| Article | Marriage in the Time of Internet Ministers |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rains R. E. |
| Name of magazine | Scientific-practical professional journal «Law of the USA» (Ukrainian language) |
| Issue | 1-2 / 2012 |
| Pages | 95 - 104 |
| Annotation | In the United States, each state has a marriage law indicating who has the power to solemnize a legally binding marriage. All states permit religious authorities to solemnize marriages, but there is no agreement over how to decide who a proper religious authority is. Millions of people have become «ordained» over the Internet without taking any religious training or study and without adherence to any religious belief by organizations, such as the Universal Life Church, which lead them to believe that they are now legally empowered to perform weddings. Many people are getting married by such «Internet ministers». When these marriages are challenged either by one of the «spouses» or by a third party, courts have reached inconsistent results as to their validity. The author concludes that while the states should retain the requirement to get a marriage license and to register that a marriage has taken place, they should abandon the hopeless task of determining who may officiate at a wedding. |
| Keywords | marriage, officiate, solemnize, Internet, minister, Universal Life Church, religion. |
| References | |
| Electronic version | Download |