J.P.
10-07-03, 11:42 AM
I have a few associates who don’t believe in “civil marriages”
How do you feel about it? Do you think religion must be part of a marriage?
Civil marriage on rise across USA
Tue Oct 7, 6:40 AM ET Add Top Stories - USATODAY.com to My Yahoo!
By Cathy Lynn Grossman and In-Sung Yoo, USA TODAY
Fewer American couples who marry today see the need for religion's approval. The rate of civil marriage is on the rise coast to coast, a USA TODAY analysis of marriage license statistics suggests.
Experts say the trend could influence a larger debate: As fewer Americans see a need for religious blessings on a marriage, they may be more supportive of same-sex unions.
There's no national data on how many U.S. marriages are performed by clergy vs. a civil authority such as a notary, judge or justice of the peace. But in the 18 states that have tracked data for any significant period of time since 1980:
14 showed a growing or essentially steady rate of civil marriages more than 40% of marriages in 2001. That's up from about 30% in 1980.
Four showed a drop in civil-marriage rates: South Carolina, where a legal change stopped judges from getting paid for weddings (but the state still has one of the highest civil-marriage rates); Utah, with its large, family-centered Mormon population; and tourism havens Hawaii and Tennessee, where visitors flock to be quickly wed by non-denominational ministers.
The pattern probably is similar nationwide. "My daughter (Jane Campbell), the mayor of Cleveland, does more weddings than I do," says the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell of Chautauqua, N.Y., who is ordained in both the Disciples of Christ and the American Baptist churches.
What's behind the changing view of "I do"?
University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz, author of American Couples, cites high divorce and remarriage rates, more interfaith marriages and more personalized ideas on spirituality.
"We believe more in the church of 'My Way,' a shift in the sense of the ultimate authority from God and church elders to our own soulful searches," she says.
How do you feel about it? Do you think religion must be part of a marriage?
Civil marriage on rise across USA
Tue Oct 7, 6:40 AM ET Add Top Stories - USATODAY.com to My Yahoo!
By Cathy Lynn Grossman and In-Sung Yoo, USA TODAY
Fewer American couples who marry today see the need for religion's approval. The rate of civil marriage is on the rise coast to coast, a USA TODAY analysis of marriage license statistics suggests.
Experts say the trend could influence a larger debate: As fewer Americans see a need for religious blessings on a marriage, they may be more supportive of same-sex unions.
There's no national data on how many U.S. marriages are performed by clergy vs. a civil authority such as a notary, judge or justice of the peace. But in the 18 states that have tracked data for any significant period of time since 1980:
14 showed a growing or essentially steady rate of civil marriages more than 40% of marriages in 2001. That's up from about 30% in 1980.
Four showed a drop in civil-marriage rates: South Carolina, where a legal change stopped judges from getting paid for weddings (but the state still has one of the highest civil-marriage rates); Utah, with its large, family-centered Mormon population; and tourism havens Hawaii and Tennessee, where visitors flock to be quickly wed by non-denominational ministers.
The pattern probably is similar nationwide. "My daughter (Jane Campbell), the mayor of Cleveland, does more weddings than I do," says the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell of Chautauqua, N.Y., who is ordained in both the Disciples of Christ and the American Baptist churches.
What's behind the changing view of "I do"?
University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz, author of American Couples, cites high divorce and remarriage rates, more interfaith marriages and more personalized ideas on spirituality.
"We believe more in the church of 'My Way,' a shift in the sense of the ultimate authority from God and church elders to our own soulful searches," she says.