With the temples shut down, are Mormons getting married secularly? I know of a few Mormons who did that (long before COVID-19) before going to the temple.
Members can have a normal wedding with EVERYONE invited and then make an appt with the temple for the sealing ritual without waiting the one year penalty. This should have been the mormon norm instead of ramming down the exclusive temple that ostracized non-tithing members and non-members.
Do you think it's an effort to make converts and their non-Mormon families see Mormonism in a better light? By removing this impediment, maybe the corp thinks more people will join and current members will ignore some of the temple weirdness. I suppose people will still have to hang around the temple for the photos.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2020 02:46PM by Beth.
It was hugely offensive to Mormons and it penalized those who lived near temples relative to those who lived far away. Getting rid of the rule was an effort to eliminate an unnecessary affront to TBMs and their families.
Parenthetically, I believe (and hope someone can confirm or deny) that the church let Mitt Romney have a civil ceremony first without waiting the mandatory one-year waiting period for the subsequent temple wedding. Because he and his in-laws were uniquely important, doncha know.
I think it's a part of the move to "the global church" in which policies are standardized worldwide. The current change to the LDS magazines is a part of the same effort.
Back when there were only a handful of temples, and most were in the MoZone, it was standard for couples living far from temples to get married in a non-temple ceremony before traveling to the nearest temple. No waiting period, no shame. It was the way my siblings did it. Part of the idea was to make the couple all legal so they wouldn't slip into unauthorized sex.
HOWEVER: We all know what Mormons are like. Are they "allowed" to have civil weddings first,with no waiting penalties prior to a temple sealing? Yes. But: will they for the rest of their lives be viewed as substandard Mormons who chose not to pursue the "real", Celestial-type marriage in God's Holy Temple as pristine newlyweds clearly on the road to Celestial Perfection, with photos at the temple and the bride all glowing in her Celestial unalloyed bliss as she has been trained since before she could control her poop? Absolutely. The new rule in reality changes nothing in the Mormon culture.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2020 08:34PM by slskipper.
I always found the arbitrary rule ridiculous. Growing up there were very few temples. For some folks the temple sealing was a once in a lifetime event, often including older children.
Overseas temples were also few and far between. Many poor saints overseas never visited the temple.
When I was married overseas we were just told to go to the temple when we could.
Some countries even required a prior wedding not recognising the temple wedding.
That changed as the church dotted the globe with temples (and appearantly housing developments)
One constant in mormonism. God can't make up his mind.
Personal vows are written, read and exchanged. Real music and flowers galore and can be performed in both indoor/outdoor settings. And a video/pictures can be enjoyed/re-experienced over and over.
Everything about the mormon temple wedding is cheap. A stupid sterile tiny room that has as much charm as a custodial closet. I don't remember flowers, but maybe there was fake shrubbery in the room. A glowing marble altar with a frosted window without a view. And that's the mormon dream wedding when some man who you don't know goes on and on about YOUR covenant/obligation to SERVE the church forever and ever. Yuck!
slskipper- you're right that many mormons will avoid the secular wedding to prove their righteousness.
Here is the thing. MORmON Church expectations always change so that LDS Inc can take whatever they feel that they can get in any situation, FAR from having a universal standard that is always upheld. ie there is always a moving goal post to keep whoever that is being dealt with on the MORmON treadmill as it is possible.
IF totally faithFOOL MORmON people want to get married, then temple marriage is held out to them as what has to be their goal .....IF they want to be considered totally faithFOOL Good Members ......AND traditional married is condemned as grossly inferior, and presented to them as a third rate which would only be acceptable to be people who are TRASH.
When a MORmON couple just shacks up because they could not meet lofty MORmON standards and ideals, and they just want to be together, then the MORmON church says that the least that they could do is to have the decency to be legally / civilly married ....... with a traditional marriage that the church essentially condemns when the church leaders figure that a temple marriage can be expected.
The huge give away that a temple marriage is really contrived religious BS is when the church defers to civil authority on marriage right in the temple ceremony on the issue of whether or not a couple has the proper right to engage in sex then supposedly in the eyes of god.
When a couple or a person is at the point where they know that the MORmON church is total BS, and the typical MORmON threats of divine punishment and retribution are totally ineffective in controlling that person/couple, then according to the church that person should have the decency to keep their mouth shut about on the matter of religion. Even though the MORmON church has condemned ALL other churches/religions since its MORmON beginning.
MOVING MORmON GOAL POSTS !!! dependent on the situation !!!
In the US, they never disallowed them. But, if you had one, you had to wait a year before you could be sealed in the temple. BUT, BUT, BUT, what if one of you dies before that year is up? Sucks to be you!