I don't know what that is but I wouldn't pay a church anything.

Jesus is always short on the green $$$$

One of the very few better points of the church that I attended was they didn't tithe or pass the plate. A box in the back where you could put what you wanted without somebody seeing how much that was.

With my mom when I was little. The priest actually called her into to speak with her because she wasn't donating enough.

Your better then me... I don't even want to think of how much I gave.

No, even thought I did put a few dollars in the collection plate from time to time. Actually, you should be proud that you are intelligent and were not taken in by their scam.

I always believed that God didn't want me to starve or go without, so I only gave when I could. When the church I was going to kept asking for money (sometimes 4 times in a service for various things) I stopped completely. I was not about to be a party to excessive greed.

My only real gift in life is seeing through most forms of bs. At the ripe old age of 8 or so, my grandfather decided it was time to introduce me to his favorite Catholic priest. My response: "So have you ever performed an exorcist?" Hell, if he had replied, "No, but we can get started on you now." We might have been friends.

No. I gave as little as I could get away with without rousing the ire of my parents. As a teenager, I did not sit with my parents during a church service, so I gave very little.

When I was a kid, my mother and her husband, forced my sister and I to attend mass every single Sunday. They didn't go. Around 12, I finally got smart. We'd walk to the church, I'd grab a program, so I could prove we'd been there (we were often accused of lying-it was part of the dysfunction), and we'd been seen by anyone they might ask. Then, just as mass was starting, we'd leave, go across the street to Dunkin' Donuts, and use the collection money to have breakfast. They never found out.

Ya, I did it. What a waste of money!

Yes I definitely did , as young as 6 or 7 if I remember correctly. Any allowance or money we got ( myself and my two siblings) 10% went to the church on Sunday. As we got older and babysat, cut grass, ANY income we earned ... we were REQUIRED to give it... funny enough, I remember so vividly how much PRAISE we got from anyone who was aware we tithed.... this praise was not a normal thing in our household.. so pretty much anything we did or said that “proved” we had a “testimony “ to the truth of the Mormon church ..then, we were worthy of some praise, which young children generally crave , when it didn’t come under any other circumstances. I also remember being very conscious of this disparity and finding it repulsive. Hence , by the time I was about 11... I decided not to continue being lied to ...(which prompted lots of “laying of hands” to help me overcome this terrible afflictionemanding honesty)

I never did because I was just a kid, but my Granny did. She was not one of those "I have to because its "required" " and they didn't give you the 3rd degree at the door. I don't go now, but I still give to United Way not at all for any kind of religous reasons but because it's the right thing to do and I work for a company that prides itself in giving back and helping others. I always like to choose whom I give to and give to a women's shelter and a group who stands in as advocates for children in court.

I would never pay tithes to a church. Is this going to get my kids through college? Nope. Take that Money, and, put it to good use. Good post. Thank you.

Oh c'mon guys. Who's going to pay for the upkeep of all those marble statues, gold plates and linen vests at the Vatican. I mean, they have a lifestyle to maintain. Oh, and check out Creflo Dollar and his "prosperity doctrine", with his 30 million dollar private jet.

I think you're all a bunch of stingy ingrates

I worked as a church secretary for awhile but didn’t attend. When I had to send tithe notices out I was appalled at the fact that members had to pay 10% of their income or risk losing their membership. What a racket!!

When I was going, I bought into the "God will reward you" BS.

I donated for several years myself at a time that I was struggling to hold my head above water and when it came time to ask for help I was told to believe harder, and that my faith was weak for me to be in the situation to have to ask. I (basically was shamed for asking.)

When they told me to pray, I told them that I had and I had been instructed to ask my brothers and sisters because God would help them find a way because we had all things in common. I received $35 (FAR less than I had given) and excuses about pastors salaries, missions, and building funds.

In honesty though, that was also about the time that I started to rethink about the things that H had been taught, and started to dig a little deeper.

I never tithed, but I did put some money in the plate when it came around.

I got scolded for not putting money in the plate, once...I think I told the priest or whatever he was, that his church was a lot nicer than my apartment. I was a precocious little punk.

I never tithed yet I still have some neurons that lament the amount I did give.

I did tithe for a while when I was married. Now I wish I had that money back. And I was fairly involved with a few churches, our pastors weren't rich. Not all of them are Joel Osteen.

I only gave a few dollars at a time at the most, churches need to find other ways to pay for their stuff

When I was going to a christian church was when I was young, so no. Parents on occasion would give us a dollar to put in the plate. Much later, did join a Unitarian Universalist church which I contribute to. All of our budget except rentals comes from the members. I am willing to support a church that is freethinker-friendly, supports LGBT., has a humanist group which I am a member of, and where I feel totally welcome. And one of the places where my kids learned to question and question.

Reformed Southern Baptist (religion I was raised in) and tithed my ten percent every Sunday I attended. I even had little envelopes with my name printed on them for easier counting.

Nope. I went as a child, then I reached the age of reason. Once that happened, I never went back.