In today's Metro (I can't find it online) on the topic of the 'Christian' Registrar who refused to marry gay couples:
What branch of Christianity does Lillian Ladele belong to that condones the joining together of heterosexual couples in unholy matrimony by an unordained woman in an unconsecrated building? Does she not warn her clients that they are going straight to hell if they consummate their sham of a marriage?
Rob Schwarz, London
I have no idea whether this is sarcastic or not, but the logic works either way.
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2 comments:
This is bullshit. There's no set wedding ceremony in the Bible, nor are there any ordained priests - unless you're counting Israelite times. As for Jesus, the one wedding that he attends is the one at Canaa, where he helped out by turning the water into wine, so the only biblical precedent is to make sure there's enough booze.
The established church got themselves a monopoly, by fining people who they hadn't married. Prior to that most people were considered married because they considered themselves married and lived accordingly - common law marriage.
For sure, 'marriage' as such has only existed in English secular law since The Marriage Act 1753, but the religious types like to think their made-up-on-the-hoof rules are somehow eternal and immutable.
See also Onkelehen. The Catholics in Austria flipped the logic on its head - although WW2 widows married their new husbands in Church (to obtain approval of the people in the village), the never married legally, so that the widow would retain rights to her war widow's pension.
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