"There is no point in getting married if you're not having kids"

MrSmartprice

Gloomendoom wrote: »

You need to get out more. Open your eyes, you are being blinded by your anti-religious bigotry. Marriage quite clearly is important in a religious context... otherwise religious marriage ceremonies would not exist.

Again, your opinion, and not one shared by millions.

Don't worry, I get out plenty. And I don't waste my time in musty old churches!;)

Marriage may well be important to people who believe in religion. [text removed by MSE Forum Team] The point is that religion is not relevant in marriage unless you wish to make it so. It is just an add-on option.

As for venues, again it makes no difference. You are just as married wherever the ceremony takes place. There is only one 'grade' of marriage in the UK, as is the case in most countries, I suspect.

HPoirot wrote: »

Funny then that the vows are suspiciously similar whatever the physical setting. I agree with Gloom&Doom.

Surely the vows in a church involve 'god' somewhere along the line. But not in a register office, they don't. The words are entirely secular. And you cannot have any music that is in any way religious either.

To this end, I assume that all the relevant phrases used in a register office must be used in a church too, to make it legal. It takes about 10 minutes. So the rest of the stuff is merely the optional 'padding'. Very little similarity then.:p

HPoirot

LOL MrSmartprice I hope that tomorrow morning you have the clarity of mind to read back your last post and realise just how contradictory it is. Anyway have fun

Gloomendoom

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Don't worry, I get out plenty. And I don't waste my time in musty old churches!;)

Marriage may well be important to people who believe in religion. But you have spectacularly missed the point, as religious people often do. The point is that religion is not relevant in marriage unless you wish to make it so. It is just an add-on option.

No, if you regard marriage as a religious institution, it is not optional at all.

HPoirot

:rotfl:Of course you have - not. What with the vows being similar but having little similarity etc :rotfl: I am not religious or religious minded at all, just legally minded, and by necessity reality is never far from my train of thought, but thank you I'll keep that in mind.

MrSmartprice

Gloomendoom wrote: »

No, if you regard marriage as a religious institution, it is not optional at all.

You personally may regard it as such. But that doesn't make it true. Your opinion does not alter the position one jot. Whether you have just the legally required ceremony, or all the additional religious trumpery, the certificate will confirm your status as 'married'.

The simple fact is that you do not have to have any religious involvement to be married. And there are not grades of marriage, such as 'civil' or 'religious'. You are married or not, and that is a matter of law. How difficult a concept is this for you few people?

bright_side

Can't say I've ever in my 43 years, heard anyone say there's no point in getting married if you're not having kids :eek:

margaretclare

What about people who are beyond the age of childbearing and who want to get married? Widowed, divorced, older people - is there not point in them wanting to get married?

seven-day-weekend

CC-Warrior wrote: »

Why do people say this? It annoys me. It's always parents that say it.

Marriage is a symbol of commitment between two people, a partnership, and also leads to cheaper car insurance according to my insurer

So on the basis of not wanting children, why shouldn't I get married?

Any thoughts.

My husband and I were married for nearly ten years before having our son. We waited this long from choice and for eight years didn't want children at all.

We got married because we loved each other and wanted to make a legal commitment to each other, not because we wanted children.

(For the benefit of Mr Smartprice, we had a civil wedding because neither of us were believers at the time. This to us was the date we got married. The date of our church blessing, thirteen years later, when we were both believing Christians, is not the date we celebrate as our Wedding Anniversary).

seven-day-weekend

MrSmartprice wrote: »

Don't worry, I get out plenty. And I don't waste my time in musty old churches!;)

Marriage may well be important to people who believe in religion. But you have spectacularly missed the point, as religious people often do. The point is that religion is not relevant in marriage unless you wish to make it so. It is just an add-on option.

As for venues, again it makes no difference. You are just as married wherever the ceremony takes place. There is only one 'grade' of marriage in the UK, as is the case in most countries, I suspect.



Surely the vows in a church involve 'god' somewhere along the line. But not in a register office, they don't. The words are entirely secular. And you cannot have any music that is in any way religious either.

To this end, I assume that all the relevant phrases used in a register office must be used in a church too, to make it legal. It takes about 10 minutes. So the rest of the stuff is merely the optional 'padding'. Very little similarity then.:p

Mr Smartprice is actually right here. There are a couple of things you have to say by law (declaring that you are free to marry and assenting that you are willing to marry), and the rest, as he says, is 'padding'.

Gloomendoom

MrSmartprice wrote: »

You personally may regard it as such. But that doesn't make it true. Your opinion does not alter the position one jot. Whether you have just the legally required ceremony, or all the additional religious trumpery, the certificate will confirm your status as 'married'.

The simple fact is that you do not have to have any religious involvement to be married. And there are not grades of marriage, such as 'civil' or 'religious'. You are married or not, and that is a matter of law.

We could go on all night like this. In law there are no grades of marriage, however, in the wider community, there most definitely is. Some sections of the community believe that, without the religious ceremony, there is no valid marriage. For example, in the religious and cultural context, my sister-in-law was married for nearly a year before she went through the legal process at a registry office. She, and everybody else, celebrate the date of the religious ceremony as her wedding anniversary.

How difficult a concept is this for you few people?

Ha ha! Just how few people do you think believe in God?