Humanist wedding takes place in England

Jul 14, 2004

Did you realise that if you are a rational person, you may be a humanist?

Did you realise that if you are a rational person, you may be a humanist? A humanist and ethical youth week ran in Kampala between May 20 to 28, the ‘first of its kind in Africa’.

Last year, I was invited to a humanist wedding. The bride had been a Roman Catholic, and the bridegroom, an Anglican in the Church of England. Now they both claim to be humanists. They are skeptical of the world’s old religions. “There’s not much difference between humanists and Rationalists,” I was told by Marilyn mason, educational director for the British humanist Association (BHA) at No 1 Gower Street in London WCI.

Rationalists tend more towards atheism, denying the existence of God, or of any non-material divinity. humanists are more agnostic, declaring “we simply do not know whether God exists or not.” The University of London was once known as “the Godless Institution of Gower Street.” Now it is the BHA that has an atheist reputation. At a humanist wedding last year, a BHA celebrant was a fiftiesh lady. As she had been invited by the couple to conduct a humanist service, she employed basic humanist ideas. You could not help noticing many phrases she used echoed the Church of England’s marriage service. She got the bride and bridegroom to exchange vows and rings in the usual way. The couple had to promise “ to love, honour and cherish” each other “whether in health or sickness, joy or sadness, ease or hardship.” There was no promise by the bride in the humanist service “to love, honour and obey.” The bride’s vow ‘to obey her husband’ has gone from most Anglican marriages as well. ‘Eternity’ was cited instead. “These rings,” the humanist celebrant said, “ symbolise your love and your promises, both to each other, and outwards to the wider community, for all time.”

A British Muslim said, “We in Islam don’t agree with this, but I can’t protest out loud. We respect British Freedom of Speech.” An old Catholic I spoke to growled, “ it was all part of the Modern Nonsense,” but he wasn’t going to make a fuss. “There’s too much contention in the world as it is.”

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