Slate's Sandy Stonesifer gets a do-gooding dilemma:
Dear Sandy,
I'm not a preachy Christian, but I do think it's important to follow the tenets set forth in the Bible. Right up there at the top is tithing. My husband feels that you tithe once you get out of debt and only if you have something left over at the end of the month. This theory is quite self-serving, if you ask me.
We have just decided to streamline our spending for the next six months, cutting out almost all luxuries, big and small, in order to pay down our $13,000 in credit-card debt once and for all. So should I not tithe, keep my hubby happy, and increase the amount we can put toward the credit-card debt, thus making us debt-free sooner and better able to tithe? Or should I follow the 10 percent rule, taking longer to pay off the debt and greatly annoying my hubby, but at least holding to my beliefs and easing my conscience?
—Debbie
Read Sandy's response on Slate.com .