marriageWhat are the differences between the two?
One is based on the understanding that you are there to be joined in front of family and friends, that you are committing your partnership to better the group. You are making a promise to bring your children up as a team. You are asking your friends to look out for you, to correct your mistakes and asking them to take an interest in our partnership. It strengthens you both money wise in the eyes of the law.
The other is similar but you are giving all the credit for what you have done and what you do to a supernatural being. Its putting an order of dominance into the mix. God, man, woman (and I have seen it over and over again), its saying that your children will be born sinners. There is a lot of guilt thrown in as well.
In very simple words,
Religious marriages will take place according to all the rituals which have been described in their religion.
Secular marriages are those which agree upon the common ideology of Marriage being an affair of the individuals and not their religion.
More or less, Secular marriages may converge to court marriages.
Short meaningful ceremony vs. long boring one.
At least, that’s been my experience.
Both are about making a promise to your spouse. Both amplify the strength of the promise, by including witnesses. The fundamental difference is that in a secular, only your family and friends are considered the witnesses, while in a religious wedding God is invoked as a witness.
In practice this means that invoking God as a witness to your wedding requires rituals, which is sets both apart.
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