CHURCH AS A MARRIAGE BARRIER
Far from passion, love, mutual understanding and agreement that stands as the great foundation of marriage; church as an institution now act as a great bridge that must be crossed before marriage can take place. Church has increased its control over marriage and what ought to be intimately personal is now a social institution. There are now customs, sanction and laws governing the recognition of marriage. These conditions and factors make the union of man and woman a sort of mission impossible.
Following the context of this write ups the question that need to be answered is: how do churches act as marriage barriers?
The church stands as a remarkable barrier to marriage due to their emphasis on factors such as:
*church differences
*church requirements and conditions
*clash of belief
*fear of losing membership and so many oppositions.
Most churches are of the opinion that for marriage to be regarded as a sacrament, both the man and woman must be baptized. In a situation where the parties are not of the same type of religion, the struggle to make the marriage work begins. The fear of loosing the support of one's church due to differences in religion background sometimes dissolve a long built relationship that ought to lead to marriage. For example, most catholic members find it awkward to marry anyone that is not yet baptized or faithful enough to take the holy communion. This applies to other churches and the complexities in this crashes alot of marriages. More of this shall be discussed as you read on.
Most requirements of the church also stand as a barrier. some churches do neglect feelings and fight only for the church rites. In a situation where a man or woman finds love again after first marriage, they regard the first marriage as an invalid one.To them, there's no justification for polygamy. Also, when some die hard lovers decides to shun the notion of church difference, they still face other conditions from the church.Stating facts from the catholic point of view, the following rules must be obeyed:
-That he or she that is not a member of catholic will not allow perfect freedom to the catholic partner and he or she will abstain from saying or doing anything that will weakening or change the faith of their member.
-That he or she will permit all children of their union to be baptized and reared in the catholic faith and practice.
-The catholic practitioner for the dispensation must also give promise(also written, in order that the dispenser may have a moral certainty of the absence of danger to the substantial ends of the sacrament)that he or she will strictly attend to his or her personal religious duties and have all the children baptized and properly trained in the catholic doctrine and practice, and that by prayer and good example and other legitimate and prudent means he or she will constantly labour to bring about the conversion to the catholic faith of his or her unbaptized partner.
They place such rules without minding the thoughts of the other party.When the unbaptized partner couldn't cope with the conditions,the intended marriage will be completely shattered.
Another barrier from churches towards marriage is clash of belief.Some people following their church belief sees others as an unbeliever.Call it discrimination and your not mistaken. They believe that its only those that are on their own worshiping ground receives salvation. To wed someone outside their church is wholly alien in their own perspective. This is where THE FEAR OF LOOSING MEMBERSHIP comes in. Churches nowadays encourage mostly marriages of the same membership in other not to loose their members. marrying another person outside their field of belief is a pure contradiction to what they believes in. Such cases are mostly seen when those who tag themselves as BORN AGAIN sees having a relationship with others as unfruitful.
Other relevant oppositions comes from parents who carries themselves as knights and Christian mothers. To them, it's uncalled for that their children should marry from another religious background. They rather kiss their potential son or daughter in-law goodbye than to allow such mixed marriage.
With reference to these factors, its not exaggerating in any way to label the church as a great institution of faith which has turned out to be a great barrier to marriage. It has become some kind of deep blue sea and until something is done about this, many relationships will be broken and tears will continue to flow like a river. Its consequences such as late marriages, rejection of children by parents, discrimination, breaking of long built relationships, heartbreaks and isolation among groups is becoming alarming. Marriage should remain a glory of love and not some kind of debate and sanction from churches. Churches should learn to respect the feelings of our young men and women irrespective of their religious background. Marriage should be built on love and understanding. Whether Anglican, catholic, Sabbath or Jehovah witness the true sense of marriage should not be undermined by churches. Once a man and woman have come together to become one, blessing should follow
and not complex conditions. God is everywhere and we are one regardless of what we believes in. Love conquers all and that's what matters!
Following the context of this write ups the question that need to be answered is: how do churches act as marriage barriers?
The church stands as a remarkable barrier to marriage due to their emphasis on factors such as:
*church differences
*church requirements and conditions
*clash of belief
*fear of losing membership and so many oppositions.
Most churches are of the opinion that for marriage to be regarded as a sacrament, both the man and woman must be baptized. In a situation where the parties are not of the same type of religion, the struggle to make the marriage work begins. The fear of loosing the support of one's church due to differences in religion background sometimes dissolve a long built relationship that ought to lead to marriage. For example, most catholic members find it awkward to marry anyone that is not yet baptized or faithful enough to take the holy communion. This applies to other churches and the complexities in this crashes alot of marriages. More of this shall be discussed as you read on.
Most requirements of the church also stand as a barrier. some churches do neglect feelings and fight only for the church rites. In a situation where a man or woman finds love again after first marriage, they regard the first marriage as an invalid one.To them, there's no justification for polygamy. Also, when some die hard lovers decides to shun the notion of church difference, they still face other conditions from the church.Stating facts from the catholic point of view, the following rules must be obeyed:
-That he or she that is not a member of catholic will not allow perfect freedom to the catholic partner and he or she will abstain from saying or doing anything that will weakening or change the faith of their member.
-That he or she will permit all children of their union to be baptized and reared in the catholic faith and practice.
-The catholic practitioner for the dispensation must also give promise(also written, in order that the dispenser may have a moral certainty of the absence of danger to the substantial ends of the sacrament)that he or she will strictly attend to his or her personal religious duties and have all the children baptized and properly trained in the catholic doctrine and practice, and that by prayer and good example and other legitimate and prudent means he or she will constantly labour to bring about the conversion to the catholic faith of his or her unbaptized partner.
They place such rules without minding the thoughts of the other party.When the unbaptized partner couldn't cope with the conditions,the intended marriage will be completely shattered.
Another barrier from churches towards marriage is clash of belief.Some people following their church belief sees others as an unbeliever.Call it discrimination and your not mistaken. They believe that its only those that are on their own worshiping ground receives salvation. To wed someone outside their church is wholly alien in their own perspective. This is where THE FEAR OF LOOSING MEMBERSHIP comes in. Churches nowadays encourage mostly marriages of the same membership in other not to loose their members. marrying another person outside their field of belief is a pure contradiction to what they believes in. Such cases are mostly seen when those who tag themselves as BORN AGAIN sees having a relationship with others as unfruitful.
Other relevant oppositions comes from parents who carries themselves as knights and Christian mothers. To them, it's uncalled for that their children should marry from another religious background. They rather kiss their potential son or daughter in-law goodbye than to allow such mixed marriage.
With reference to these factors, its not exaggerating in any way to label the church as a great institution of faith which has turned out to be a great barrier to marriage. It has become some kind of deep blue sea and until something is done about this, many relationships will be broken and tears will continue to flow like a river. Its consequences such as late marriages, rejection of children by parents, discrimination, breaking of long built relationships, heartbreaks and isolation among groups is becoming alarming. Marriage should remain a glory of love and not some kind of debate and sanction from churches. Churches should learn to respect the feelings of our young men and women irrespective of their religious background. Marriage should be built on love and understanding. Whether Anglican, catholic, Sabbath or Jehovah witness the true sense of marriage should not be undermined by churches. Once a man and woman have come together to become one, blessing should follow
and not complex conditions. God is everywhere and we are one regardless of what we believes in. Love conquers all and that's what matters!
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