I was seriously shocked when I found out that you have to pay a fee to belong to a synagogue. Then I found out that in most churches, you pledge a certain amount at the beginning of the year and you are expected to pay up.

I realize religious organizations need to be able to budget, but I just found it to be another reason I’m not an organized religion sort of gal.

That phrasing is so wrong. At the very least, it could have been said as, “One might be surprised to learn that tithing is …” or “Did you know that tithing is ….” Because why would it be strange?

What’s a “downscale adult?” Is that a person who is downsizing? Or a new euphemism for unemployed persons? I’ve never heard that before.

I really don’t mind the idea of tithing for a service as part of a notion of reciprocity. I give, you give, we receive. I don’t think that anyone is kicked out a service for not giving. I hope so, anyway.

However, on a different note, I read the “Strangely….” sentence as part of a stereotype about Jewish people not being particularly financially giving. I thought it was pretty anti-Semitic the way it was phrased.

I had to look up “downscale” (Barna has been known to make up words like unchurched). He’s using it to mean the opposite of upscale, and in particularly those without-college-degrees, and without-much-income.

@Ms. T. I think you’re misreading it. The institution of the tithe is still controversial in some Christian circles because it belongs to Jewish written law (in the Old Testament) and if the tithe persists, then why not all the law? This has been played out in a number of ways, as have the financial contributions Christians ought to make, often described as love offerings, under the concept of “holding all things in common.” If Barna is guilty of anything it’s ignoring the nuance of later (like 70 CE onward) Jewish law or thinking his readers wouldn’t care.

That said, I think Barna and Co. are as dated as platform shoes.

I think I may have thought too much about “strangely” because I read it the way you describe the first time, but by the time I wrote and edited the original post, I was offended. On the other hand, so much of what he writes is offensive to me….I’d be happier with another word choice.

I didn’t read the article, but I did think it was a strange (ha ha) word choice. Maybe not offensive, but not quite conveying what they meant to say.