h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

> A relative is getting married soon, and is having to do it twice, because the law of the land won't let her have the wedding they want. So they're having a quiet civil ceremony in the morning to satisfy the law, and then doing the 'real' wedding - the declaration in front of friends and family - in the afternoon.

In France, all weddings work like this. I think that's a good thing. It helps people to separate the civil and religious/community aspects of marriage.

TRiG.

Interesting Grauniad article:

If lay Catholics now accept remarriage, why not gay marriage? Cardinal O'Brien should note the Bible's rejection of divorce is a lot stronger than the evidence for damning all gay people

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2012/mar/05/catholics-gay-marriage-cardinal-obrien

>> In France, all weddings work like this. I think that's a good thing. It helps people to separate the civil and religious/community aspects of marriage. <<

No no, this is misleading. The 'civil ceremony to satisfy the law' can be pretty much the real thing there too. Not everyone has a religious (or any other sort of) ceremony afterwards. Unless you count lunch / dinner / party as 'the real wedding' (which I would find misleading).

On the other hand, those who want a religious service must get a civil service as well, which must be held before.

When we got married, I had to travel to Liverpool to book a registry office. (HI will know it - the one on Gt George's Rd. ). Only I had to get there early and queue for it opening because there were only a few slots available on Saturdays. After 11am the registrar went away to to nonconformist church weddings.

(And we also had to lie about where we lived.)

> It's allowing the Catholic and Anglican churches to dictate doctrine to other religious groups.

A good while ago, I heard the Quakers were suing about that. What movement on that front?

TRiG.

I think this move by the Tories is partially in response to the Quaker court case: all the legal commentary says that if the Quakers went to court they'd probably win on the grounds of religious freedom.

Plus the Tories really need to detoxify their brands when it comes to gay people and Labour gave them a lot of catching up to do.

This is a really good blog at Heresey Corner about this. Well worth a read and got some great detailed argumwents that Otto was asking for:-

http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2012/03/cardinal-sins-against-logic.html

FB