Yep. Pretty much. Been wanting to kick people all week long. ;-)
but I wish we would go the French route of having everyone required to
be married in a civil ceremony first; those that want a religious ceremony
afterwards (and can find a religion they like that likes them back) can do
that, too
We sort of do in a way. You need a legal license to get married and someone
authorized by the state to perform the marriage - that's all a civil
marriage is. The ceremony is nice. But the license, agreement among the
parties and someone authorized to witness it, is really all that's
required. It's similar to a contract -- both parties sign, someone
witnesses, someone authorizes and seals it as official. You can't have the
ceremony without the license, but you can have the license without the
ceremony -- that's the civil route. As long as someone licensed by the
State in which you reside authorizes and signs off on your union -- you are
married. But if they aren't, not married. So yeah the church can marry you
in the eyes of God, but if you don't have someone authorized by the state
and with a legal license, you are not married in the eyes of many states,
including NY. Some states will recognize someone as married if they've
lived together for a period of time -- California (aka common law state)
but not that many.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2018-08-30 05:08 pm (UTC)Some days I just hate people.
Yep. Pretty much. Been wanting to kick people all week long. ;-)
but I wish we would go the French route of having everyone required to be married in a civil ceremony first; those that want a religious ceremony afterwards (and can find a religion they like that likes them back) can do that, too
We sort of do in a way. You need a legal license to get married and someone authorized by the state to perform the marriage - that's all a civil marriage is. The ceremony is nice. But the license, agreement among the parties and someone authorized to witness it, is really all that's required. It's similar to a contract -- both parties sign, someone witnesses, someone authorizes and seals it as official. You can't have the ceremony without the license, but you can have the license without the ceremony -- that's the civil route. As long as someone licensed by the State in which you reside authorizes and signs off on your union -- you are married. But if they aren't, not married. So yeah the church can marry you in the eyes of God, but if you don't have someone authorized by the state and with a legal license, you are not married in the eyes of many states, including NY. Some states will recognize someone as married if they've lived together for a period of time -- California (aka common law state) but not that many.