Humanist marriage now top religious marriage in Scotland.

[afleitch]

http://m.fifetoday.co.uk/news/more-couples-choosing-humanist-weddings-1-4203698

Civil marriages, which are by definition not religious still dominate but humanist marriages, classified as a religious marriage (with humanist celebrants consider as equal to religious celebrants) is now the most popular recorded form of religious marriage in Scotland.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Interesting idea. I'd be curious to see what those ceremonies look like, as the article is rather elusive.

Why exactly would other countries have to "make it legal" though? Surely not many countries have laws that ban people from celebrating their marriages as they wish.


Also,

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[afleitch]

Interesting idea. I'd be curious to see what those ceremonies look like, as the article is rather elusive.

Why exactly would other countries have to "make it legal" though? Surely not many countries have laws that ban people from celebrating their marriages as they wish.


Also,

You must be logged in to read this quote.

My brother and sister have had them. My brother will next year. Also for balance read the Christian Post and paste the eye rolling quote

Edited.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Also for balance read the Christian Post and paste the eye rolling quote.

...what?

You linked to an article. Are you surprised people have opinions on its contents? And then I'm the one who's being defensive?

[afleitch]

Also for balance read the Christian Post and paste the eye rolling quote.

...what?

You linked to an article. Are you surprised people have opinions on its contents? And then I'm the one who's being defensive?

Um. I was joshing. I missed putting a at the end. Tony, you need to start stepping back before you post. This is getting ridiculous!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Andrew, you do tend to come across as one of those loud evangelical humanists one of the comments mentioned.

I have to wonder if that humanist society considers South Carolina to be one of the places where a humanist marriage is legal. While our marriage laws only specifically mention ministers of the Gospel and Jewish rabbis as religious types who may officiate at weddings, anyone authorized to administer oaths, which includes notaries public, may do so. My future brother-in-law got married two years ago by a notary public in a ceremony that I suppose could be called humanist, tho it certainly wasn't Humanist.

[afleitch]

Evangelical = talks about being a humanist I get it. Trust me, on here I get it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Also for balance read the Christian Post and paste the eye rolling quote.

...what?

You linked to an article. Are you surprised people have opinions on its contents? And then I'm the one who's being defensive?

Um. I was joshing. I missed putting a at the end. Tony, you need to start stepping back before you post. This is getting ridiculous!

I'm glad you find it funny. I find it just tiring personally, but to each their own.

Anyway, since you have experience with these types of weddings, can you tell us more about them? My post included a very clear invitation to elaborate.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

"Humanist" is just a fancy name for people who are, for some reason, afraid to be called Atheists.

[afleitch]

http://hfofs.co.uk/humanist-wedding-ceremonies/wedding-ceremony-testimonials/

These are people's experiences

[Antonio the Sixth]

"Humanist" is just a fancy name for people who are, for some reason, afraid to be called Atheists.

As someone who recently got beat down by the entire forum for taking a principled humanist stance... you are wrong.

http://hfofs.co.uk/humanist-wedding-ceremonies/wedding-ceremony-testimonials/

These are people's experiences

Thanks.

[Figueira]

But marriage is a Christian concept!

Interesting idea. I'd be curious to see what those ceremonies look like, as the article is rather elusive.

Just like normal weddings, but without any mention of religion.

[muon2]

I read the links, but from what's in them I have a hard time distinguishing them from more elaborate civil weddings. For example suppose a couple is married in the large garden of a friend's house. They have about 50 guests in attendance. The mayor of the city is asked to officiate and he has them recite vows and gives a speech on love and commitment in front of the couple and their guests. It's not a religious ceremony and it's much more than the usual civil procedure of just swearing an oath and signing forms at the county clerk's office. Would a humanist wedding be substantially different from this example?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I read the links, but from what's in them I have a hard time distinguishing them from more elaborate civil weddings. For example suppose a couple is married in the large garden of a friend's house. They have about 50 guests in attendance. The mayor of the city is asked to officiate and he has them recite vows and gives a speech on love and commitment in front of the couple and their guests. It's not a religious ceremony and it's much more than the usual civil procedure of just swearing an oath and signing forms at the county clerk's office. Would a humanist wedding be substantially different from this example?

That was what I was wondering as well. I think it would definitely be cool if nonbelievers had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony with its own rituals that go beyond the strictly legal aspect.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Last weekend I went to some friends' wedding at a public park in Northampton. The groom is a Jewish atheist who's very serious about both the Jewish part and the atheist part and the bride is a mostly-lapsed Catholic who I believe is now some sort of religious naturalist. The ceremony included elements of Jewish weddings--including some of the religious aspects, reframed as simply cultural--and also personalized secular elements, mostly playful riffs on the couple's geeky interests and socialist politics. I don't know if that would be considered a humanist wedding in the sense that this thread is discussing, but I thought it was a really nice way to make an event of it rather than just doing the legal aspect pro forma.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Last weekend I went to some friends' wedding at a public park in Northampton. The groom is a Jewish atheist who's very serious about both the Jewish part and the atheist part and the bride is a mostly-lapsed Catholic who I believe is now some sort of religious naturalist. The ceremony included elements of Jewish weddings--including some of the religious aspects, reframed as simply cultural--and also personalized secular elements, mostly playful riffs on the couple's geeky interests and socialist politics. I don't know if that would be considered a humanist wedding in the sense that this thread is discussing, but I thought it was a really nice way to make an event of it rather than just doing the legal aspect pro forma.

That does sound really awesome. I'd definitely like to see more secular (I tend to give humanism a very precise philosophical definition, so I'd rather avoid the term here) weddings like this.

[afleitch]

Last weekend I went to some friends' wedding at a public park in Northampton. The groom is a Jewish atheist who's very serious about both the Jewish part and the atheist part and the bride is a mostly-lapsed Catholic who I believe is now some sort of religious naturalist. The ceremony included elements of Jewish weddings--including some of the religious aspects, reframed as simply cultural--and also personalized secular elements, mostly playful riffs on the couple's geeky interests and socialist politics. I don't know if that would be considered a humanist wedding in the sense that this thread is discussing, but I thought it was a really nice way to make an event of it rather than just doing the legal aspect pro forma.

That's essentially what it is. My brother and sister have both had humanist weddings and my other brother will next year (I couldn't because equal marriage had not yet been brought in). Following tradition can at times be conforming to a pattern or expectation. I've been to numerous (mostly Catholic) weddings and the wedding itself is often the same; the difference/personal aspect often comes out at the reception. Civil registrars too were often obliged in law to be quick and informal and unlike all forms of religious marriage, the location was often restricted. So really, ceremonies themselves were at times quite sparse. That's why receptions often got bigger and sometimes lost sight of what was supposed to be celebrated.

To build the celebration and the exchange of vows around the couple changes the whole dynamic of the ceremony.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It sounds like to me that because civil marriage in Scotland is considerably restricted and that religious marriage there usually follows a set pattern, many people there engage in humanist marriages to be able to get the ceremony they want, even if they otherwise wouldn't call themselves Humanist.

If that's the main reason for their popularity there, I don't see Humanist marriage ever becoming a big thing here.  There aren't any restrictions here on how civil marriages are performed and even most churches around here are willing to be flexible on the format and content of the wedding ceremony.

[Figueira]

I read the links, but from what's in them I have a hard time distinguishing them from more elaborate civil weddings. For example suppose a couple is married in the large garden of a friend's house. They have about 50 guests in attendance. The mayor of the city is asked to officiate and he has them recite vows and gives a speech on love and commitment in front of the couple and their guests. It's not a religious ceremony and it's much more than the usual civil procedure of just swearing an oath and signing forms at the county clerk's office. Would a humanist wedding be substantially different from this example?

That was what I was wondering as well. I think it would definitely be cool if nonbelievers had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony with its own rituals that go beyond the strictly legal aspect.

I've been to a number of secular weddings. They have ceremonies that talk about the concept of marriage and stuff, just not God.

The wedding Nathan described definitely sounds like a wedding that I could imagine my parents at, for example.

What are most weddings like in France?

[hurricanehink]

I'm a musician, and I once performed at a same-sex marriage ceremony in Pennsylvania. As PA didn't have civil unions at the time, the couple attained one in New Jersey (which at the time had civil unions, a term that never quite caught on). The bride walked down the aisle to the theme from Anne of Green Gables, they read poetry, and I played classical pieces for the medication and the recessional (Ode to Joy for the latter). It was a marriage in everything but name, and if it happened today, it would've been called a marriage ceremony. People want to celebrate their big day when they join in legal partnership, and that doesn't necessarily have to do with religion.

[Illiniwek]

Scotland is such a odd place religiously. While smaller, the Catholic community there is very strong though!

[Antonio the Sixth]

I read the links, but from what's in them I have a hard time distinguishing them from more elaborate civil weddings. For example suppose a couple is married in the large garden of a friend's house. They have about 50 guests in attendance. The mayor of the city is asked to officiate and he has them recite vows and gives a speech on love and commitment in front of the couple and their guests. It's not a religious ceremony and it's much more than the usual civil procedure of just swearing an oath and signing forms at the county clerk's office. Would a humanist wedding be substantially different from this example?

That was what I was wondering as well. I think it would definitely be cool if nonbelievers had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony with its own rituals that go beyond the strictly legal aspect.

I've been to a number of secular weddings. They have ceremonies that talk about the concept of marriage and stuff, just not God.

The wedding Nathan described definitely sounds like a wedding that I could imagine my parents at, for example.

What are most weddings like in France?

From my limited experience, the civil part of the wedding is a pure administrative formality, and there's nothing to replace the Church ceremony for nonbelievers. Of course you can still have your own reception and everything, but I don't think it's the same.