Tithing
Cool history at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe
Apparently MEANS "10%", and goes back to the babylonians and a 10% tax (sales tax?)
The term is now used with donations to churches by members, but what's a person supposed to do who isn't a member of a church? I mean, well, you know, not really sure if ANY church represents the will of god or anything, however much they might seem benevolent in their goals.
Overall, I don't particularly approve of a fixed "tax" - a rather regressive idea, no deductions or anything. So a "rich man" can pay 10% and have 6 houses, 600 sheep and all that, while a "poor man" is supposed to starve his family to make sure his 10% goes to the church? Exaggerated examples of course, but just noting.
And what about a "single person" versus a "family man" - should the single person pay his 10% while the family man struggles with greater obligations of his spouse and children?
AND what about thieves? Can they give their 10% too? And what about slave-owners? I mean if I derive my wealth from working 100 slaves to death, does GOD really want his SHARE? I'd tend to think NOT!
Ah, I'm just down on the idea that God really cares about math like this.
Nah, GOD is surely smarter than me, but he must at least see as much as this! He gave me a brain to study things and form my own opinions on things, not to depend on rules from Babylonian kings.
A few years ago I asked my employer to reduce my salary by $6000/year and in exchange give the money to charity of my choice. It was a good deal for me since I didn't itemize my deductions. You can be sure this was MORE than 10% of my pretax income. AND one year I tried $12,000/year, much more than 10% of my income. But when I bought a house I figured "investing" in reducing my mortgage was a better choice.
Back to 10%, when a person is in DEBT, I sort of imagine GOD otta offer such people temporary waivers on their tithing - putting the 10% towards their debt, and then if things go well, they can go back to tithing to GOD later. I mean why should BANKS get rich on interest why you give money to GOD?
WHO would YOU rather pay interest to?! (Shh.... don't guess if you don't know.) Seriously why not say you are "borrowing back" your owed 10% now. You can figure out a nice interest rate and prepare to pay it back later.
Yeah, I know the value in giving continually, sorta keep up a reminder of what we owe for our goof fortunes, but if you gotta tith all the time, best to scale it as 10% of "disposable" income rather than from the start.
Disposable income is a funny term, but I mean money left over after paying needed expenses for food and shelter PLUS debt repayments. So my choice to give MORE to repay debt means I have less to tith to GOD now and more later.
And on with disposable income, even being a nebulous category, it does open questions. I tend to think about life by "minimizing needed" expenses and investing in ways that reduce my needed future income. So home ownership looks good when the mortgage is paid. Energy efficient windows are good because they reduce future energy bills. Good stuff like that.
A cool show I watched sometime (like Frontline or something) talked about the vast amounts of money laundered through the illegal drug trade. I thought it seemed like the greatest antidrug message there was, at least for me. Paying for drugs mean concentrating wealth and power in the hands of people who work beneath the law to expand their wealth and power no matter who they hurt. So every $1 I give to a drug dealer perhaps creates $10 in human misery in the future because it encourages more of itself - like throwing fuel on a fire.
I don't know if it would work. I can hold a similar vision over participating in the fossil fuel trade - everything you consume that consumes fossil fuels is concentrating wealth in the hands of people trying to expand their wealth and power no matter who they hurt (i.e. like future generations who must deal with the global warming we causes.)
Well, nothing very profound, and I've already admitted I hold a great esteem for the engineers and scientists who have created the vast exploitation scheme that support us so well, so far. But in the bigger picture, you have to wonder how things'll end up.
Back to the start, I don't see tithing has any direct influence over things. It all seems like a big lie - like the thief tithing 10% of his loot. You know, when you're stealing from the future, you're not really giving God anything.
SO, Mr. Complainer, what are we to do?
Hmmmm... My original thought actually was something more bold - like telling everyone to practice living on 50% of their income and burning the rest as a sacrifice to GOD. It's again sort of funny, and I'm sure the Churches will disagree, unless they get their 10% already.
SO, that's my outrageous tithe - something I can imagine because I can earn much more than I need - except for my mortgage. Always exceptions, but just playing games, wondering what would happen.
Its outrageous from all sides, but just seems interesting because the whole system is outrageous - the insane debt all over - the insane ambitions for infinite economic growth - the insane consumption of resources. Doing something outrageous or even imagining it almost seems to give perspective to the insanity in which we live. YES, I'm awed by our power, but more scared.
The meek won't really inherit the earth, by the way. Sorry, Jesus was just story telling, like me.
Apparently MEANS "10%", and goes back to the babylonians and a 10% tax (sales tax?)
The term is now used with donations to churches by members, but what's a person supposed to do who isn't a member of a church? I mean, well, you know, not really sure if ANY church represents the will of god or anything, however much they might seem benevolent in their goals.
Overall, I don't particularly approve of a fixed "tax" - a rather regressive idea, no deductions or anything. So a "rich man" can pay 10% and have 6 houses, 600 sheep and all that, while a "poor man" is supposed to starve his family to make sure his 10% goes to the church? Exaggerated examples of course, but just noting.
And what about a "single person" versus a "family man" - should the single person pay his 10% while the family man struggles with greater obligations of his spouse and children?
AND what about thieves? Can they give their 10% too? And what about slave-owners? I mean if I derive my wealth from working 100 slaves to death, does GOD really want his SHARE? I'd tend to think NOT!
Ah, I'm just down on the idea that God really cares about math like this.
Nah, GOD is surely smarter than me, but he must at least see as much as this! He gave me a brain to study things and form my own opinions on things, not to depend on rules from Babylonian kings.
A few years ago I asked my employer to reduce my salary by $6000/year and in exchange give the money to charity of my choice. It was a good deal for me since I didn't itemize my deductions. You can be sure this was MORE than 10% of my pretax income. AND one year I tried $12,000/year, much more than 10% of my income. But when I bought a house I figured "investing" in reducing my mortgage was a better choice.
Back to 10%, when a person is in DEBT, I sort of imagine GOD otta offer such people temporary waivers on their tithing - putting the 10% towards their debt, and then if things go well, they can go back to tithing to GOD later. I mean why should BANKS get rich on interest why you give money to GOD?
WHO would YOU rather pay interest to?! (Shh.... don't guess if you don't know.) Seriously why not say you are "borrowing back" your owed 10% now. You can figure out a nice interest rate and prepare to pay it back later.
Yeah, I know the value in giving continually, sorta keep up a reminder of what we owe for our goof fortunes, but if you gotta tith all the time, best to scale it as 10% of "disposable" income rather than from the start.
Disposable income is a funny term, but I mean money left over after paying needed expenses for food and shelter PLUS debt repayments. So my choice to give MORE to repay debt means I have less to tith to GOD now and more later.
And on with disposable income, even being a nebulous category, it does open questions. I tend to think about life by "minimizing needed" expenses and investing in ways that reduce my needed future income. So home ownership looks good when the mortgage is paid. Energy efficient windows are good because they reduce future energy bills. Good stuff like that.
A cool show I watched sometime (like Frontline or something) talked about the vast amounts of money laundered through the illegal drug trade. I thought it seemed like the greatest antidrug message there was, at least for me. Paying for drugs mean concentrating wealth and power in the hands of people who work beneath the law to expand their wealth and power no matter who they hurt. So every $1 I give to a drug dealer perhaps creates $10 in human misery in the future because it encourages more of itself - like throwing fuel on a fire.
I don't know if it would work. I can hold a similar vision over participating in the fossil fuel trade - everything you consume that consumes fossil fuels is concentrating wealth in the hands of people trying to expand their wealth and power no matter who they hurt (i.e. like future generations who must deal with the global warming we causes.)
Well, nothing very profound, and I've already admitted I hold a great esteem for the engineers and scientists who have created the vast exploitation scheme that support us so well, so far. But in the bigger picture, you have to wonder how things'll end up.
Back to the start, I don't see tithing has any direct influence over things. It all seems like a big lie - like the thief tithing 10% of his loot. You know, when you're stealing from the future, you're not really giving God anything.
SO, Mr. Complainer, what are we to do?
Hmmmm... My original thought actually was something more bold - like telling everyone to practice living on 50% of their income and burning the rest as a sacrifice to GOD. It's again sort of funny, and I'm sure the Churches will disagree, unless they get their 10% already.
SO, that's my outrageous tithe - something I can imagine because I can earn much more than I need - except for my mortgage. Always exceptions, but just playing games, wondering what would happen.
Its outrageous from all sides, but just seems interesting because the whole system is outrageous - the insane debt all over - the insane ambitions for infinite economic growth - the insane consumption of resources. Doing something outrageous or even imagining it almost seems to give perspective to the insanity in which we live. YES, I'm awed by our power, but more scared.
The meek won't really inherit the earth, by the way. Sorry, Jesus was just story telling, like me.
posted by Ares Olympus at 6:32 PM
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