► Sen. Rick Santorum – Catholicism’s Poster Boy for Tithing Print

Sen. Rick Santorum – Catholicism’s Poster Boy for Tithing

 
Rick Santorum professes to be a devout Catholic. Rickey is seeking the Republican Presidential nomination by espousing his right-wing religious beliefs that (a) no abortions even in the case of incest or rape and (b) states should have the right to outlaw contraception for women.
 
Tithing means to contribute 10% of ones income to his/her respective Church. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, 10% means that if your weekly income was $500, you’d be expected to contribute $50.
 
According to Rickey’s recently released tax returns, his average income from 2007 to 2010 was $908,000. Therefore, as a devout Catholic, Rickey should have contributed at least $90,800 (10%) every year to the Church for a total of about $363,000.
 
Rickey’s tax returns show that his tithing was less than 2% from 2007 to 2010.
 
Apparently, Rickey’s alleged devoutness is in direct conflict with the Old Testament: “Glorify the Lord generously, and do not stint the first fruits of your hands. With every gift show a cheerful fact, and dedicate your tithe with gladness.” – Sirach 35:8-9 (RSVCE)
 
I suppose Rickey will claim he can’t tithe 10% because of the expense in raising seven children. I find it hard to believe that Rickey needs more than $129,000 annually to raise each of his seven children.
 
If all of the blue-collar Catholics living in Pennsylvania followed Rickey the Cheapskate's lead and limited their tithing to less than 2% of their income, the church would likely be filing for bankruptcy.