Should the government make pagan weddings legal?

Question

I feel that all pagan weddings (handfastings) no matter what path you are on should be legal. what does everyone else think?

sorry I keep forgetting to put where I live, in the U.K

Steve b - a handfasting is part of the pagan wedding ceremony, some use it instead of rings. Some red ribbon is used to bound the couple hands together.

I have started a petition as soon as it goes live I will post the address on here!

as of today, with one day left to answer, I haven't heard back from the petition website which means its still going through all the processes. So anyone wanting to sign when I get final details send me an e-mail to [e-mail] and I will e-mail you back as soon as.

Answer 1

Where do you live that they aren't legal?
If the proper paperwork is filled out and filed, it's like any other marriage.

Answer 2

Yes!!!!
If your HPs & or HP are registered as registrars, it is seen as legally valid in the UK. This is how non C of E Christians, Moslems & some Hindu marriages are legal.
The big problem is that Paganism is only just starting to be recognised as a valid religious path in this country. Up until last year, it was not accepted as a valid religion by the Prison Service, for example.
Many Pagans go to the Registrar for the bit of paper, be it Marriage or Civil Partnership. Then have the Handfasting sepsarately.

Be Pagan. Be Proud

Blessed Be

Answer 3

I myself am wiccan. I worry that when my partner and myself arrange to marry (eventually) that i will have to take part in a civil service only, as a handfasting ceremony is not recognised as a union between two ppl. But if i were christian, there wouldn't be a problem, i could marry wherever i liked! It bugs me, it really does.
There was talk of making it legal i think before they legalised same-sex partnership unions (can't recall the proper term) but all that was legal paperwork alone, and no real acceptance. They still (to my knowledge) cannot get married in a church ceremony if they so wish.
When will other faiths ever be accepted here? and YES i do think handfastings should be legalised

Answer 4

Agreed. They should be legal. Sorry to hear they aren't there. In the US, certain sects of Paganism are recognized by our Gov't and accept the marriages within them as legit.

I hope the laws there change soon. It's a shame we have to still fight for something like this in this day and age.

Pagan

Answer 5

gvih2g2 is not quite right, any religious wedding ceremony is legal providing the Officiate, person marrying the couple, was trained as a civil registrar first. The High Priest and High Priestess, at my Temple, can legally marry people as they trained as civil registrars first. A marriage ceremony is called Maionnonicar, in my religion, and is performed by both High Priest and High Priestess (Kaellaei-Vaeeckoris & Kaellaei-Vaeeckorisan) along with their Priests and Priestesses. All that needs to be done is for people to train civilly as registrars and then go onto perform pagan and heathen ceremonies.

I intend on doing just that and hope to be a High Priestess. I think all pagan and heathen weddings, as well as other rites of passage, ought to be performed without the need for civil training. For me Maionnonicar is the joining of two people by a High Priest and High Priestess in the presence of The Gods and in front of witnesses. Why should we not express our religion or beliefs and it be valid? I think that pagan and heathen ceremonies will be legal in their own right one day. Maybe we should campaign for it, who knows?!

Also, paganism itself is confusing to some, as it means people who follow religions that aren't mainstream (like Christianity or Islam) or people who adhere to religions prior to them, however it can also be used to refer to irreligious people. I know people that are pagan but follow no religion, they just have beliefs. Some people think paganism is a religion, which it is not, it is just an umbrella term for many religions or beliefs. Perhaps this is where the difficulty lies in having them legally recognized in their own right (as with heathen ceremonies, as heathen means a person who follows a religion that is not established). However, nethertheless, all pagan & heathen weddings ought to legal in their own right and I would be glad to put my name any petition.

Answer 6

sure it could actually be criminal. Age- 13 Gender- lady faith- i don't likely have one. i'm cool with something. Race- Caucasian S. O.- right now point of preparation- 8th Grade State- Minnesota a million. it fairly is interior the shape that congress shall make no rules that are dictated by potential of religion, so even though if the Bible says its guy and woman, it fairly is not a respected reason. 2. it fairly is human decency, and it fairly is 2013. once you're nevertheless against gays, it fairly is high-quality, yet there is not any reason to not provide them the comparable rights as another human. 3. Marriage could be defined as love, not dictated by potential of gender.

Answer 7

I don't know where you are but here in the U.S. pagan weddings are legal, if you go through all the proper legal steps.

Answer 8

All forms of wedding should be legal. It's not up to the government to dictate what forms of love are acceptable.

Answer 9

You can get married anyway you want to in our country except as man-man or woman-woman. By the way, what is a handfast?

And just a note as to my feelings about marriage: I believe the government should not be involved in marriage in anyway.
"legally married" is such a lawyers dream, isn't it? We have systems and laws in place as to the rights of children, many are born "out of wedlock" anyway, so why should our system care about the legal part? Our society has made a mockery out of marriage anyway. It screws up our tax system and as I said it is a lawyers dream. If people wish to be married they should be able to get married anyway they want to and not be required to get a license. And just why do most government forms ask: married, divorced, single? It is none of their business.
And our system should be changed to disregard marriage as a legal point.

Answer 10

In England, only one type of religious wedding is recognised - in a Church of England church.

A marriage in any other belief, be it Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or (presumably) Pagan, needs to be ratified by a registrar - either by them attending your ceremony (if the vows exchanged in that ceremony meet legal requirements), or by a parallel ceremony in a registry office.

I believe that religion should be taken out of civil life, and that there should be no "established church", so I would say that NO religious wedding should, on its own, be recognised in law: all should have to be ratified by a civil registrar.

Answer 11

I got married by a Justice of the Peace, Judge in the court of Law. It is fully legal and binding.