Story Archive

Love and Marriage

After the leader of a secular humanist group sued because she was denied permission to solemnize marriages in Indiana, the U.S. Court of Appeals (7th Circuit) ruled on the state’s law. While some states allow anyone to sign wedding certificates, and others restrict it to religious officials or notaries public, Indiana gives a specific list of certain public officials or clergy of a specific list of religions. “The high priestess of the Church of Satan (along with Wiccans and those who worship Baal) could solemnize marriages under subsection (1), while Buddhists, many other religions, and humanists cannot,” the court’s opinion noted. “It is absurd to give the Church of Satan, whose high priestess avows that her powers derive from having sex with Satan, and the Universal Life Church, which sells credentials to anyone with a credit card, a preferred position over Buddhists, who emphasize love and peace.” (MS/Los Angeles Times) ...Not as absurd as thinking the government should dictate religious matters — or the other way around.