marriage license goof

[kourama]

This morning my fiancee and I went to the city clerk to fill out our marriage license form.

There was a field on the form labelled "religious denomination".

She put "Greek Orthodox"

I put "Atheist".

The person conducting the ceremony has to fill out part of this form.

Unfortunately, our ceremony is to be in a Greek Orthodox Church, and their attitude towards non-believers is just this side of medieval. So, when/if they happen to notice that, there might be a bit of a problem...

After thinking about it, I really wish I'd just left that field blank.

Does it seem a bit odd that they would have that field in the form? What difference does it make anyway? Maybe it's a statistics gathering thing.

I have a really bad feeling that this is gonna end up biting me in the butt...

[Denise]

The marriage license in MN does not have religious affiliation.

[richardm]

If your ceremony is anything like the Roman Catholic one, then by the time the signatures go on the page it'll be too late - all the God-Bothering will have been done, and no man can put you asunder. So just keep the form in your jacket until then ;-)

[Agammamon]

I find it depressing that we license marriages at all. From the secular side a marriage is a binding contract, I don't need a contracting license to hire a mechanic to work on my car.
As for filling out the religions block, you shouldn't be ashamed or fearful of repercussion just because you don't believe. Be proud of what you are, not too long ago gays were a horribly persecuted group and now, while not perfect, because they forced the public to acknowledge their existence they are well on their way to enjoying full rights.

[Mel]

Originally posted by kourama


I have a really bad feeling that this is gonna end up biting me in the butt...

I don't know about data gathering practices in Toronto but if she is planning on a religious ceremony you might have a little trouble finding a Priest to conduct the service.

[subgenius]

So you didn't see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?"

[kourama]

My fiancee took care of the church stuff, and since I was baptised Greek orthodox as a baby, she showed them my baptismal record, and that was that.

I was considering getting a city-hall wedding before the church ceremony with a judge so that all the churchy stuff would be post-hoc. That would also satisfy my ego a bit since the ceremony would be legally pointless. :)

As for filling out the religions block, you shouldn't be ashamed or fearful of repercussion just because you don't believe.

Not ashamed, but I really hate the way otherwise nice, normal people suddenly treat me like I'm a walking cancer when they find out about my lack of belief. So, I generally try to avoid the topic with certain people, and let them think what they want. It is, of course, a tad prejudiced of me to expect that behaviour, but I have learned from painful experience what it is like to be ostracised, and the last thing I want is for my wife to be shunned by her family because of me.