Author Topic: See how much money Obama gave to his local Church in 2013  (Read 440 times)

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rangerrebew

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See how much money Obama gave to his local Church in 2013
« on: April 20, 2014, 12:34:34 pm »
See How Much Money Obama Gave to His Local Church in 2013
 

 Apr. 16, 2014 2:48pm   Billy Hallowell   


President Barack Obama has spoken numerous times in the past about the importance of being his “brother’s keeper,” so exactly how much did the commander in chief donate to charity this year?

According to his and the first lady’s tax returns released by the White House, the Obamas gave 12.3 percent of their gross income to 32 different organizations in 2013, totaling $59,251.00.

Of this overall charitable giving, the Obamas donated $1,500 to St. John’s Church, an Episcopalian church close to the White House.

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A screen shot from the Obama family’s 2013 tax filing. (Image source: White House)

This was the family’s sole donation to a house of worship last year, meaning the Obamas tithed 0.3 percent of their total gross income of $481,098.00 in 2013, as the Daily Caller noted.

Past research from the Barna Group, a polling firm, indicated that only 5 percent of Americans tithe 10 percent of their income, which is widely considered the biblical norm.

The Obamas have at least loose ties to the Rev. Luis Leon, the pastor of St. John’s Church, as he was selected to give the benediction at Obama’s second inauguration.

Leon replaced Pastor Louie Giglio, an Atlanta-based preacher originally chosen for the honor, when he dropped out following furor over past remarks he made about homosexuality.


President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk to the White House after arriving on the South Lawn, on Saturday, April 12, 2014, in Washington. (AP/ Evan Vucci)

The Obamas occasionally attend St. John’s, which has come to be known “the church of the presidents” for its proximity to the White House and its numerous presidential parishioners.

During an Easter sermon last year for which the Obamas were in attendance, Leon made contentious remarks about the “religious right.”

“It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back…for blacks to be back in the back of the bus…for women to be back in the kitchen…for immigrants to be back on their side of the border,” he said, according to the White House press pool report at the time.

See Obama’s tax return documentation here.

(H/T: Deseret News)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/04/16/obamas-tax-return-reveals-how-much-he-tithed-to-his-local-church-in-2013/
« Last Edit: April 20, 2014, 12:35:15 pm by rangerrebew »

Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: See how much money Obama gave to his local Church in 2013
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2014, 05:52:58 pm »
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Past research from the Barna Group, a polling firm, indicated that only 5 percent of Americans tithe 10 percent of their income, which is widely considered the biblical norm.
That number is based on a (deliberate, if you ask me) misinterpretation of the commands of the Torah.

Two out of every three years, the full 10 percent tithe is to be enjoyed in His presence-- either at the Temple or, if the person lives too far away (or, as it is now, the Temple no longer exists), at his or her own home. The third year, the full tithe is to be given to the church and distributed among the poor and the Levites (ministers). That means, if we are to translate to tithe into money-offering based on income, the "tithe rate" would be 1 in 30, or about 3.3%. Coincidentally, that is about the average number Barna has figured the average churchgoing American tithes.
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Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: See how much money Obama gave to his local Church in 2013
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2014, 05:54:24 pm »
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Leon replaced Pastor Louie Giglio, an Atlanta-based preacher originally chosen for the honor, when he dropped out following furor over past remarks he made about homosexuality.
Giglio (and others) should read 1 Corinthians 5 and see what the apostle Paul says about a similar topic.

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It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles(!) You are puffed up, and didn't rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you. For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person. For what have I to do with also judging those who are outside? Don't you judge those who are within? But those who are outside, God judges. "Put away the wicked man from among yourselves."
« Last Edit: April 20, 2014, 05:57:31 pm by jmyrlefuller »
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