How is the church (Christian Church) suppose to operate without tithes?

[disneybama]

There is quite a gulf between the concepts of rejecting church and fearing no consequences.

The vast majority of the consequences felt in our lives have everything to do with the church - even if the church isn't directly involved. The church is the basis for our moral values, and our laws.

 

[cbi1972]

The vast majority of the consequences felt in our lives have everything to do with the church - even if the church isn't directly involved. The church is the basis for our moral values, and our laws.

Reciprocal social altruism predates humanity, and by extension, church. Many animal species with complex social structures exhibit altruism, and have mechanisms to punish cheaters in the here and now, all without conscious belief in afterlife or other divine consequences. Even slime molds do it.

 

[disneybama]

Reciprocal social altruism predates humanity, and by extension, church. Many animal species with complex social structures exhibit altruism, and have mechanisms to punish cheaters in the here and now, all without conscious belief in afterlife or other divine consequences. Even slime molds do it.

So we should trust our animal instincts?

 

[ValuJet]

Do slime molds have gambling, alcohol, drugs, the worship of material objects, and titty bars as temptations?

 

[cbi1972]

So we should trust our animal instincts?

"Should" is a loaded word when talking about morality.

I have my own values and beliefs, some of which are shared by most of humanity, some of which are less widely held.

Whatever I am "trusting" to personally refrain from killing people, stealing from them, or deliberately causing them pain or discomfort, it is not church that does it. It is part of the human condition, and there are some whose 'moral circles' are large and some whose are small.

It is clear that those who grew up amoral could have benefitted society by being taught morality, whether religious or otherwise. What is not clear, and is in fact wrong, is that moral instruction does not occur outside a religious context.

Do slime molds have gambling, alcohol, drugs, the worship of material objects, and titty bars as temptations?

Cellular slime molds (CSMs) possess a remarkable life cycle that encompasses an extreme act of altruism. CSM cells live as individual amoebae until starved, then aggregate and ultimately transform themselves into a multicellular fruiting body. This fruiting body consists of stalk cells (altruists that eventually die) and spores (the beneficiaries of this sacrifice).

Get thee behind me, rotting log.