Anytime “research” is done it is important to ask questions like, was the data properly analyzed? Or are the findings skewed by any personal bias or poor experiment methodology? Such questions simply were not given consideration in the social experiment that has went viral on TikTok, where a helpless mother of a starving baby in need of formula calls upon different spiritual centers for help. For any experiment, there are always data outliers that can significantly impact the results and therefore they must be investigated to determine if they erroneously misrepresented the data. An explanation of tithing practices is one such outlier. To better understand how this would affect the results of this experiment, a short explanation is given below.
Muslims pay in Zakat (alms) and is mandatory as one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Zakat is broken down into multiple forms; depending on what type of Muslim you are and your income (think like a tax), you are required to pay. Some Muslims also are required to pay in an additional tax to their mosque called a khum. It can be as much as 20% of your income. Revenues are often very high.
Catholics often differ on their interpretation of tithing, but it is generally accepted to be 10% of one’s income. It is not required, but selfless giving or sacrificial offering is taught to be one’s duty to the church. Revenues are often high and therefore are able to provide a wide array of charitable resources to local communities; often having an entire organized network of charities.
Buddhists have no explicit rules for tithing, just implied. Monks teach an extremely minimalistic and “selfless” lifestyle…to which many followers equate to giving most of what they have back to the monk and/or temple to prove one’s selflessness and help in their journey towards nirvana or enlightenment.
Revenues are often very high.
Your local Christian church is quite different and teachings on tithing vary from church to church. Though many do teach the standard 10% tithing rule, it is never expected or mandatory and is always taught as “whatever you and your family can spare”.
With individual’s desires for unnecessary pleasures steadily increasing, “what you and your family can spare” has steadily decreased in the offering plates. Pair that with the decrease in attendance at your local church and the ability for that church to help its community has been severed. Revenues are often very low. Also, it is important to remember that the rising costs of utilities and operational costs have increased for the local church just as much as they have the average American family. All of this combined have had a detrimental effect on the local Christian Churches ability to help and give to “the needy”.
With all this said, none of this excuses the Christian church from helping those in need. Which is the very reason you see so many churches closing down and falling into disrepair. It is their willingness to continue giving until there is no more left to give, and your unwillingness to attend services and “give what you can” that your local Christian church is now viewed as “failing to help the needy”, being wrongfully ill spoken of, and thus closing their doors.
But you can still help! It is never too late. Instead of relying on the government for help and then complaining when that doesn’t work out the way you hoped, perhaps a better (if not best) way you can help is for you to support your local striving Christian church through and by regular church attendance and tithing. Then, and only then, will they be able to get back to helping the needy as we always hope and pray that we can.
Signed,
A concerned Carter County Citizen
