Humanist wedding is (British) legal first

[muriel_volestrangler]

Britain's first legally recognised humanist wedding is to take place in Edinburgh at the weekend.

Rules on the venues in which Scottish couples can marry had been relaxed, but services still had to be carried out by a minister of religion or registrar.

Karen Watts and Martin Reijns will be united by a humanist celebrant at the city's zoo after it was agreed that the restriction was discriminatory.

Humanist representatives have demanded the same changes in England and Wales.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4102310.stm

Note that they're actually Dutch and Irish, and this is only in Scotland. Progress grinds at a glacial pace in England ...

[trotsky]

1. That's weird.

I never would have suspected that the US's requirements for a marriage ceremony would be more liberal than the UK's.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. It probably develops from the established Church of England

(or Scotland). The power to perform a marriage was only gradually extended, and only to organisations that the state recognised as 'responsible'. The idea of 'no law regarding an establishment of religion' means that it's harder for the USA not to allow anyone who says they are a spiritual grouping to get the same rights. As the story says, now that we've got a charter of human rights, courtesy of Europe, there might be a change.

The UK still has a blasphemy law - which protects the Church of England, but not other denominations. The last attempted prosecution was 25 years ago, and the last successful one about 50 years before that, but it's still on the books.

[beam me up scottie]

3. Do you think

Phelps will be there?
Or do you guys have your own homegrown fanatics?
Or no fanatics?

Can you imagine what would happen today in this country if atheists wanted to marry and the amendment had not been passed?