“Faith Alone, Plus 10 Percent.”

Last week when the restaurant Applebee’s tried to set an 18 per cent tip for a meal, the Atlanta pastor who’d dined out, crossed it out, gave no tip and wrote a note: “I give God, 10 %, why do you get 18?” The waitress posted it online and earned a pink slip. The pastor has been widely derided. Of course, as the following article in Slate points out, the minister’s math is fuzzy: a waitress is getting a portion of a restaurant bill; tithing is based on income – so it’s not like the waitress is getting more in the end. But the article goes on to make some interesting points about why tips have gone up, while tithing has dropped. Not all of it applies to Canada, where mega churches are not the norm, but still an interesting read.  http://www.slate.com/articles/life/faithbased/2013/02/alois_bell_applebee_s_tip_why_do_americans_tip_more_than_they_tithe.html