Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueHair
For me, I still pay fast offerings even though I'm a non-believer. The reason for this is I consider fast offerings to be charity. I don't consider tithing to be charity since (from my understanding) it doesn't go to the poor. I think of tithing more like membership dues similar to what I would pay at a country club, etc. Obviously, to tithe payers it means much more to them than that.
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I don't pretend to know what tithing pays for entirely. I do know that the church is one of the most benevolent societies in the world. They need to spend money on buildings, utilities, and other bills before they can spend money on anything else. So, whether tithing directly goes to the poor, I can't say. But I know it makes money available in large quantities that otherwise wouldn't be available, and I know it creates the infrastructure necessary to allow distribution of charitable goods.
Kudos to you for donating money to fast offerings as a non-believer. Given that you know exactly where that money goes, it would make sense for you to want to donate money to fast offerings (far more sense than paying tithing would make).
My point with tithing is that I can't understand criticizing payments of tithing from anyone, though I can understand someone not wanting to pay tithing.