[onewhippedpuppy]

I can't count how many different catholic churches I have attended, and never once have I felt obligated to give. Of course charity is often a topic of homilies, but not to any one specific source. Something else that has not yet been brought up, many of the churches I have attended put a larger emphasis on giving of your time than your money. We do have the donation envelopes sent to us, but they are for those that wish to track their donations for tax purposes. We always give cash, and give what we can afford. The only case within the Catholic church that I have heard of an official guideline is if you have a child in school. Our local diocese asks that families with children in Catholic school give 10% of their income to cover the school costs. They ASK this! If you have a rough year, they don't kick out your child. Extra costs are covered from the rest of the congregation. For any of you that have kids in a private school, how much do you pay?

The church that my aunt and uncle (now divorced) used to attend though, that was the epitome of what you guys have been bashing. Their philosophy was, "give and you shall get", stating that the more you gave to the church, the more you would receive from God. Not blessings of good health or happiness though, physical stuff. They actually preached this crap! So if you give $50k, God will give you a Ferrari. They seriously believed it. When he was younger, my uncle GAVE away a '65 Mustang Convertible to a church member. He was going to Nashville to be a christian country music star, because God had called him to. Shortly after receiving the car, he sold it, no shock there. That entire church was such a fraud, and it was no surprise when I heard that their pastor purchased a Boxster. They also tracked the contributions, and ostracized those that didn't pay enough. What a joke!