Quote:
Originally posted by preciousjeni
Ok - here goes a slight hijack - Most Christians I'm in daily contact with are the most judgmental people I could imagine. When they take classes like the one I took, they can't reconcile their view of what Christianity should be with the truth of what Christianity is. When I look at cultures, where living together before a formal wedding is considered appropriate (even encouraged), I don't see raging sin. The reason is because I know that the commitment is there and I know that the culture has a way of dealing with couples who break that commitment. Difference doesn't mean sin!! /hijack
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So one of my colleagues is a Sudanese muslim and since her brother was "getting married" in the Sudan (but he lives in the US), she was trying to explain to me how "weddings and marriages" work in the Sudan including her own...
It is rather interesting how different cultures do things to me. Especially different religions.
What she said to me was that for her "marriage" her father went to the Mosque and there was a ceremony there to "hand his daughter over to her husband"... Incidentally, men and women apparently must be separated or do not go into the Mosque (I am not sure). From what I understand, she said they were married at that time, but from a US standpoint, it looks like an engagement. But they are allowed to live together at that point. And I think that most people plan the wedding ceremony that last for a week in the Sudan...
The differences from other cultures are that another colleague from China basically went to some government office in Beijing, signed some paperwork and the worker say "good luck" and she and her husband were married. But she said a lot of that was changing into either the traditional Chinese weddings or a more westernized version...
But the most interesting wedding I've attended is a Vietnamese wedding and all the dresses the bride changed into... Whoa... I couldn't do that...
I must admit that the government is beginning to look more closely how folks get married--basically to stave off divorce rates and single parent families due to couples not getting married--not due to widowing or other popular issues, i.e. artificial insemination, same-sex couples, etc... Just two people get busy who are not married and over the age of 20 and having children... Go to the "Focus on the Family" website and they can give you the lowdown as to why they think the whole thing is wrong--if you can avoid the crap that gets you angry...