Interfaith Marriage

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When interfaith marriage is defined as the marriage between members of different religions . Marriages between religious and non-religious people should be viewed in a similar way. In contrast to interdenominational marriage, it is often difficult to find concrete common beliefs that go beyond moral values.

Viewpoints of different religions

Interreligious marriages are viewed by many religions as more or less problematic. A distinction must also be made between the spiritual view of religious teaching, the religious law derived from some religions and the practical influence of this on the way societies deal with interreligious marriages.

Religious laws that restrict the choice of a spouse based on religion conflict with the human right to free choice of spouse (Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ).

Judaism

According to the Halacha , marriage between Jews and non-Jews is not possible. However, the Tanach in the book of Ruth also describes an interreligious marriage between the Jews Machlon or Boaz and the Moabite woman Ruth. Her grandson, King David , also took Maacha as his wife. Only with the reconstitution of Judaism at the end of the Babylonian captivity under Ezra did mixed marriages become inadmissible.

According to the Halacha, children from civil marriages between Jews and non-Jews (see section “Civil marriage” ) are fundamentally Jewish, provided that the mother is Jewish. Parts of Reform Judaism, especially in the USA, however, also recognize children as Jews, in whom only the father is Jewish, or at least offer relief in attaining this status.

Christianity

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that a Christian should not divorce his non-Christian spouse: “For the unbelieving man is sanctified by the woman and the unbelieving woman is sanctified by her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean; but they are holy ”( 1 Cor 7 : 12-14  EU ).

On the other hand, for a long time the restrictions described in the Old Testament applied to entering into new marriages . In the middle of the 18th century, a Protestant church consistory wanted to send the partner of a Muslim Bosniak officer in the Prussian army to the stake for "fornication with pagans" - only the intervention of Frederick the Great put an end to the church process.

The Roman Catholic Church , the largest denomination has in terms of inter-religious marriages about the same reservations as in interfaith marriages . Even these were inadmissible in the CIC of 1917, the CIC of 1983 also declared marriages between Catholics and unbaptized persons to be fundamentally invalid and only allowed them in exceptional cases , whereby these marriages are not considered to be sacramental .

More conservative Christian currents, however, still reject such marriages and deny them church weddings, even if assurances are given that the children from this relationship will be brought up in the Christian faith.

Druze

The Druze religious community does not allow proselytizing or converting, and there is no voluntary conversion. This means that only endogamous marriages are possible in Druze.

Islam

The religious law of Sharia , derived from Islam , treats men and women asymmetrically:

Muslim women are not allowed to marry men of a non-Muslim religious community. Should such marriages still exist - if z. For example, if the man falls away from Islam or the woman becomes a Muslim, the marriage must be divorced, possibly compulsorily. The meaning of these Sharia laws as valid national law or as an influence on social life differs depending on the country and region. Conservative extremes are Iran and Saudi Arabia, liberal extremes are Albania and parts of Turkey.

Muslim men, on the other hand, are allowed to marry women who belong to a book religion . The children of such a marriage have an obligation under religious law to be Muslim.

Yezidism

The Yazidi religion, which is only widespread among Kurds, is completely oriented towards endogamy . Religious affiliation can only be acquired through birth. Yazidis who Nichtjesiden marry, be excluded from the religious community. A conversion to Yezidism is also not possible for the non-Yezidi spouse.

Civil marriage

If there is no possibility of entering into marriage due to religious regulations for mixed-religious couples, there is often the possibility of a civil marriage.

Since family law in Israel has largely been transferred to the respective religious communities according to Ottoman legal tradition, there is no civil marriage. Jews there therefore do not have the possibility of legally entering into an interreligious marriage. In practice, however, this problem is circumvented by the fact that the Ministry of the Interior registers civil marriages abroad as legal marriages. The regulation leads to a brisk wedding tourism in nearby Cyprus. However, interfaith couples often encounter rejection.

Religious music

In modern times, several composers have written sacred music for use in interfaith marriages. This group includes:

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Bleckwenn Unter dem Preussen-Adler Munich 1978 (The great king also allowed his captain to bring as many little Muslims into the world as he liked. He then invited the members of the upper church consistory to the circumcision ceremony of his first-born.)
  2. ^ Civil marriage . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 20, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1909, pp.  966–967 .
  3. ↑ Civil marriage in Israel. In: Israel Network. November 2, 2007, accessed December 2, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Katharina Höftmann: Civil marriage in Israel: Nobody is responsible for us. In: Israel interlining. May 2, 2018, accessed December 2, 2018 .
  5. ^ Interreligious Marriage in Israel. From partner with the wrong religion. In: n-tv. December 2, 2018, accessed December 2, 2018 .