I believe that passing around a basket and calling it an offering in order to receive money is deceptive. The people are then socially forced to give money to the church. If one does not have the money to give or simply does not want to give then they are put in an embarrassing situation when the basket is put in front of their face! Calling it an offering is also deceitful. The money is in no way going to God Himself, the money is going to the church. A woman I know who has four kids in Catholic school told me that if she does not "donate" a certain amount of money each week, then her children’s tuition goes up. Now, I do realize that the church does need to make repairs and things like that, but it might be a better idea to have a basket by the door, this way people give if they want to give. Is this the same corruption the Catholic Church had years ago when they asked for money to be forgiven in confession.?