if people don't believe in god

Originally posted by Ringwraith
Well, I don't believe in God. I still plan to marry.

I think the answer to your question depends on what you define as marriage. Having said that, I think marriage is a union between two people that love each other, and that agree to support and help each other through life.

I see nothing, as an atheist, wrong with a union between two people that l elieve in God, in order to marry.

FMF above has also laid out some good points.

Bogdan

Bogdan? Is that your name? sweet 🙂

I believe having a child(ren) is MUCH more of a commitment than any piece of paper drawn up by anyone ,whether it be the church or any other celebrants that wed people.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
mm i dont think they do, for example i dunno if you can get married in a chapel unless
your a catholic. I dont see why leaving God from the equation is in any way
beneficial. Perhaps its merely expedient in the secularist liberal and moral relativist
society in which we find ourselves. Interesting to not the differences in divorce rates
fo ...[text shortened]... ompared to that of the secular West, where your marraige has a fifty/fifty
chance of survival.

It's true then that JW's get married outside, or definately not in churches?

My sis got wed to a jW who insisted they have their ceremony on the beach.

Could you extrapolate on any of these points? being the no.1 JW on this site. (Dont worry Galvo, you are a close second 😀 )

Originally posted by stellspalfie
isnt it odd that churches will marry anybody regardless if they are christians or not.

the dictionary describes it as a legal or religious ceremony. i would guess that a lot of people dont care if its legal or religious and we get married for our own reasons. for me it was because it was important for my partner . now i have kids (ill admit this is a ...[text shortened]... e kicked out of the vatican for wearing shorts, apparently my legs were to sexy for the priests.

You sure they dont just do it for the money? after all, marriage is an expensive affair

Originally posted by humy
The reason why an atheist would marry would obviously be for reasons other than anything to do with religion.

Personally I see marriage as a totally obsolete concept that is sadly still adopted by our society and the law should be changed so to totally ignore whether you are technically 'married' with a lover or not.
Why should two lovers choosing to live ...[text shortened]... en less/different legal rights for not being married? -what did they do wrong by NOT marrying?

You going to make any moves? That 0 next to your moves counter is very sus.

I'll play you if you want-I'm not that good.

Bottom line, I am weary of people that join a chess site and just post in the forums without playing chess. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt - for now 😉

Originally posted by whodey
People should be free to have whoever they wish marry them. Also, if anyone has qualms about marrying a couple, they should not be forced to do so and stand by their intuition, whether it be good or bad.

It's simple really, afford people the freedom to live their lives and have government go take a flying leap off a bridge somewhere.

Organised religions are just another form of government, most of them have some approximation of a parliament/senatorial body. In the U.K the majority feel exactly the same way about religious hierarchies as you do about governments, i.e we wish they would keep their stinking noses out of civil issues like marriage.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
You sure they dont just do it for the money? after all, marriage is an expensive affair

it doesn't have to be an expensive affair, some of the best wedding i have attended
were simple affairs. Once i attended a wedding where everyone brought a dish they
had made instead of paying a caterer several thousand pounds, not only was there
more food than one could imagine, there was a greater variety. All you need afterwards
is to hire a hall, get a selection of Ceilidh sounds and dance the night away.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
It's true then that JW's get married outside, or definately not in churches?

My sis got wed to a jW who insisted they have their ceremony on the beach.

Could you extrapolate on any of these points? being the no.1 JW on this site. (Dont worry Galvo, you are a close second 😀 )

LOL, it depends where you live, in Australia its possible, in the frozen North, its not
possible to get married outside except in summertime, mostly photographs are
taken outside, people hire a castle or something picturesque for the occasion.

Yes no churches for us, they represent all that is wrong with religion, great opulence
while the people who surround them live in poverty, I dont think so. If one is in
good standing one may use the Kingdom Hall.

Its possible to have a ceremony on the beach, perhaps the brother that your sister
married wanted to be closer to nature, for its for us a way of getting closer to God in
a sense, although i can only surmise what his motivations might have been.

Originally posted by karoly aczel
"-is often the woman" . I beg to differ here. While the man might have the physically advantage, it is often the woman that has the upper hand when going into a relationship, (legally i mean) -at least it is my part of the world (australia,especially brisbane).

There are more women with kids who have been abandoned by deadbeat dads in this world than there are men with kids abandoned by deadbeat mothers.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
LOL, it depends where you live, in Australia its possible, in the frozen North, its not
possible to get married outside except in summertime, mostly photographs are
taken outside, people hire a castle or something picturesque for the occasion.

Yes no churches for us, they represent all that is wrong with religion, great opulence
while the pe ...[text shortened]... ng closer to God in
a sense, although i can only surmise what his motivations might have been.

Indeed , it was to get closer to nature. Ahh the innocence of newly weds.
Long story short, he turned out to be inflexible and treated my sister like a trphy bride and basically treated her as a second rate member of the family, and after my siter implored him to be more flexible for 6months, and he showed no signs of change, she left him .

Sorry to say Rob, but he was, inmho, another person that had their lives wrecked by the way he inerpreted his JW beliefs, although I'm sure there are others who do it right,right?

Originally posted by FMF
There are more women with kids who have been abandoned by deadbeat dads in this world than there are men with kids abandoned by deadbeat mothers.

Agreed.
Although there are many noteable exceptions-me being one of them

Originally posted by karoly aczel
Agreed.
Although there are many noteable exceptions-me being one of them

No. You are not an "exception". There are more women with children who have been abandoned by their male partners in this world than there are men with children who have been abandoned by their female partners and you are part of the latter group.

Originally posted by FMF
No. You are not an "exception". There are more women with children who have been abandoned by their male partners in this world than there are men with children who have been abandoned by their female partners and you are part of the latter group.

And therfor in the minority

Originally posted by karoly aczel
And therfor in the minority

Yep. You are in a minority; an admission which makes your comment on the previous page... "-is often the woman" . I beg to differ here. While the man might have the physically advantage, it is often the woman that has the upper hand when going into a relationship, (legally i mean) -at least it is my part of the world (australia,especially brisbane). I have some concrete examples of thistendency, but I wont bore the forum with them, unless they specifically ask... somewhat unconvincing. Just saying. 🙂

Originally posted by karoly aczel
Indeed , it was to get closer to nature. Ahh the innocence of newly weds.
Long story short, he turned out to be inflexible and treated my sister like a trphy bride and basically treated her as a second rate member of the family, and after my siter implored him to be more flexible for 6months, and he showed no signs of change, she left him .

Sorry t ...[text shortened]... the way he inerpreted his JW beliefs, although I'm sure there are others who do it right,right?

Its impossible for me to comment as i do not know any of the details, interesting that
you should have this view of witnesses and their principles and the way we 'interpret
JW belief', you never make mention of the countless millions that have improved their
life by adhering to them, interesting that, oh well, move along these are not the droids
we are looking for.

Originally posted by tim88
why do they get married? getting married is from the religion - if you don't believe in god don't get married 😉

Your first mistake is your premise that marriage is strictly a Christian institution and/or was originated from Christianity.

Read this excerpt from the book "Germania" written by the Roman historian Tacitus. In this book he is reporting on his knowlege of the culture and customs of Germanic tribes in the 1st century AD long before their conversion to Christianity. Firstly this clearly indicates that the institution of marriage existed long before Christianity not only in Germania but presumably also in Roman culture otherwise how would Tacitus know how to describe what he had witnessed?

"Their marriage code, however, is strict, and indeed no part of their manners is more praiseworthy. Almost alone among barbarians they are content with one wife, except a very few among them, and these not from sensuality, but because their noble birth procures for them many offers of alliance. The wife does not bring a dower to the husband, but the husband to the wife. The parents and relatives are present, and pass judgment on the marriage-gifts, gifts not meant to suit a woman's taste, nor such as a bride would deck herself with, but oxen, a caparisoned steed, a shield, a lance, and a sword. With these presents the wife is espoused, and she herself in her turn brings her husband a gift of arms. This they count their strongest bond of union, these their sacred mysteries, these their gods of marriage. Lest the woman should think herself to stand apart from aspirations after noble deeds and from the perils of war, she is reminded by the ceremony which inaugurates marriage that she is her husband's partner in toil and danger, destined to suffer and to dare with him alike both in in war. The yoked oxen, the harnessed steed, the gift of arms proclaim this fact. She must live and die with the feeling that she is receiving what she must hand down to her children neither tarnished nor depreciated, what future daughters-in-law may receive, and may be so passed on to her grandchildren."