Atheist Wedding Vows from 1862

Queen-Mise

I am just after coming across this. I think the vows are lovely & could be altered to suit if anyone wanted to.

Here is the link to the website: http://news.lawreader.com/?p=3557

Here are the vows:

ATHEIST WEDDING VOW FROM 1862.
LawReader CEO Gwen Billingsley

My mother is getting on in years, and as mothers do, she passed on some family papers to me recently. I found this interesting article from a Nashville newspaper from 1862.

“NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, November 20,1862. p. 3, c 3

A singular couple got married in Chester County, Penn., the other day, merely making the following declaration in the presence of friends.

“We, Orson S. Murray, and Lydia P. Jacobs, make known to these our friends that we have chosen each other for conjugal companionship, in prosperity and adversity, in life and till death. We ask no license. We submit to no dictation. We bow to no authority. We recognize no God nor Almighty power to guide or guard us. Our promises are to ourselves and each other, not to others. Our trust is not in others but in ourselves and each other.”

ana_conda

I don't know if there would be many churches that would be happy about this line "We recognize no God nor Almighty power to guide or guard us."

But this could be a really good thread for people to make suggestion for wedding vows. I know couples really struggle to find the right word to express themselves.

Rachiee

this is good, marriage is a social institution separate to a religious one, I look forward to the day when our society and laws will be secular and I can marry for love

PeterIanStaker

ana_conda wrote: »

I don't know if there would be many churches that would be happy about this line "We recognize no God nor Almighty power to guide or guard us."

All the more reason to use it.

krankykitty

Plus not all marriages take place in the church :rolleyes:

ana_conda

I was hoping when the law changed that I would be shooting weddings in more interesting locations but alas it hasn't really happened I think there's still to many rules preventing couples getting married outside registrar offices or churches.

krankykitty

There certainly are a lot of rules around it! Though I suppose even if you get married in the church you're subject to rules & regs, I hear the priests are getting a lot more fussy about what they allow you read/say and the music involved has to be mostly holy stuff. You have a bit more freedom with the old civil ceremony when it comes to the content, if not the location.