by Tez 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Have there always been marriage ceremonies to legalise marriage? Don't remember any really early accounts of this. Also how about today? Is a legal ceremony really necessary top be pleasing to God, as it is accepted by most governments nowadays that if a couple live together they can be regarded as 'common law' spouses after a certain period of time.
Even as I am writing this I am pondering on different ways of answering this so be interested to see your replies.
Tez
Just to clarify a legal point - in the UK there is no legal recognition whatsoever of a 'common law marriage', and the partners have no rights over each other, property, etc.
It's now possible to rectify this be entering into the new 'civil partnership' arrangement.
I would have to say that "jehovah's" view on marriage, I do not know. The watchtower's view, on the other hand, varies by day, year, political climate, or the position of the sun in relation to where I parked my car last Thursday.
I jest, but then I provide you with this...
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/11/115449/1.ashx
I know that in Canada, where I am originally from, co-habitation without the benefit of a marriage contract and ceremony would be grounds for disfellowshipping. However, here in the Philippines the opposite seems to hold true. Even to the point of a Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
If you have had the chance to read Ray Franz's Crisis of Conscience, you would see a similar, albeit diferrent case, with regards to alternate military service in both Malawi and Mexico, and the many that suffered torture and death because of a waivering stance by the governing body.
I sincerely hope this helps.
Stealth453
Broadening this to religious marriage, divorce, etc. - I'm not, never have been and so on, and I've been an enquiring atheist for many years.
I was divorced about 4 years ago, having separated about 6 months before that. All very amicable (still good friends, etc., and the reasons I won't go into here). It turned out that my ex had commenced with her boyfriend a little before the separation and we agreed that a divorce was best to clarify things. (I did the divorce myself, but it cost £150 filing fee. I insisted the boyfriend paid that and thinking about it since it was probably in accordance with OT law. Isn't there something that says if your neighbour fiddles about with your wife, servant or donkey he has to pay compensation?).
So I got the divorce on the grounds of her adultery, and while it was friendly and there was no bitterness, it did cause regrets (we were married 23 years).
So you can imagine how uplifting it was when my BiL (a fairly raving fundamentalist BAC) reassured me that this was great, because I was the 'innocent' one and the grounds were OK, I could get remarried in his church if I wanted to at some time in the future.
Thanks very much ...
