Much has been written and said about tithes and tithe fraud, both on and off this forum.
Hardly a day passes by without a new pro or anti tithe thread.

The tithe debate is a very healthy development.
No doubts, those that live large on tithe are starting to feeling the heat.
I do find , however, that most tithe debates are focused on the scriptural legitimacy of tithing.

For example, whether is old testament or new testament, whether it is for ancient Israel or for the church built in the name of Jesus.

Two things will always remain obvious:

1. Greedy, lazy religious fraudsters whose livelihoods depend on collecting tithe from other people will always always try to justify it no matter what the scriptures say about it.
2. Fair-minded people will always see the built-in fraud and try to distance themselves from it.

Now, as an atheist, and perhaps speaking for other atheists, we approach this issue from a very different point of view.
It is not worth our while debating the scriptural ambiguity of tithing, for that would be an act of folly.

Our point of view on tithe can be summarized in to two simple questions for those that are pro-tithe.

1. If a tithe or 10% of earnings are to be paid to god as salary, mortgage, rent, service fees, interests on man's infinite debt, or for whatever reasons, Who is competent, who is the god-sanctioned or designated cashier or reciepient of the monies?

I know you are going to say "pastor, priest, man of god," etc.
But who is a pastor? What are the requirements of being a pastor? Who carries the official seal of god?
in Nigeria, any and very m.o.ro. n can be come a pastor by simply calling himself a pastor or attending a bible school.

Can I call myself a pastor tomorrow and start collecting tithe on behalf of god?
Why not?

Surely there most exist a thoroughly vetted process,protocol or strict requirements jointly agreed by all branches of christianity that outlines who is qualified to be god's certified revenue agent.

The present system whereby any Adeboye, Oyedepo, Oyaks, and even lesser clowns can set up shop anywhere and start collecting revenue for god smacks of fraud.

2. Is there a system or mechanism where these revenues are pooled together and remitted to god?
Please elaborate.
For me, this is probably the most important question that most people, especially the givers, tend to ignore.
How is the money given to god?
If I am giving 10% of my earning to god, then you better make sure that it is indeed going to god.

If a pastor takes money for god, what does he do with the money?.

This is the question that everyone should be asking.
If I give 10% and everyone gives their 10% to the head of our church, for say, a total of N1 million in any given month, what does the pastor do with the 1 million naira we pay to him every month for god?.

If for example, the pastor blesses the money and uses it build and provide free daycare for the children of the members, I do not think that we would be having this debate.

If for example, the pastor uses the money, our money,god's money, to build and maintain vocational centers for the benefit of the members, we would probably not be having this debate.

If for example, the pastor uses god's money to buy group health insurance for the benefit of the members, this debate would not take place.

If for example the pastor uses god's money to establish a scholarship pool to challenge the young members in academic excellence, there would be no debate.

And the examples go on and on..

For me , it's not about scriptural or not scriptural, it's not about whether you should give or not give, it's about the very simple matter accountability, something that everyone seems to have forgotten( a dead language) in our nation.

Every kobo given or donated to god for whatever reason should be duly accounted for.
It is a moral, ethical, legal and religious imperative.

This is what everyone should be demanding for in this debate.

I sort of agree with you.

As long as there are people willing to be followers, there will always be people claiming to be leaders.

As long as their are people willing to be gullible, there will always be people claiming to be pastors (fraudsters).

However, I don't think there can ever be any thoroughly vetted process that can be used to determine who is qualified to collect revenue for God.

I bet you, If I claim to be a pastor today and I'm passed through that thoroughly vetted process you talked about, I will definitely scale through it. There is no way you can know the real intentions of men. Some people are good at pretending.

Infact, it appears you need to be good at pretending to be a successful pastor in Nigeria

very nicely put, my good sire, you've just hit the nail on the head, but come to think of it, u wicked ooo, now that u've ended the tithe debates, what do u want goshen and frosbel to discuss about now? lol nice one mann

bolaino: very nicely put, my good sire, you've just hit the nail on the head, but come to think of it, u wicked ooo, now that u've ended the tithe debates, what do u want goshen and frosbel to discuss about now? lol nice one mann

lol.

No mind them. The bible is full of things to argue about.
Even Davidylan once lamented that he too was confused about many biblical translations and renderings.