Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the church?

[Qwerty56]

Do atheists, or just people in general in fact, marrying in churches strengthen the institution and what it stands for? (please would you give a rationale for your answer, as well)

Also, just FYI in case anyone is not familiar: In the UK, I believe it is very easy to get married without the church as there are thousands of attractive licensed venues that can do weddings, so there is no real practical necessity for getting married in churches. And also, according to the census, I believe less than 40% of the population actually subscribe to a religion so arguably, there is also a lack of social pressure to get married in churches, too.

 

[australopithecus]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Not really. As you said, less and less people in the UK subscribe seriously to a religion or consider themselves overly religious. I think marrying in a church has more to do with the scenery than the faith. I'm getting married next December and vetoed the church idea right from the off. My fiancé is Christian but she's happy so long as she has a shiny (and blood expensive) ring.

 

[Prolescum]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Not really.

Marriage being a tradition itself, carries certain expectations - white dresses, churches, and a bridesmaid getting off with a distant cousin. But as noted, church weddings are usually an aesthetic rather than a religious choice these days (let's get married at [insert favourite church]!), at least that's been my experience (none of my family are religious).

Many churches in the UK are beautiful or picturesque... it's easy to see why they're a preferred choice.

 

[CommonEnlightenment]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Depends:

1. Some churches may require some sort of marriage classes (Which could include some types of indoctrination). This can be the case in the States.

 

[Visaki]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Short context: In Finland we have two officiall, national churches, the Lutheran and the Eastern Orthodox, whose status is mandated by law. Apart from these there are some small groups, largest of these are some tens of thousands strong. The Lutheran church, which is the largest religious bunch in the country by far, are what one could call pregressive and liberal (and probably by the standards of, oh lets say, most religious people in US not very christian). We have women priests (since the 80's) and the churches official stance in things like abortion, gay marriage and such is something they don't really want to talk about too much since they might get in trouble.

I'm not really sure if this is accurate anymore, but in Finland you had to be a member of the church to get permission to wed in one. My mother wasn't a member until she married my father (his family was salvation army and wanted a church wedding) so she had to get confirmed (my father married his goddaughter, which sounds more kinky that it is, he became her godfather when she joined the church for the wedding) and joined the church to get a church wedding, and I'm pretty sure this was the case still at least some years ago. On the other hand you can get easily married in the local magistery (or if you can drag the magistrate away from the office in the woods for all they care) and have a wedding reception where ever you want. A friend did this a few years back. They were married one weekday afternoon with only the four parents there and had a big party the next saturday.

Personally I think that the "you have to be a member to use the church" (if it's still there) is a bit silly, specially when the Lutheran church actually gets money from the goverment and has a right to carry it's own taxe (1% from all the members of the church). I wouldn't mind getting wed in a church, even if the bride was an atheist also. Churches are easy and beautiful venues for a wedding and personally I think that there are many churches that are just architectually nice. Most people in Finland are so non-religious that I can't really think that me, or other atheists, getting married in a church would strenghten it's position in the slightest. Do whatever you want to do to make the day as memorable and superb as you can.

 

[Dogma's Demise]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Not really.

Marriage being a tradition itself, carries certain expectations - white dresses, churches, and a bridesmaid getting off with a distant cousin. But as noted, church weddings are usually an aesthetic rather than a religious choice these days (let's get married at [insert favourite church]!), at least that's been my experience (none of my family are religious).

Many churches in the UK are beautiful or picturesque... it's easy to see why they're a preferred choice.

Same here, it's more about tradition than actual belief.

I wouldn't mind, I even have Christian symbols in my house, but I can also fully understand why an atheist would be 100% opposed to any church marriage.


Plus from my experience attending "special events", people want an excuse reason to make a scene. If they didn't have religion they'd just make something up anyway that may or may not be loosely related to a religion, whether it's multiple white doves being released at weddings, or at baptisms, calling fairies to put on a show and "bless" the child. It's never strictly about religion, people celebrate birth, marriage and mourn death - 3 major events in life.

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Different country of course, but I think the drift away from church is more a sign that atheism is more the norm or at least anti organized religion is becoming the norm.
I can't remember the last time I attended a wedding that was held in a "church" it must be over 20 years ago at least. Although this could be due more to my own atheist peergroup.
The last wedding I attended last year was in a backyard garden.
I was married in a glass pyramid shaped conservatory 22 years ago with a Justice of the Peace as the officiator.

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Here in my city, a group of us are working towards getting churches out of the completely tax exempt umbrella.
Which they are of course, fighting tooth and nail.

Going by the original question (which lately I seem incapable of answering original questions)
Then, yes getting married in (and obviously paying for) in a church would indeed provide income to the church and therefore give it more financial strength.

 

[Squawk]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

I can't help but feel it continues to give the church some kind of validation in society. The church (or religious leaders at least) still have a preposterous amount of influence in British society. While ever church resources are used for the likes of marriage the church will continue to remain, at least peripherally, in peoples minds as a source of influence.

I don't believe church marriage has any meaningful direct impact, but it does validate the existence of such an idiotic institution.

 

[Nom_de_Plume]

Re: Does marrying in churches in the UK strengthen the churc

Exactly, Here in my own little corner of the world, we are trying to get our local gov't to look closely at the blanket tax exemption for churches.

Just because it's a church doesn't mean it should be tax exempt... for all other organizations you have to prove you are a community charity doing not for profit work.

EVERY YEAR!!!

I know for the little youth program I head up here, I have to supply reams of paperwork to explain exactly what we do and have to prove we're out in the community volunteering our time to better the whole area. I also have to document the things we're teaching/exposing the children to and prove that it's a benefit to them and the community.

It's a lot of bloody work....actually, year after year.

Here we have lots of churches that don't fall into that category, they don't have a food bank or thrift store, they don't offer free good works to the community, Like gathering blankets or coats in the fall to give to the needy.

They open their door on sunday, pass that plate around and the rest of the time they're open is 100% just raising money for themselves, They don't sponsor any homeless shelter or youth group, they don't offer educational bursaries or scholarships....it doesn't get pumped back into the community for programs that benefit anyone.

I have no problem with a church or other religious based organization getting tax exemption if it's actually contributing "good" to our community but it should be treated like any other good works organization and have to prove it.