19. The Tithing Protection Act

.... The First Amendment of the Constitution states that: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” yet Congress has indeed established such a law, which affects the Judeo-Christian practice of tithing. The Tithing Protection Act would both correct this and offer a catalyst for broader change.
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.... The concept of ‘tithing’ allows one-tenth of our income to be dedicated to the Lord. Furthermore, the Bible stipulates that this should be the first one-tenth, called the ‘first fruits’, as a mark of special honor to the Lord. However, Congress has established a national income tax system that withholds from our paychecks before our tithes can be deducted, and this has created two important conflicts:.

.... First. Since Congress deducts the ‘first fruits’ from our paychecks, it has taken that amount, and the honor it represents, to itself, whereas the ‘first fruits’ actually belong to the Lord. Thus they have established a law that prevents us from honoring the Lord with the first gift.
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.... Second. The overall amount that is taxed includes our tithe, which belongs to the Lord. This establishes a first principle that the Government is higher than the Lord, since it is taxing His funds. This is entirely improper. Even though those funds are tax-deductible and will be refunded at the end of the year, that is a second principle and does not change the first. Our tithes should not be merely tax-deductible; as a matter of religious consciousness they should be untaxed.

.... To correct this situation, a new payroll option should be offered, at the individual's request, that precedes the income tax deduction. The funds they allocate through this deduction would be sent to the church, synagogue, etc. of their choice, and only then would an income taxes be levied on the remainder (similar to the deduction and taxation procedure of a 401K). And since these funds will be untaxed in the first place (in fact, they will not even be reported as income), they will not be tax-deductible at the end of the year.

.... This religion-based exception would naturally be replicated for private charities in very short order, so it should simply be included in the same act. This would allow both religious institutions and private charities to grow again over time, and would allow the government to turn more services over to the private sector, which has always handled them far more efficiently anyway.
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.... Therefore, this act could mark the beginning of a trend toward decreasing the size of Government and reducing the intrusions of social engineering.