A lot of people have third rails in their budget:
- Pets (particularly unhealthy ones requiring special diets and vet visits
- Children (particularly education/activities)
- Cable or other form of entertainment (e.g. horses, sailing, D&D meetups)
- Housing location or size
- and, yes, tithing.
To borrow from the bible for this conversation, let the one w/o mustachian "sin" (luxuries) cast the first stone. We all have our own form of luxuries in the budget, be it fancy cheese or tithing. The goal is to identify the priorities and spend accordingly, rather than wasting our money on things that aren't important to us. I myself have an unmustachian house in a fancy neighborhood in an expensive town (which costs more than tithing 10% would) - but I love it, and we spend little on entertainment, cars (we drive an '02 Honda Civic), pets, and have no kids.
While there are aberrations (and yes, they are frustrating), for those who are tithing, there usually are still plenty of other areas to optimize. I've actually felt that on the whole, those who tithe are so determined to protect it that they are more open to other suggestions than others on the board who don't tithe. (That said I haven't read a recent case study story which could be sparking this conversation.) It's certainly worthwhile to question if it is necessary or if, for example, the poster can donate time instead, but after the poster has done that evaluation, it seems to waste time to continue to debate the point. And if there truly is nothing else that can be offered to be cut, well, all you need to do is say that. The poster can then decide if they want to reevaluate if no one is able to otherwise help them.
btw, I'm not particularly religious but my sister who is fairly active in her church, got her current job through a church recommendation. She had interviewed, but they hadn't yet decided, when a church member heard and said, "I know the CEO" called him up and told him to hire her, and she was soon after.
To the earlier poster equating unwillingness to pay tax as coming mostly from the Americans, it just may be a factor of more Americans in general posting here, than being indicative of anything more. I'm American, I live in a state known for high taxes ("Taxachusetts"), and I'm perfectly happy that it goes to pay for my roads, health care (wish it covered more), libraries, public education, etc.