WORKING FOR DEMOCRACY by Margaret Sellers
We build on foundations we did not lay.
We warm ourselves at fires we did not light.
We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant.
We drink from wells we did not dig.
We profit from persons we did not know.
We are ever bound in community.
—UU minister Peter Raible, paraphrasing Deuteronomy 6: 10-12
A tithe is a one-tenth portion paid by an individual to support an institution, originally a ruler in Mesopotamia, it was a tax. It could be money, but it could be agricultural products, too. Tithing is an ancient practice that probably would have found its way into modern religion even if the Bible didn't formalize it as Mosaic law. Today tithing ranges from being a guideline to a requirement—there are European countries that still allow some churches to make tithing mandatory, and this is enforced by law.
It's probably safe to say that most religions have a some concept of charity, of giving, and many have specific guidelines for how much to give. If they're not required to, why do people tithe?
Some tithe to their congregation as an expression of gratitude, either to their faith community or to God. Some consider tithing a way of returning a gift to the source of all that is, much as a farmer, by composting, feeds the land. Some do it because, they say, the Bible says to do it. In some Christian circles, tithing is discussed as a form of stewardship, or taking care of our resources. They stress giving from the heart in accordance with one's means.
Look on the Internet and you find a ton of opinionated material on tithing. On the pro-tithing side, There's an Evangelical website that refers to congregations that don't tithe as spiritual sweatshops responsible for oppressing their workers, the minister and staff). As a practice, tithing gets a lot of praise from motivational types that talk about prosperity and abundance. In their view, the more you give, the more you have, and we're not just talking spiritual richness, we're talking about money as a tidal force, letting it flow out inevitably leads to its flowing in.
On the anti-tithing side, some argue that Christians are no longer obligated to tithe, because they don't live under Mosaic Law. Some who are against tithing complain about being pressured by their institutions and look on tithing as a form of extortion.
There are debates, in Christian circles anyway, about whether to tithe ten percent of gross income, net income, or income adjusted for extreme financial stresses. An organization calling itself the Newtithing Group, founded by a philanthropist, defines tithing as making the maximum comfortably affordable donations to charity based on annual surplus income, the tax consequences of charitable gifts, and the market value, after debt, of investment assets (excluding personal homes and possessions).
My brother-in-law, who is a member of the United Church of Christ, told me, I use 10% of gross. I have heard of others using 5-15% of net or gross. When I had to pay child and spousal support I got more creative. I think at one time I counted child support as part of my tithe. Later I remember subtracting child support from my gross and then giving 10%. We are trying to do 10% of gross. It is sometimes difficult to decide what is 10%. If you win $50 in the lottery or a drawing do you include that? I generally don't for things under $100. If I won $1,000, then I would set aside 10%. It is not always easy.
One thing this tells me about tithing is that it forces one to think long and hard about their giving. It could be that tithing offers a useful framework for figuring out what we can do financially to be useful in a world where the needs so often overwhelm us.
We tend to think of tithing in terms of money, but you can tithe other things, too. You tithe your time, for example. Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, promotes idea tithing, taking ten percent of your intellectual effort and creating concepts that, when executed, benefit everyone. And, harkening back to Mesopotamia, we can always pledge sheep or cattle to a worthy recipient. Or some chicken soup.
If this were to catch on at the UUCC, I imagine it would mean a dramatic rise in our pledge income. Take this year's campaign. $126,000 was determined to be the amount needed for next year in pledge contributions. Based on 160 members, that means that right now it takes $788 per adult in pledges to run our program, or $15/week per person. Viewed as a UU tithe, that would require a gross salary of $15,760. Or, easier math, if you have an income of $20,000, you'd put aside $2,000. Your pledge would be $1,000, leaving you with another thousand to support other causes. That's a lot of money. Some of us can't afford 10%. But that's ok, we're not answerable to Mosaic law. And we can always keep it in mind as a goal.
UU minister Scott Alexander, in a book he edited called Everyday Spiritual Practice: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life* has this to say about tithing:
I tithe because it tells the truth about who I am. If I did not tithe, it would say that I was a person who had nothing to give, or I was a person who received nothing from life, or I was a person who did not matter to the larger society, or I was a person whose life's meaning was solely in providing for my own needs. But in fact who I am is the opposite of all these things. I am a person who has something to give. I am a person who has received abundantly from life. I am a person whose presence matters in the world. I am a person whose life has meaning because I am connected to and care about many things larger than myself alone. If I did not tithe, I would lose track of these truths about who I am. By tithing I remember who I am.
* Scott Alexander is quoted in this sermon on spirituality by UU Rev. Roger Bertschausen.
Q. What are some of the most important Old Testament references to tithing?
A. Genesis 14:20 and 28::22. Deuteronomy 14:22, Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:10
Q. How does the New Testament deal with the opportunity to tithe?
A. We understand that Jesus and the apostles assumed that the tithe was a healthy guide to one's stewardship. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus warns the scribes and Pharisees not to misuse the tithe as an "excuse" for neglecting other weightier matters of justice, mercy and faith. St. Paul follows the same logic in emphasizing that believers should give proportionately, as God has blessed. I Corinthians 16:2 and II Corinthians 9:6-12. Nowhere in the New Testament is tithing repudiated.
Q. What are some of the most important Old Testament references to tithing?
A. Genesis 14:20 and 28::22. Deuteronomy 14:22, Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:10
Q. How does the New Testament deal with the opportunity to tithe?
A. We understand that Jesus and the apostles assumed that the tithe was a healthy guide to one's stewardship. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus warns the scribes and Pharisees not to misuse the tithe as an "excuse" for neglecting other weightier matters of justice, mercy and faith. St. Paul follows the same logic in emphasizing that believers should give proportionately, as God has blessed. I Corinthians 16:2 and II Corinthians 9:6-12. Nowhere in the New Testament is tithing repudiated.
We the members and friends of the UUCC face a unique challenge , both in the UUCC and in our country. Our heritage places Love in the center of our religious life, and we also have a deep heritage of democratic principles. We can trace some of our roots to the Mayflower Compact. We have choices to make. By our deeds and practices we can help show the world how to live together. Or through fatigue, attention to only our personal sorrows, through our lack of prioritizing, and by not attending to what is truly important, we can let this opportunity slip away.
Let’s take a step backwards in history for a minute to examine a couple of perspectives of American Democracy. Alexis De Tocqueville was born to an aristocratic French family in 1805. In his “Democracy in America” (1840) he talks about the unique fabric of American life and democracy, including exploring the uses Americans make of Public Associations in civil life. His premise is that equality makes us individually weaker because we cannot command one another. He states that “unless each citizen learned the skills of uniting with his fellows to defend his freedom at a time when he is becoming individually weaker and consequently less capable of preserving his freedom in isolation, tyranny would be bound to increase together with equality.” He thought that the traditional aristocracy enabled members to be strong. “In aristocratic societies men feel no need to act in groups.” “Each rich and powerful citizen is virtually the leader of a permanent and compulsory association composed of all those dependent upon him and whose help he enlists in his projects.” “But among democratic nations all citizens are independent and weak; they can achieve almost nothing by themselves and none of them could force his fellows to help him. Therefore they all sink into a state of impotence, if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily.” Churches and civic organizations are a major part of what De Tocqueville saw in the association fabric of American life. De Tocqueville saw that “Civil associations, therefore, pave the way for political association; on the other hand, political associations develop and improve in some strange way civil associations. And, “In civil life, every man can, if needs be, fancy that he is self-sufficient. In politics, he can imagine no such thing.
Fast forward 171 years. Time Magazine, July 3, 2006 Robert Putnam, Harvard professor and author of Bowling Alone, reports that a recent study shows that “Americans are more socially isolated today than we were barely two decades ago. A study reports a one-third drop since 1964 in the number of people with whom the average American can discuss “important matters.” In “Bowling Alone,” Putnam cited declines in PTA, union, and club membership of all sorts as well as civic meetings, family suppers, picnics and league bowling. There is not agreement on why this social isolation is occurring, but it has side effects; kids fail to thrive, crime rises, generosity shrivels, death comes sooner.
What is the outlook for us? Is increased social isolation intertwined with the apparent decline of democracy in this country and the willingness of increasing numbers of people forego their civil liberties? Could fewer people working together in associations mean a greater degree of impotence for most people? The change is not in a direction that I like to see happening. Here at UUCC, we have seen some membership growth, but the actions of members to foster the democratic process and maintain the organization seem to be less than needed. With renewed effort we will chair and people committees, which will produce agendas and minutes that they can share with the rest of us so we all know what is going on, and we will be welcomed to become involved. We will talk and communicate with each other about the things we are trying to change. This is called working together in an “open” environment. We can also learn from business and other venues about teamwork. According to a Fortune teamwork feature, the optimum team size is 4.6 people, but surely no more than six. Team members need well defined roles. The article says, “ You simply cannot will teamwork to happen.” “Becoming skilled at doing more with others may be the single most important thing you can do..” Compare this approach with the oft heard refrain: “It is easier to do it myself!”
Running and participating in good meetings, communicating and organizing ourselves efficiently so we do not burn ourselves out, Participating in give and take with the community and the world and demonstrating democratic techniques effectively are all things we need to know how to do so we can counter the forces that our pushing us into a new “aristocracy”, one not dominated by birth, but by money and concentrated corporate power which is far more autocratic than the typical American association. When the Rev. Peter Laarman looked at the recent political landscape and the influence of the religious right, statistics from the faithinpubliclife.org web site say that 20.8% of American voters consider themselves to be religious liberals, 24.9% religious conservatives, and 28.7% religious moderates. The religious right that has dominated the values discussion in the recent past has superior organization and drive. It was also noted that there is an organization called the Institute for Religion and Democracy that is working to divide and conquer mainline religious denominations like the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians in order to draw them to the religious right.
What if we got organized?
Go to the General Assembly (GA) or to the uua.org web site and see the videos, including “Getting on Message: Challenging the Christian Right” referenced above. See the Plenary sessions, which are the main business meetings of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), in operation. We have a fine Moderator who does a wonderful job of keeping the meeting of thousands of delegates together. We could do this here. Consider the UUA’s position on Openness Guidelines for Committees, Taskforces, working groups and the UUA Board. We could do this here. UUA President, the Rev. Wm. Sinkford said, we need to work together with partners with whom we may have many disagreements, whenever we find an area that we can agree. By building strong relationships both inside and outside of our congregation we can lay the foundation for generosity and the funds that enable us to expand our work, even if we do not agree on everything.. Help us to continue to serve the purpose of strengthening our country and the world as UUs have done for so many years and in the process strengthen our Congregation.
When we are budgeting our time, money and talent we need to ensure that self, family, friends, community organizations, UUCC, local, state and national government all receive an appropriate share of our resources. The stronger our bonds with others, the greater the chance of our success by all measures, spiritual, financial and in social policy. The question is not how tired and poor I am today, but what have I done today and this week to help make life better for each and all?
Let me hold the light of Love in my heart.
Let me share it with others.
Margaret L. Sellers July 2, 2006
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