since it has been used in the past in abusive, harmful ways.

Yep. Speaking from my experience in the UK, every evangelical church I've ever known or been in teaches tithing, i.e. giving away 10% of your income to the church, and also charities and missions. This is not mandatory or forced. The more 'whackadoo' type of churches may be capable of guilting their congregants into the ten percent, but any church with integrity will teach this responsibly and also, for example, not make a secret of their pastor's salary details, etc., so people know exactly what they are paying into.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:28 pm

Our church emphasizes that what we give should not just go to our church, and that time and talents are also important parts of giving to both church and community.

Finances are completely transparent. The whole congregation meets every year to discuss and approve the budget, including all salaries. Usually we amend it here and there first. (Our pastor keeps trying to freeze his salary so some of the money can go to give raises to other staff. We usually find a way to give him the intended small raise and also raise the staff salaries. He also gives 10% of his income right back to the church every year.)

Post by **Nin** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:22 pm

You can go to church as often as you like, if you pay the tax or not. You can pray and believe.... Only, you cannot ask for an administrative service to be performed for you by church. This concerns mainly burials and weddings. My parents were no longer in the church and I still had a confirmation without anybody asking about that.

People are not taxed for going to church, but for the desire to uphold the institution, the buildings etc.