Scientology and marriage

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Scientology and marriage, within the Church of Scientology, are discussed in the book The Background, Ministry, Ceremonies & Sermons of the Scientology Religion.

Scientology weddings do not require that both parties of the wedding be adherents of Scientology. Nor does the Church necessarily exclude material from weddings of other faiths in its own ceremonies. One source, J. Gordon Melton, has ascribed this to Scientology trying to mollify members of the wedding partners' families.[1]

Wedding ceremony

According to an article on Beliefnet:

"The book has five versions of the wedding ceremony: traditional, Informal, Single Ring, Double Ring, and Concise Double Ring. In the 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard wrote wedding vows that stress the mutual needs of the couple, now referred to as Scientology’s "traditional ceremony." They include such quaint advice to the groom as "Now -----, girls need clothes and food and tender happiness and frills, a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat. All caprice if you will, but still they need them," and to the bride: "Hear well, sweet -----, for promise binds. Young men are free and may forget. Remind him that you may have necessities and follies, too." [2]

The Church's website describes the marriage vows of Scientologists as follows:

Scientologists recognize marriage as a part of the second of the eight dynamics of existence. The second dynamic includes all creative activity, including sex, procreating and the raising of children. Marriages are consecrated in the Scientology religion using one of several different ceremonies offering varying degrees of formality. Each of these ceremonies includes traditional vows of loyalty and devotion.

Gay marriage

Main article: Homosexuality and Scientology

The Church of Scientology has had a controversial history regarding LGBT issues and same-sex marriage. In recent years, the Church has publicly embraced the subject more so than in the past.[3] In 2005, a spokesperson for the Church told the New York Daily News that the Church had "not taken an official position on gay marriage, and that members prefer not to talk about it." In 2008 the Church, along with others, supported Prop 8 in California which banned homosexual unions, even in counties where they had been performed before.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Probably the most famous Scientology wedding was the one between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on Saturday, November 18, 2006. Cruise and Holmes announced their engagement in June 2005. Scientologist spokesperson Karen Pouw stated that as part of their nuptial vows, "they won't go to sleep at night without having repaired any upset they may have had during the day,".[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Brozan, Nadine (November 12, 2006). "For Mrs. Cruise, Perhaps a Cat". New York Times. p. 9. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ http://www.beliefnet.com/story/204/story_20431_1.html
  3. ^ "Church of Scientology wants Gays", Fab! magazine, February 14, 2003. [1]
  4. ^ Washington Post, "Scientologist Cruise to pledge loyalty, maybe a Cat", by Jill Serjeant, Wednesday, November 15, 2006. [2]

External links

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