Should one want to ensure the failure of any endeavor, they ought to begin by talking about religion and politics and finish by talking about money. No topic is held with greater sanctimony in our Ergonist society than that of cash. Even among our closest friends and family, the slightest breach of accounts can end relationships.
Although it may be suicide to enter into this discussion literally before having a single proponent of Thanatism besides myself, it would equally ensure the failure of Thanatism should it be left unaddressed. The tithe is an ancient practice whereby believers, sometimes by choice and often through coercion, donated ten percent of their income to their religion. This practice, although controversial, is an important one for both spiritual and practical reasons.
When I was in Jr. High, I converted to Christianity. I also worked from that age all the way through high school, largely as your humble cashier at McDonalds. I don’t remember exactly how I learned about the concept of the tithe, but throughout that time, I gave nearly half my income to the church. This wasn’t easy for me. Although my needs were met by my parents, they were very conservative about anything extra. In sports, I often felt ashamed because I didn’t have the same quality of athletic equipment that my teammates had. In spite of this, I gave and I gave freely. Why? What motivated this teenage madness?
The key to my behavior and the key to this practice from a spiritual standpoint is in the word “freely”. As we’ve discussed before, one of Thanatism’s greatest gifts is that of freedom. When we accept our own mortality, it frees us from our eternal fleeing from that which we know. When we accept our own mortality, it clears those non-essential elements of our being to expose a vast new horizon. When we accept our own mortality, it frees us to look boldly into the future and choose the lives we want to live.
In the same turn, when we give away our money, freely, it obliterates our psychological dependence on it. As a teenager that early practice of tithing broke my bond with cash. It freed me to see in the future that, even if I couldn’t conceive of supporting myself or my family on the income I had, if I still chose to give away ten percent of that income, almost like magic, my world continued unabated. We can claim that we are free to choose our life, but nothing proves that to ourselves quite like putting that faith to the test by freely giving that which we as a society hold most dear.
Although the spiritual benefits of tithing alone merit its inclusion as a core Thanatist practice, it’s also critical if we wish to make Thanatism something real in this world. In spite of the attrition of spiritual belief in much of our world, religious institutions still remain disproportionately present because of the tithe. The buildings that were built, the educational institutions that were founded, and the various priesthoods, which still exists today, were and are all funded by believers who chose to give.
Obviously the ability of these institutions to outlive their believers isn’t necessarily a great argument for the tithe, but the fact is it was these institutions’ ability to participate economically in this world of economic power that gave them reality. Their continuing power speaks to the necessity for Thanatism to be properly funded if it wants to have the societal impact that it should. I’m not particularly interested in building monuments to death that shall outlive us, the believers, but there is a great deal that needs to be funded in order to be done.
What about a priesthood? How can Thanatism grow if we can’t support those who would give their lives to helping organize Thanatists locally and provide the spiritual healing Thanatism offers to those in need? How do we provide the place and the food for our Sabbath, if it’s not supported by the faithful? What about providing as Thanatists for those in need? Is it even possible we could become so many in number that we gain enough economic strength to support fundamental issues of relevance that our governments seem increasingly unwilling to, like scientific research or education about the real?
If you want to become a truly free human, you must break the illusion our society has created deep in your heart that you need every cent you make to support your material wellbeing, for the fact is, our society will expand your notion of what you need until it has consumed all that you have. Money is such a delicate topic because it is a direct expression of our care. If you truly care about setting this world free from the madness of running from that which we are, speak freely of your new found freedom, but also give freely so that our message may grow. For in giving, not only can we grow Thanatism into something real, we can prove ourselves free, not only from our fear of death, but also from the socially bred fear that we don’t yet have enough in a world of utter abundance.
We’ve created a non-profit called Thanatism.org. You can give to that organization at Thanatism.org All these funds will be held until we can establish a broader governance structure to properly evaluate the best use of funds, and every penny given and spent will be published monthly on Thantatism.org for all to see.