“Stick ‘em up” – The Thief

I’ve given a lot of thought lately about tithing. Why would and atheist do this, you ask? Well, blame the current crop of GOP Presidential candidates who are standing on the street corners, patting themselves on the back and exhorting how holy they are by telling us how much money they’ve given, all the while chiding their competition in scathing comments about how little they gave. It’s enough to make you want to puke on your shoes. But outside of that, today’s post has nothing to do with politicians. They were only catalysts.

Today’s post is about tithing, which, by the way, is rarely preached about on its own. Generally, it is mated with “offerings,” and the tithe always gets first billing. The tithe always comes first. I like to refer to the tithe as a “Guilt Offering,” because that’s pretty much what it is. Give your ten percent, so you’re not robbing God, then, if you feel led (read: even more guilty), cough up a few more bucks on top.

All Your Tithe Are Belong To Us… 

Well, no, they don’t. In fact, it wasn’t the common believer that was referred to in Malachi, that age-old standby that is used to thwart the robbery of Yahweh. It was the Levite Priests that God blamed for defrauding Him. There is no Levitic Priesthood today; thus there is no tithe under the “New Covenant,” such as it is.

Let’s take a closer look at Malachi, probably the single most common scripture used to con the faithful out of their hard-earned money. First, know going into this that Malachi is taken totally out of context, which is par for the course.

Screams and pleadings from the pulpit can be heard on any given Sunday of, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” (Mal.3:10). Preachers and Pastors decry quite often that a tenth of the believer’s income belongs to God and if they don’t give it, they are robbing God (Mal. 3:8). If they are not faithful in giving their tithe, God will curse them (Mal. 3:9) and not “rebuke the devourer” (Mal. 3:11).”

I’ve heard of Ministers saying that a believer will pay a tithe, “one way or the other, possibly through sickness, hardship, lost job, lost home, or other means if you don’t give it to God.” and “You cannot expect God to bless you if you do not tithe.” This obviously didn’t include Jacob, who told God that if he would tithe if he got the blessing first. I’d like to see the Pastor try that one on Sunday morning.

Jesus Christ Teaches Tithing, Right…?

Nope, not even the character portrayed as Jesus Christ offered support for tithing. In fact, good ol’ Josh told his apostles not to take money from any source when they were out knocking on doors and spreadin’ the word. Even when Jesus became a zombie, the apostles still did not collect tithes.

Jewish tradition states that only Levites could collect tithes. Christian ministers are not Levite Priests, not even when using the word “Rabbi” and wrapping Atlanta Mega-church pastors in giant scrolls. In fact, the tithes that were paid were not ten percent of income. A tithe was paid on an increase, so if the tither did not have an increase, there was no requirement to fork over anything.

Didn’t Paul Say To Tithe…? 

No, not Paul, either. In fact, the bible touts that Paul had a job making tents, and that wherever he went he plied his trade, pulled his weight and earned his own keep. Of course, that is predicated on the belief that Paul actually existed. Like Jesus, the Apostles, Moses, Abraham and most of the biblical cast of characters, there exists no evidence outside of the bible that Paul even existed.

But even if he did, he would have been a Jew’s Jew, and would have been very well aware that tithing was not for the common man, or what we call believers. There is not one verse, jot or tittle that shows Paul every accepting one bit of “tithe money” to support what the bible says was a lifelong ministry.

I Bet Those Levites Were Loaded, Then!

Well, no, actually not. The priests (Levites) were not to live a life of worldliness. They were given small stipends of the tithe, which, as I stated, were paid on the increase only. It wasn’t even cash, but consisted of things like oil, wheat and corn. Interestingly enough, some of the tithe never even made it to the tithe-collector, but were eaten by the devout and their families in a communion ritual.

Oh, and just so you know, again according to Jewish tradition, portions of the tithe also went to the fatherless, widows, and strangers. Strangers? Yeah, see how easy that works when some stranger walks into a church asking for help to pay the rent or a utility bill. I’ve known some churches that have more paperwork to sign than I did when I joined the Marines.

Ten Percent, Right Off The Top!

Sorry, but no, again. “The first tenth belongs to God” is not a Scriptural statement. Not in actuality or even in principle. The tithe was not the first tenth, but the last. The tenth tenth, and again, I stress, it was not money. In fact, in ancient Israel, under the Levitical priesthood, money was not even tithable. No one was required to tithe on money. Period.

Any Minister who has even a rudimentary religious education should know that tithing money is unscriptural. Those who teach that the bible gives them authority to collect a tithe are, for lack of a better word, sinning. Given the level of income and lavish lifestyles of some preachers, they are sinning quite successfully. Either way, nowhere is it written that Yahweh ever authorized any human being or organization to steal ten percent of anyone’s wages for religious purposes.

There Are Other Scriptures, Right? 

Well, yes, but they are also bastardized and I could fill a week’s worth of blogspace explaining why. If you want details, go here for a Christian’s perspective on the illegitimacy of tithing. I’d use one of several atheist-related links, but hearing (reading) it from a Christian packs even more of a punch.

Suffice to say, all twelve references in the bible that are used by Preachers to spiritually stick-up their congregation have nothing to do with Christianity, the New Testament, Jesus Christ or anything else. Tithing is a Jewish tradition, for the Levite Priesthood and has absolutely nothing to do with money and has not even been applicable for centuries on end.

The point of today’s diatribe is that there are millions and millions and millions of Christians who believe that if they don’t fork over ten percent of their income, in many cases their gross income, that they are in danger of divine retribution for picking God’s pockets. Even if that means they cannot pay their other bills, real bills, like housing, transportation, groceries, medication, etc.

They are made to believe that they will become sick, impoverished, lose loved ones, suffer great financial setbacks, will be looked upon badly by their God and can, quite possibly, lose their place in heaven if they don’t tithe.

Gullible Is As Gullible Does…

It’s bad enough that billions are being lied to by the very nature of religious indoctrination, which robs them of the freedom from being credulous slaves to a non-existent god, steals from them the ability to look upon their fellow human being without bigotry, hatred and discrimination, and burgles their minds from the capacity to reason. But it only adds insult to injury the way many leaders of the Christian faith also systematically and purposefully rob them of what should be freely given, without guilt.

Tithing is the antithesis of altruism.