To read more from Daniel, visit his blog: Sic Et Non.
Several years ago, after I had posted a blog entry about Church finances, one disaffected former Latter-day Saint managed to turn the discussion — as often happens in such cases—to the damnably wicked biblical expectation and practice of tithing, which has been reaffirmed in latter-day revelation.
Latter-day Saints, he argued, aren’t really free to choose to tithe or not to tithe, because, without being full tithe-payers, they won’t be counted as members in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Which means that they won’t be able to enter the temple, be ordained apostles, and such like.
And, of course, it’s true: Not a full tithe-payer? No apostleship for you. No temple wedding. No luxurious three-year vacation as a mission president in Mongolia.
(It should not be forgotten, however, that one can be a full tithe-payer while literally paying nothing. If you have no income, your full tithe is zero. And this isn’t merely theoretical. As the bishop of a relatively impoverished singles ward some years ago, I admitted several young people to the temple who were, at the time, paying no tithing. They were full tithepayers.)
Unwilling to tithe your income or, absent income, to profess yourself a full tithe-payer? Then you won’t be rewarded with appointment as a bishop and will be denied the enhanced leisure, the vast recreational opportunities, the eminent social status, and the lucrative financial benefits that accompany that sinecure.
However, it seemed to me that the complainant was misusing the concept of freedom to suggest that we aren’t free to choose not to tithe simply because, to be more precise, we’re not free (if we have income) to choose to withhold tithing without that choice entailing consequences. But those are quite distinct things.
It’s true that, if I don’t buy movie tickets, I won’t be able to take a seat in the theater to watch Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible XXXVIII: Adventures with Dentures. But I’m still totally free to make that decision. If I don’t practice the violin for hours every day, I won’t ever perform onstage at Carnegie Hall. But I’m entirely free to practice or not to practice. If I don’t pay for a subscription to Cigar Aficionado, I won’t receive that magazine in the mail. If I don’t renew my gym membership, I won’t be permitted to work out on their equipment and, as a result, my legendarily buff appearance will be endangered. If I refuse to look through the telescope, I won’t see the rings of Saturn. If I don’t study hard, I won’t go to an elite law school. All such decisions are free. That they entail certain consequences makes them no less free.
In order to render my point absolutely clear, I make a choice every day when I get into my car to drive on the right side of the road: In doing so, I comply with a perfectly arbitrary rule. In Australia and New Zealand, in the United Kingdom and Japan, the rules demand that I drive on the left hand side of the road. If I were to insist nevertheless on my privilege to drive on the right, I would shortly drive into oncoming traffic and would, very possibly, end up quite dead..
I trust that I’ve made my point: Such decisions are entirely free. Unfortunately, though, they typically entail (sometimes grave) consequences. And Latter-day Saints aren’t the only people who will occasionally point that out.
Are we free to tithe or not to tithe? Yes. Absolutely. But here as elsewhere, our decisions will entail consequences.
Walter J GoldthwaiteSeptember 10, 2024
I am one of milliions that have paid the Lord as He admonsheds us to do. But I have received much more than I have paid in over the years - temporally and spiritually. The Lord said in the Old Testament, "prove me now herewith, if I will not open you the Windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10). I have proved Him from paying more than an honest tithing for more than 60 years, and have received such blessings, huge and small, and looking back on life my wife and I can see clearly that those promised blessings have come. It makes us aware that there have also been many blessings we aren't aware of although those that we know about are incredibly numerous and miraculous.
Nicole SampsonSeptember 9, 2024
I wish you had dug into it more. I was hoping for a little more insight.