"Americans who regularly attend church services contribute 2.2% of their income, a much higher average than non-church-goers who average 1.4%."
For the most part, giving is more a Christian discipline than a stat to be recorded. It is a faith issue. People give according to how they interpret the Bible. I could give you Scripture and verse about how each of us should be giving 10% and not 2.2.% but that is a theological debate that no one wins.
I can, however, relate to how the FairTax can bring relief to those who want to give more but are afraid because they do not know if the money will hold out.
The FairTax allows every wage earner to keep their entire paycheck. That means we each get to choose how our money is spent and where we get to contribute it. When we purchase goods and services, we will be paying taxes. When we give to the church, we give 100% of our gift because it is not taxable! The money that had been taken out of the pay check now becomes available for spending as we desire.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (NKJV)
This version of the Bible speaks of giving "not grudgingly". Another version says not "reluctantly". I honestly believe people feel more reluctant to give when they work very hard only to see the government subtract large amounts of their income from their check. Then they worry and try to figure out how to pay the bills and bills become primary on their giving chart.
Again, this is not a theological debate and I believe that people in this situation should rely more on faith in God. But if we could help alleviate that reluctance and fear and worry, we should think long and hard about supporting the FairTax bill.
I am not advocating this so churches can get more money. I really feel bad when I myself cannot do more and I look at over $900 a month going out (unwillingly) to pay taxes. I am not against paying taxes either. I enjoy the relative amount of freedom we have here in the United States. But there are a lot of people who feel burdened by the current tax code.
I honestly believe giving will increase not only in the church but also for charitable organizations. Some people believe that giving will decrease because people will not get a tax credit. We have to look at it in a different light. Because taxes would no longer be taken out of our paychecks, the tax break will already have been instituted. Besides, who gives to get a tax credit? It doesn't hurt, but that is not the reason people give.
People have hearts. We do care about needs. If people can help, they will give. Just think of the work that goes into producing donation reports by non-profits. How many man hours do they have to put into each year just to report "charitable giving"? Just think about how much more time they can devote to what they do and how much less money they have to spend on sending out reports.
I will end with this last quote from one of the FairTax white papers:
"It first should be noted that the tax-exempt status of houses of worship is a tradition dating to the earliest recorded history on this planet. Most know the Rosetta Stone led to the deciphering of hieroglyphics, but few know the subject of its text. It is a tax treaty between pharaoh and the priests, assuring the tax-exempt status of the temples. It may also be one of the earliest examples of the necessity of carving such treaties in stone (in three languages!) to ensure government's continued compliance. Any other treatment of religion and its practice is a violation of religion's traditional status from our earliest history.
"Second, our Founding Fathers insisted that all citizens be taxed uniformly, to ensure that the tax code could not be used to reward the friends and punish the enemies of government. Where has the Johnson Amendment taken us? It has ensured that some religious organizations are carefully scrutinized (and punished) for supposedly steering too close to political dialog with their parishioners. While other organizations skate by unphased. Who makes such arbitrary enforcement decisions? The very government our Founders sought to remove from this equation with the Constitution’s uniformity demands.
"Finally, it is the height of folly that the Internal Revenue Service now stands as the final arbiter of what is and is not a religion through its control over what is and what is not deductible. Can there be any travesty more threatening to the long-term independence of religious organizations and freedom of religious speech in this nation? Is there any action more at odds with the original intention of the Constitution? The FairTax ends this serious infringement for all religious organizations, regardless of denomination, and likewise for all charities."
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