Orthodox Jews also shun sons and daughters that marry out of the faith. I must be missing something because I don't see the connection.īut I think I wasn't the only one? I also wished the couple well. None of this entire discussion has anything to do with length. I didn't understand your earlier post in which you said, 'Far from me to be a religious fanatic (or adherent as a matter of fact), but why are people equating the marriage ceremony any reception as the predictor of a marriages longevity?' I don't think anyone in the entire thread was talking about length, and certainly bananabrianna (I love that name!) didn't do that. If a marriage lasts a lifetime, it doesn't mean it's a good marriage. Even though that's a lengthy amount of time, it doesn't mean anything positive. People were held in slavery for nearly 150 in what is now the United States. I don't see any connection between length of marriage and any of the posts. If an adult wants his/her marriage and life to be like that, I have no problem. As I said, the Shakers had the right idea. (I define a 'mindless restriction' as one that equates not ingesting caffeine to faith in God.) Often, the children are the ones who suffer in a restrictive environment. I don't know how accurate studies can be in this area because everyone involved has an agenda.Īs a general statement, however, mindless restrictions on people cause problems in both marriages and families. I'd guess that there's a correlation between restictions on the individual and divorce rates. restrictive of individual conduct, have a higher divorce rate than the least restrictive. I would like to see a study which investigates whether more restrictive religions, i.e. Atheists and agnostics have the lowest divorce rate. However, there are studies which indicate that the highest divorce rates in the United States are among fundamentalist christians and Jews. Say that your statement is not necessarily true because I don't know if there is data to prove or disprove what you say. Oh Lord, please deliver us from our oppressors! I can understand the ceremony (length, conduct, music, etc.) itself being controlled by the rituals of a religion. I mean 'clinking glasses'? That's not culture it's not religion it's not faith in God. I don't understand how people believe in a group which wants to control his/her life to the extent they're told what to eat, drink, when to kiss, etc. She said, 'There's caffeine in chocolate, too, but I'm not about to stop eating it.' This kind of surprised me because she's a very strong Mormon. Because it had never occurred to me before, I asked her why she drinks iced tea since Mormons can't ingest caffeine.

I was stupefied.Īnyway, about a week ago, we went out to eat, and she ordered her usual iced tea.

For example, she once insisted that Joseph Smith had only 3 wives, none of whom was under 18. Quite often, she doesn't know the truth about her own religion. We go out to dinner several times a year and will occasionally have a lenghy discussion about aspects of the Mormon Church. The wedding restrictions you describe remind me of a recent discussion I had with my Mormon friend. Although all religions are 'made up,' the newer ones (Mormons, Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses) don't have an advantage of the older ones which are so hidden in antiquity that there's no record to prove/disprove their origins of their peculiarities. The Shakers had the correct and humane idea. I have no problem with adults making such decisions, but then they bring children into that structure and it often becomes abuse and lasts a lifetime. Have an endless list of rules to maintain control and perpetuate guilt.

Weird jehovah witness beliefs