Not so. I'm part of a religious community for whom FICA is something we can opt out of via IRS Form 4029, and I can avoid contributions to FICA more broadly (not just SS taxes!) by handing HR the approved 4029 that I receive in response to filing.

I don't know how available this is to folks who aren't Mennonite or Mennonite-adjacent, but it's there.

About 0.14% of the population is Mennonite. By filing 4029, you assert that your community is going to provide the equivalent of SS and Medicare, so it amounts to about the same thing.

My remark was a rebuttal to the assertion that these contributions were guaranteed. That notwithstanding, I'm unsure that I agree that it amounts to about the same thing; we tend to take care of each other as a matter of due course and not as a transaction.

The mainstream Anglo-American attitude around this kind of support leaves me scratching my head a lot of the time.

It is a kind of transaction. While I don't know the details, isn't it some form of you support the community, and the community supports you when you're in need?

Not at all. Tithing[0] is contributed as one is able, but assistance in the face of hardship is no questions asked. For my congregation in particular while I was growing up, this extended even to non-members, and there was a strong thread of volunteerism.

--

0: Tithing can take many forms beyond giving cash. I tithed my RSUs.