NOOR AL-MOSAWI Planning a wedding is notoriously stressful. But for the growing number of people who are falling in love with a partner of a different faith, a wedding can come with the added challenge of trying to decide how to honor their two (or more) religions. Should couples have one ceremony that brings their faiths together, or…
Marrying within the faith is still common in the United States, with nearly seven-in-ten married people (69%) saying that their spouse shares their religion, according to a recentPew Research Center survey. But a comparison of recent and older marriages shows that having a spouse of the same religion may be less important to many Americans…
Religion is a very personal thing. There’s no requirement that two people who fall in love with one another have to share the same religious beliefs. In fact, interfaith marriages are actually quite common now. Although politicians preaching a return to “family values” often talk about how families are stronger when they go to church together…
Twenty-two years ago my husband John and I married with two ceremonies: a December Methodist Blessing ceremony in his hometown and an Episcopal wedding ceremony five months later in Austin, Texas. Did our personalized interfaith wedding raise some eyebrows in my traditional Catholic family? Certainly. Did we enjoy our tailored celebrations and ceremonies? Absolutely. Today,…
On the day of our wedding, before the ceremony, we signed an interfaith ketubah, witnessed by the rabbi, my sister, and Joel’s brother, who were our maid of honor and best man. These wedding contracts traditionally refer to the couple marrying in the tradition of Moses and Israel, but ours instead refers to a home…
Wedding planning was my first real hint that I would find meaning in the sensibilities and rituals of Judaism. Protestant wedding ceremonies tend to be short and to the point. They reflect a low-fuss sensibility that I internalized as I grew up. I associated ritual with the more formal and ornate services of Catholicism or…
No matter what faith, culture or planet you come from, you become a part of the overall indefinable American culture, America does it to everyone! I was in a wedding yesterday, a whole bunch of us on our table were talking about the traditional Muslim culture morphing into the American Culture. Bride’s uncles and aunties…
Young statisticians in love. Can you imagine their wedding? If you do, please don’t imagine anything stuffy or stilted. Because I attended it this weekend, and it was a most excellent multicultural affair. The bride is Jewish, born to North American parents. The groom is Chinese, from a family based in Hong Kong. The groom…
MCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, that could affect the faith of children born to a marriage in which one spouse later converts. ― Picture by Yusof Mat IsaMCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed amendments to the Law Reform…
Armed police surrounded a Sikh temple after scores of men, some carrying swords, stormed the building reportedly in an attempt to disrupt an interfaith wedding. Fifty-five people were arrested for aggravated trespass following an eight-hour siege at the Gurdwara Sahib in Leamington Spa, which has a history of tensions over mixed marriages. A group calling…