wanderingone
I'm not lost I'm just wandering
- Jul 6, 2005
- 11,090
- 932
- 58
- Faith
- Lutheran
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
Religious marriage ceremonies should have no legal meaning without the legal step taken to register the marriage.
Never in my until I encountered conservative christians have I ever heard anyone claim marriage to mean specifically a "religious" event; outside of the notion of marriage as one sacrament in a list of sacraments. I
Marriage has always indicated to me a marriage that has been entered into legally. (Which may or may not have been a religious ceremony) Interestingly I've encountered many Christians who call themselves married and then along the way in forums they announce that while they haven't taken the "legal" step they consider themselves married "in the eyes of God" Long discussions of this topic have taken place in women's forums here and on other Christian sites.
In most states it is not a religious ceremony that makes you married, it is a license to get married followed by the registration of the marriage performed by someone who can legally sign off. In states that recognize "common law" it's the recognition that a couple has lived "as a married couple" and meet the other criteria for that state to be considered married.
The fact that marriage means many different things (most of them NOT religious) to me means people should get over their worry about what marriage means to someone else, and as long as they are living by what their own values are who cares what someone else calls a marriage?
Upvote
0