The religious tradition of tithing – the giving of one-tenth (usually of income) – is one thought to have its origins with the Old Testament’s Abraham. Although biblical scholars debate how the giving actually went down, Abraham is reported in Genesis to have donated one-tenth of his war profits to Melchizedek, a prince and high priest. Later on in the Old Testament, the references to tithing indicate that the act may have evolved from the distribution of war profits into more of a compulsory pooling of resources to support the collective place of holiness as well as those dedicated to lives of religion and study. By Numbers 18:21 (the fourth book in the OT), tithing exists as a mandate of Mosaic law.

Worldwide, early non-Jewish and pre-Christian religious societies also established tithe-like practices. Some kings developed “first-fruits taxes” which were used to support the maintenance of holy shrines and feed and shelter priests and other religious figures. Hundreds of monetary collections for religious purposes are recorded, including in Babylonia (modern Iraq) under Nebuchadnezzar, in the Greek temples of Apollo and Athens, various Chinese temples, and in Phoenician society (modern Lebanon and Syria) among others.

Later, during the Middle Ages, tithing diversified, although it remained congruous with a “tax.” Tithing was also split into two, the Great Tithe as defined in the OT and the Little Tithe in which smaller products other than grain and large farm animals were accepted. Tithe Barns were built to house everything for the church. In Europe after the Reformation, tithe collection was taken over by the government and became something resembling more of a property tax than what today is considered a tithe. Germany still charges a tax of around 8% of income to anyone registered as a Christian; the money is then distributed between Catholic, Protestant, and Lutheran churches.

What exactly is a tithe today, considering the varied opinions on what exactly religion is? Some Christians believe tithing is an Old Testament construct, not something that should be carried over into modern Christianity. It is, by definition, a “freewill” offering and, in most cases, not a mandatory tax. However, it also sounds characteristically similar to those strongly encouraged charity donations requested by many large corporations of their employees.

I asked a friend of mine, whose father is currently a minister, what his thoughts are on tithing. He had a variety of things to say about it. First, he said it’s a suggestion, not a command, so it’s optional. He also said that some of the money goes to various charities, both external and internal (like free marriage counseling for example) and is also the church’s only method of supporting itself. Most interestingly, he said that in exchange for giving to God, “God always provides for what you need,” and that for some with no money management skills, it can be a first step in becoming more aware and better equipped with their finances.

On what is often referred to as the “spiritual” level, tithing seems to be considered by those who support it as a sort of “spiritual” stock market. One invests ten percent of one’s earnings in shares of their higher power’s total assets, and one then expects that a higher power will make manifold returns. Most believe that in tithing God will ensure that the contributor is taken care of. In Genesis Jacob vows, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

This doesn’t sound altogether different from the way that many artists live, not the kind who work odd jobs or have careers to support their art, but those that just make art. They may not use words like redemption or cross, and they may not be into dividing by tenths, but there is a similar attitude among starvers in which dedicating one’s life to the study of an artistic medium and its expression, means leaving one’s well-being up to something outside oneself, like God and/or a few wealthy patrons.

My father was a pastor, and for several years, his congregation’s tithes indeed fed and sheltered my brother and me. However powerful and potentially dangerous a doctrine has the potential to be, one that is monetarily invested in is even more so. Although there are wonderful exceptions, the modern Christian doctrine and its financial backing have made the queer struggle for equality (from family-level to state-level) an extremely difficult one.

For this reason, I can’t imagine subscribing to any sort of doctrine or even hybrid of doctrines ever again, and, likewise, I doubt that I could ever be persuaded to give ten percent of my earnings to an entity whose practice even resembles the business of indoctrination. But actually, as an American, I already do. The separation of church and state as allowed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has been a shaky one since its inception. The church and state have always skirted and even danced with one another. In 1988, George H.W. Bush said, “I don’t know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God.”

In recent years, the state of the United States of America and some portion of its “church” have militarily taken on what they’ve referred to as the “Axis of Evil.” The word “evil,” in most modern uses, implies religious affiliations, specifically an act of Satan spreading around his bad seed in the face of what is “good.” This particular evil is defined as a group of countries suspected of supporting terrorism, an evil force to be taken down by what is “good” by Christian definition. This constitutes a definite crossover in language between church and state and could, by the principles of definition, change the name of mandatory payments to such an entity from tax into tithe. Currently, $448 billion in tithes have been approved since the inception of the battle against the “Axis of Evil” in Iraq alone.

There has been some coverage on this blog and others on tithing with a twist, using the word as more of a humanist’s spiritual investment term than one that indicates the support of a religion. Admittedly, it’s been a way to encourage charity donations. I’ve made donations to charities for at least eight of the last ten years and think it’s a fantastic thing to do with ten or more or less or any percent of one’s income. I’d personally rather not think about it as tithing, but if that feels like a better verb choice and encourages such activity, then I’m all for the use of the word.

Recently, however, I met a successful businessman form Los Angeles who doesn’t ever make officially recognized charitable contributions. He only donates to people (individuals not organizations) he knows personally. Options for giving to others, as was recently covered in The Simple Dollar, are complex and numerous. Many would prefer just to give to themselves, which could also be considered a humanist’s form of tithing. Another friend of mine recently sold large amounts of his stock in companies that have gained steadily and directly from the battle against the “Axis of Evil.” In turn, he reinvested in – among others — a variety of alternative energy companies. He doesn’t identify as a religious person necessarily, but he does have a newly informed cosmology about where he wants his money going and how the directions of his investments impact whatever bigger thing may be out there.