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Are you having a humanist wedding?

Any topics that are primarily about humanism or other non-religious life stances fit in here.
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Alan C.
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#21 Post by Alan C. » January 30th, 2012, 5:15 pm

Latest post of the previous page:

@Alan C
Interesting how the landscape of weddings and funerals has now changed - I guess there was not really any option 38 years ago. Did you have a CofE/Catholic wedding?
We were married in a CoE Church (the same one I was "Christened" in, the only other option at that time was the registry office and my wife wanted a "proper" wedding.
Was this something that you were uncomfortable with
Yes.
or have you moved toward humanism later in life?
I've been a non believer since about the age of eight but only heard about Humanism around 12 years ago, the description (Humanist) that Athena provides on the main page of the Think Humanism website fitted me, so here I am.
Can I ask - apart from there being no religion - what is particular about a Humanist funeral, for you?
First and foremost a Humanist funeral is a celebration of the life of the deceased without all the "he's gone to a better place" nonsense, the last funeral I attended; there was more talk of Jesus than of the deceased, I was disgusted!

And just as important, my funeral will be conducted by my good friend Fia (of this forum) I can think of no one else I'd rather have :smile:


PS.
Fia it will be flights both ways after your past problems with the boats :wink:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

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Dave B
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#22 Post by Dave B » January 30th, 2012, 6:36 pm

Re: "time defined unions".

I know of no such things in real life, the only one I can think of at the moment is that in a sci-fi series "The Liaden Universe" - I will appraise you of the little they say of it by email.

A quick scan through Google elicited no other titles or refs to TDUs, but I have not exhausted all possible search strings as yet!
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

Fia
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#23 Post by Fia » January 30th, 2012, 10:33 pm

Alan C. wrote:... my funeral will be conducted by my good friend Fia (of this forum) I can think of no one else I'd rather have :smile:

PS.
Fia it will be flights both ways after your past problems with the boats :wink:
:redface: This does, of course, assume you'll predecease me Alan. At the rate folk want me to do their funerals I need to find a longevity pill :) ...and if that worked knowing my luck with Shetland the sea will be pancake flat calm and the flights fogbound...


I'm in communication with KatieA now - poor love has now the Scottish aspect which is a PHD in itself - but a big forum :welcome: to KatieA. Have a wee delve, enjoy and respond...

Nick
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#24 Post by Nick » January 30th, 2012, 10:55 pm

Hi Katie and welcome to the forum! :D

I'd be delighted to help you....

...if only I had a fiancee.... :sad:


OTOH, I'd be delighted to discuss humanism and humanist weddings/marriages with you (in great detail, so you've been warned! :D ). I'd also recommend, most strongly, that you take a good look at the various threads on this forum, which I think will give you a huge amount of material to ponder. Be free to ask questions on any topic; you will find many posters willing to respond.

Best wishes for your research. :thumbsup:

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Alan C.
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#25 Post by Alan C. » January 30th, 2012, 11:25 pm

Fia
knowing my luck with Shetland the sea will be pancake flat calm and the flights fogbound...
It's a bloody lottery Fia,
I shall strive to die at a convenient time. :smile:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

KatieA
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#26 Post by KatieA » January 31st, 2012, 5:46 pm

hi Thanks again for those of you who have responded since my last post - and for the welcomes.

I am sure there will be lots of questions coming everyone's way so prepare for general ignorance and much appreciated support of a young researcher.


katie :smile:

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Emma Woolgatherer
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#27 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » January 31st, 2012, 6:31 pm

Hello, KatieA, and welcome.

My partner and I aren't planning on getting married anytime soon, but it's something we might do eventually. I once vowed that I wouldn't get married until it became something that same-sex couples could do too. That's supposed to happen by 2015 in England and Wales, but Scotland will probably get there sooner. I wouldn't rule out a Humanist ceremony, but quite frankly I'd be just as happy with something very low-key at the local register office. Although, as I've discussed elsewhere with Fia, I don't like the fact that civil marriages have to be "solemnised", while civil partnerships don't (see the New York approves gay marriage thread). In many ways I'd prefer a civil partnership, but it bothers me that there isn't a simple verb for doing it. One doesn't get married; one enters into a civil partnership. Hmm. In France, apparently, the civil partnership is called Pacte de Solidarité Sociale, or PACS, and that has led to a few neologisms. The verb "se pacser" is used to mean "to enter into a civil partnership", and "pacsé" and "pacsée" are used in a similar way to husband and wife. Which is rather good, I think. Perhaps the UK could adopt those terms from the French, as they did with fiancé and fiancée. Anyway, that's all by the by, because civil partnership is not an option for opposite-sex couples, and there are no plans for it to become one. Time for another plug for Peter Tatchell's Equal Love campaign.

Emma

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Dave B
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#28 Post by Dave B » January 31st, 2012, 6:57 pm

"pacsé" and "pacsée" are used in a similar way to husband and wife. Which is rather good, I think. Perhaps the UK could adopt those terms from the French, as they did with fiancé and fiancée.
Let's be British about this, eh, what!

I thought the modern thing was not to "genderise" titles, why not "consort"? It has no gender and though it is usually used for the partner of a monarch it can be used for any spouse.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
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Dave B
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#29 Post by Dave B » January 31st, 2012, 8:31 pm

Not being "in the market" for such things I will admit to not looking into the idea of marriage in the past, oh, 40 years, or the rules that govern it. Listening with only half an ear (metaphorically!) to mentions on the radio gives one a fragmented picture.

Emma, I take what you said to mean that, a) civil marriages have to be "solemnised" and assume this means they need the "OK" of a church to give them legal status, and, b) like genders cannot get married and unlike genders cannot have a civil partnership?

Yup, I am up for any campaign to correct these errors! As I tried to intimate any couple, of whatever gender combination, should have the right to establish any kind of moral and ethical relationship - in this case "moral and ethical" means to their mutual advantage and the improvement of society.

One would hope that "advantage" did not mean cash for one partner and citizenship for the other or any similar relationship based on financial or other material gains alone.

And what price a church wedding when vicars run scams like the recent one in the news? Not the first case of this IIRC.
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
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Alan C.
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#30 Post by Alan C. » January 31st, 2012, 8:55 pm

Dave
Emma, I take what you said to mean that, a) civil marriages have to be "solemnised" and assume this means they need the "OK" of a church to give them legal status,
Quite the opposite I think, Churches and religions have no say in the legality of a marriage,
and, b) like genders cannot get married and unlike genders cannot have a civil partnership?
That's true.
Heterosexual couple make second attempt for civil partnership.
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Dave B
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#31 Post by Dave B » January 31st, 2012, 9:54 pm

OK, Alan, so what is this "solemnisation" then?

Anyway, who the hell wants a solemn wedding? Way Hey! Let your hair down (if you have any that is!)
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
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Nick
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#32 Post by Nick » January 31st, 2012, 10:32 pm

I was going to mention civil partnerships for straight couples when I saw Alan's post. Can't be certain if it was the same couple (quite likely, though), but I heard a compelling argument on Radio 4 some months ago. When it was announced at the beginning of the programme (probably PM), I felt pretty dismissive, but when the legal distinctions were explained, I became convinced. (I did wonder though, if more variation should be available for everyone... Hmmm... food for thought.)

Dave :) Never mind "consort", how about "spouse"? "artner" may be OK, but it does tend to suggest a firm of stockbrokers , lawyers or (most amorous of all,) ....accountants.

Ema :) How I hate the expression "get" married! Grrr! How about, "marry" or "be married"? Much nicer!

For me, if I were to find the right partner in life, a wedding, for me, would be a) an offical and formalisation of my feelings for my beloved, (and I would hope, hers for me,) and our declaration to the world of our relationship; something to be pleased about, proud of, and to be celebrated. That's not compulsory, of course, (no pressure, Emma ;)) that's just how I feel.

So, just need to find that special one.....

She'd have to be special, to put up with me!

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Alan C.
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#33 Post by Alan C. » January 31st, 2012, 10:59 pm

Dave
OK, Alan, so what is this "solemnisation" then?
No idea :shrug: best ask Emma. :)
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jaywhat
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#34 Post by jaywhat » February 1st, 2012, 5:59 am

Do people wanting to get married or have a civil partnership have to declare what gender each is? Do they have to prove it?

I think not.

Oh silly me - birth certificates! :smile:

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Alan H
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#35 Post by Alan H » February 1st, 2012, 11:56 am

jaywhat wrote:Do people wanting to get married or have a civil partnership have to declare what gender each is? Do they have to prove it?

I think not.

Oh silly me - birth certificates! :smile:
Hmmm...Transgender People are Completely Banned From Boarding Airplanes in Canada
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Emma Woolgatherer
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#36 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » February 1st, 2012, 2:48 pm

Dave B wrote:Let's be British about this, eh, what!
All right. We could just take "pacsee", and use it for both sexes, like employee, nominee, referee, trainee, licensee, etc. But no, I wasn't being serious. I just think it's fortunate for the French that it's worked out that way. We do need our own terminology.
Dave B wrote:I thought the modern thing was not to "genderise" titles, why not "consort"? It has no gender and though it is usually used for the partner of a monarch it can be used for any spouse.
Oh, but it's an awful-sounding word. And the verb "to consort" is already in use to mean "to hang about with", especially in the context of thieves, vagabonds and other disreputable characters.
Dave B wrote:Emma, I take what you said to mean that, a) civil marriages have to be "solemnised" and assume this means they need the "OK" of a church to give them legal status
Ooh, no. They just need both parties to make a verbal statutory declaration, rather than just sign a written one. It's all in that other thread I linked to, and it's different in Scotland than it is in England and Wales. It probably seems a trivial thing, but it bothers me.
Dave B wrote:and, b) like genders cannot get married and unlike genders cannot have a civil partnership?
Yes, sort of. Although I'd say "same-sex couples" rather than "like genders", because the state is interested in a rather crude definition of sex, rather than the more nuanced gender. A transsexual can only marry someone of the opposite sex to the one listed on his or her birth certificate. But transsexuals can get new birth certificates if they are granted a full gender recognition certificate by the Gender Recognition Panel. So, currently, a transsexual can marry someone of the same sex, provided he or she hasn't obtained a new birth certificate stating his or her new sex. Anyway, David Cameron, and the Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone have said that same-sex couples will be able to get married from 2015. But it's not at all clear, yet, what's going to happen with civil partnerships. Will they continue to be an option for same-sex couples only? Or will they be abolished? Or will they be offered as an option for everybody? So far, they're not saying.
Nick wrote:Ema :) How I hate the expression "get" married! Grrr! How about, "marry" or "be married"? Much nicer!
Those options might be "nicer", but in many contexts (not all) they sound archaic. "I do not intend to marry" sounds like something a Jane Austen heroine might say. "I do not intend to be married" might work in certain contexts, but on its own sounds rather peculiar. "Get married" is a perfectly correct phrasal verb, and objecting to it is just word snobbery. :D

Emma (or Ema, or Em, if you prefer)

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Emma Woolgatherer
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#37 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » February 1st, 2012, 2:54 pm

How ridiculous! I note the following, however: "I want to stress that as yet, I have no confirmed cases of a trans person actually being refused boarding." Seems like something that needs to be tested.

Emma

Gottard
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#38 Post by Gottard » February 1st, 2012, 3:29 pm

Emma Woolgatherer wrote:
How ridiculous! I note the following, however: "I want to stress that as yet, I have no confirmed cases of a trans person actually being refused boarding." Seems like something that needs to be tested.Emma
I think the spirit of the law is to to avoid "disguises" rather than genuine "trans". However, the point is 'what does the passport state' !
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Emma Woolgatherer
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#39 Post by Emma Woolgatherer » February 1st, 2012, 4:03 pm

Gottard wrote:I think the spirit of the law is to to avoid "disguises" rather than genuine "trans". However, the point is 'what does the passport state' !
I'd have thought the point was "What does the passport photograph look like?" But one is allowed to look slightly different from how one looks in one's passport photograph, isn't one? One can put on weight, or lose it; one can grow a beard, or shave it off, or go bald, or cut one's hair, or grow it, or dye it, or take off or put on glasses, or take off or put on heavy make-up. As long as the passport photograph shows one's face clearly, and one is prepared to show one's full face to passport control, then that ought to be all that matters.

Emma

Gottard
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#40 Post by Gottard » February 1st, 2012, 5:07 pm

In Switzerland and Italy photographs in identity docs. (driving licence, passport) must show the features of the person as it is at present: if wearing spectacles the photo must show it and the same if having beard. Photos anyway, must be updated every 5 years (but not sure).
Contact lenses must be specified in writing on the document.
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Dave B
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Re: Are you having a humanist wedding?

#41 Post by Dave B » February 1st, 2012, 5:09 pm

Emma Woolgatherer wrote:
Gottard wrote:I think the spirit of the law is to to avoid "disguises" rather than genuine "trans". However, the point is 'what does the passport state' !
I'd have thought the point was "What does the passport photograph look like?" But one is allowed to look slightly different from how one looks in one's passport photograph, isn't one? One can put on weight, or lose it; one can grow a beard, or shave it off, or go bald, or cut one's hair, or grow it, or dye it, or take off or put on glasses, or take off or put on heavy make-up. As long as the passport photograph shows one's face clearly, and one is prepared to show one's full face to passport control, then that ought to be all that matters.

Emma
Er, so going through customs wearing one's hair long and down, with trowelled on make-up (to cover the 5 o'clock shadow) and in a nice frilly dress when one's passport has a crew-cut, beard and Manchester United shirt in it is OK then? :wink:

Wonder how Grayson Perry copes? Or does he wear wigs I wonder? :D
"Look forward; yesterday was a lesson, if you did not learn from it you wasted it."
Me, 2015

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