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Article: Justice Department sides with churches over loan collectors in controversial tithing dispute. (Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- September 15, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WASHINGTON _ After a last-minute order by President Clinton, the Justice Department reversed itself Thursday and sided with churches rather than loan collectors in a controversial dispute over tithing.
Clinton avoided a major political gaffe by stopping a Justice Department lawyer from arguing in federal court that creditors have a right to seize money tithed to a church by someone going broke.
Tithing, or donating one-tenth of a person's gross income to the church, is considered a religious duty by thousands of Americans, particularly among certain Protestant religions.
``It was truly an 11th hour thing,'' said Greg Baylor, a lawyer with a religious legal ...