I'm back. I have an idea that you can toss around in your head. The US government should no longer allow contributions to churches to be tax deductible. The idea that giving to the church is a valid form of charitible contribution is weak. Any charity is subject to the scrutiny that analyzes what percentage gets to the needy and what percentage is used to operate. Churches come off poorly when looked at from this angle. Although some may do better than others, I would venture to guess that very, very few shine.

I invite you to reflect on how the church of Jesus Christ in the US would be transformed were the cash to be pulled out of the enterprise. (You surely must agree that its coffers would be reduced significantly).

Another way to state this proposition: We should dismantle the institution (i.e. make it such that it requires no money to operate) so that our monies can be directed to the poor via charities that have a good record handling it. In this way, we could quit wasting our hard earned cash.

If you like, you can await a later article wherein I will talk about my position on "tithing".