We're not worthyyyyyy
Posted on 07/02/2008 8:18:28 AM PDT by delacoert
Wedding customs of the faithful range from solemn to colorful
In the big picture of life, all weddings are the same — they're about two people joining their lives (and families) together.
But, of course, all weddings are a little bit different, too, based on the couple's background and preferences.
Those who opt for a civil ceremony might want a simple exchange of vows at the county courthouse or an elaborate gathering with the wedding party dressed in period costumes.
Protestant weddings also can vary, depending on the denomination, church and officiating clergy.
Some faiths (Catholic) have a lot of rules about how the service should look, while others (Muslim) can vary greatly depending on the couple's cultural background. Some weddings involve wine (Jewish), some involve fire (Hindu), and some faiths consider their wedding vows as enduring not just on Earth, but into the afterlife (Mormon).
Here's what Tri-State residents had to say about what weddings are like within their faith.
Catholic
Catholic weddings differ from Protestant ceremonies in a few key ways.
For one thing, they're usually longer, says Matt Miller, director of the Catholic Diocese of Evansville's office of worship.
A full Catholic wedding that includes Mass, Miller said, may last 60 to 90 minutes.
Typically, the couple and their wedding party sits and kneels along with everyone else during the Mass, then stands while exchanging vows.
Unless there are extraordinary circumstances that would prevent it, Catholic weddings always take place in a Catholic Church.
Often, Miller said, couples opt to show devotion to a saint during the wedding ceremony — perhaps by offering flowers before a statue of that saint. Mary is usually chosen, Miller said, because of "her example of selfless service and total giving over to another."
Because of the religious component of the wedding, the wedding processional includes not just the bride and her attendants, but also the priest and other ministers who officiate.
Jewish
Jewish weddings actually involve two separate ceremonies. The first is an engagement ceremony, followed by the wedding ceremony.
During each ceremony, the couple sips wine from a shared cup as a symbol of their union.
"They use sweet wine so that from now on, they will be sharing life's sweetness," said Rabbi Barry Friedman of Temple Adath B'nai Israel.
The back-to-back ceremonies are a modification of ancient Jewish custom in which the engagement ceremony — considered a binding arrangement breakable only by divorce — took place a full year before the wedding ceremony.
Jewish weddings also incorporate physical symbols of the couple's future life together.
During the ceremony the couple stands under a canopy called a chuppah which symbolizes their first shared home.
At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass under his foot. This action has many possible meanings, Friedman said, but it's often understood to represent both the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the fact that life contains both sorrow and happy times.
Muslim
Muslims hail from many different countries, so their wedding customs can vary greatly depending on where the couple live.
"There's no particular 'Muslim wedding' because the culture is so diverse," said Bushra Saqib of Carmi, Ill., a member of the Islamic Society of Evansville.
For instance, Saqib said, in her native country of Pakistan, red is a popular color for brides, while Middle Eastern Muslim brides often wear white wedding dresses.
That said, there are some commonalities among all Muslim weddings.
Islam does not have clergy as some other faiths do, so weddings can be performed by any Muslim with good standing in the community.
Saqib's husband, Zahid, a physician, has officiated at a number of Muslim weddings.
Before the ceremony, the bride's family and the groom's family meet to come up with a marriage contract that both bride and groom will sign during the wedding ceremony.
The groom is required to provide his bride with a gift, Zahid Saqib said, and this is detailed in the contract. Other elements of the contract may stipulate the standard of living the husband will provide, the amount of housework the wife will do and where they will live.
"You can actually put down anything in the contract. It's up to the people to decide," Zahid Saqib said.
The bride should have her father or another man with good community standing give her away, and the wedding must include at least two witnesses.
Mormon
In the five-plus years that Sam Rogers has served as bishop of the Newburgh ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he's officiated at only a few local weddings.
That's in large part because of the church's beliefs about marriage.
The church teaches that the marriage bond can endure into the afterlife, but only if the couple have their marriage sealed in a Mormon temple. The church's ideal is for couples to marry and be sealed in a temple, and Rogers estimated that the vast majority of active Mormons opt to marry inside a temple. (Indiana has no Mormon temples, but Louisville, Ky., and St. Louis do.)
Rogers said the church does not reveal details of the sealing ceremony because of its sacred nature, and even among Mormons not everyone can enter the temple.
To qualify for temple admission, a person must answer questions posed by local church officials to determine if the person is living in accordance with church teachings. If the person gains the officials' approval, he or she receives a "temple recommend" that is valid for two years.
Those who marry in a local Mormon church typically must wait a year before being sealed in a temple, Rogers said.
Local church weddings are usually simple and relatively brief.
"It's a pretty low-key ceremony that we feel like invites the spirit to attend," Rogers said.
Hindu
Hindu weddings include many customs not seen in other faiths.
"Hindu wedding is different from other weddings," said Sushma Jain of Evansville, a member of the Tri-State's Hindu community.
The marriage may be arranged — Jain and her husband, K.C., have three daughters who all chose an arranged marriage — but tradition is shifting, and more and more young people opt to choose their own spouses.
The wedding takes place in front of a sacred fire that represents the deity Agni. Agni is also considered to be the principal witness to the ceremony. As part of the ceremony, the couple walk around the fire several times.
Another important part of the ceremony occurs when the bride's parents place her right hand in the groom's right hand as a symbol of the couple's coming together.
Hindu theology includes many deities, but at weddings worship is focused on Ganesh because he is associated with good luck and the removal of obstacles.
Among the other wedding traditions are several formal greetings exchanged by different members of the bride's and groom's families.
This custom, Jain said, shows that a wedding unites more than just the bride and groom.
"The wedding is not boy and girl. The wedding is between both the families," she said.
We're not worthyyyyyy
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Again you mis-state what I said.
I was pointing out how you use this kind of action to mislead and confuse the line of thought.
ROFL at the mormons insisting it was your DUTY to tattle on a member...is it every mormon's duty to do so?
LDS LEADERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ENDOWED WITH "DISCERNMENT" WHEN THEY ARE CALLED TO THEIR LEADERSHIP POSTS! Isn't that correct?
If a bishop can't "discern" who is lying to him, why should someone be expected to tattle?
How quickly this thread became a focus on me personally. While it is against the Religion Forum rules I think it is highly enlightening for those investigating Mormonism to be able to see this type of thing first hand and so, I certainly hope it stands for all to see.
Attributing motives to another Freeper is a form of "making it personal."
The reasoning was straight forward, you just don't like it. Your actions appear to be misled and confused.
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Good try at a miss-leading thought.
All of God's children are given the opportunity to have all of the ordinances God has declared we need. (yes, that is an ‘s’ as in plural, as in not just one ordnance)
Not just Baptism's for the dead.
Easy information for anyone who wants to know.
I make no claim that I am an anti-Christian, so I do not have to engage myself in a mainstreaming strategy.
If Temples were supposed to be done away with after the death of Christ, why does Isaiah prophesy of of the Lords House being built in the last days?
Isaiah 2:2-3
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us ago up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the flaw, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And it was important enough for the Lord to have the Prophet Micah also testify of it.
Micah 4:1-2
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the claw shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Now one could reasonably argue that it's only referencing the Temple to be built in Jerusalem. One could also reasonably argue that the Law would go froth from Zion AND the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. But either way, there is no repudiation of temples in the last days. The Lord himself has had his ancient servants prophesy of his holy house.
I try very hard to use third person, but because of the number of miss-leading remarks, I sometimes forget.
I should have used ‘this kind of action is used by many to confuse and miss-lead’ instead of “you use this kind of action to mislead and confuse”.
I will work at not making it personal by using first person.
fred
Here's an excellent work on the comparisons. I'll quote a snip, but it goes in to great detail about the similarities.
“A number of early Jewish and Christian documents deal with elements found in modern LDS temples. As such, they are confirmation of the antiquity of our temple rites.1 The volume of information is such that it will not be possible to discuss all aspects in this brief paper. In addition to some of the articles I have written, I would refer you to the temple research written by such LDS researchers as Hugh Nibley, John M. Lundquist, Donald W. Parry, Stephen D. Ricks, and Matthew B. Brown.
Just as an example, let me note that I have, to date, found fifteen early Christian documents that speak of baptism for the dead, along with several Mandaean and Jewish texts. This information will be included in my article “Baptism for the Dead in Early Christianity,” scheduled for publication later this year in another FARMS temples volume.
The article goes on to examine the relationship and similarities with ancient Christian handclasps, initiation, secret words, prayer circles, passing the angels, being admitted into God's presence, etc.
For those thinking that we are merely copying Masonic rituals, this is a must read.
Mountain? The Temple?
I think Isaiah and Michah are pretty explicit in their prophecy - why must you distort them so? Is it in order to make them be a prophecy of your Mormon Temples?
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I find it very personal when someone changes what I say into something I did not say.
Please be more careful in your use of what is said.
The veil of the temple was rent to signified that the way into the Holy of Holies was open for all people.
Such a sign is clearly antithetical to temple secrecy.
Please answer the question. Why did they prophecy of a temple in the last days if no temples are needed. I know you think this talks of the Jerusalem Temple, but that goes squarely against your post about no temples after Christ.
Please explain.
And with that passage you have given us a glimpse into what happens in a Mormon Temple - handclasps, initiation, secret words etc.
But where was there ever documented one instance of a baptism of the dead, or a wedding ceremony sealing a couple (or several women to one man) in the Jerulsalem Temple. Please site it with a non-mormon site if you can.
See article about Christian temple rights after the death of Christ.
sigh. I give up, back to work.
“If Temples were supposed to be done away with after the death of Christ, why does Isaiah prophesy of of the Lords House being built in the last days”
I believe God isn’t done with Israel, His earthly people
yet.
Temples have nothing to do with the Church.
Now the religion of mormonism can believe whatever it wants.
Hindus have temples, why not mormonism? I say, Go For It!
Please be more careful in your use of what is said.
Having read this thread from top to bottom, I see little if any alteration of word or meaning. I do see some thin skin now though.
I was wondering, if a thin-skinned poster keeps pinging the RM, do they get just their posts pulled, or do they get the whole thread pulled?
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