Religion in Marriage Laws
Looking at the proposed amendment to RI marriage laws a while back, I noticed this section that's on the books now:
15-1-4. Marriages of kindred allowed by Jewish religion. — The provisions of sections 15-1-1 — 15-1-3 shall not extend to, or in any way affect, any marriage which shall be solemnized among the Jewish people, within the degrees of affinity or consanguinity allowed by their religion.
This is a pretty interesting clause, and certainly in line with our long tradition of religious tolerance. Still, weird to see a reference to a specific religion excepting adherents to a law. Note, of course, that it's an example of extending rights, not constraining them.
(I'm not Jewish, so I have no idea what consanguinity laws apply to their marriage laws)
April 10th, 2004 at 8:57 pm
I have a friend who is getting married this summer in a mixed Jewish/Catholic ceremony, and they had to bring a rabbi in from out-of-state. No RI rabbis will perform a mixed ceremony. This clause could have something to do with that.
April 10th, 2004 at 11:44 pm
I’m not sure exactly what the RI clause refers to (I’m Jewish), but I’ll look at some Jewish law and see if I can figure it out.
I’m almost 100% sure that the rabbis’ refusal to officiate at the wedding you mention has nothing to do with that legal clause and everything to do with policies of the modern Jewish Community, however. Rabbis of the Orthodox Union (Orthodox) and of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (Conservative) will absolutely not officiate at any mixed couple weddings. The vast majority of the rabbis of the Union of Reform Judaism (Reform) and Reconstructionist Jewish Federation (Reconstructionist) won’t officiate at mixed weddings at which a non-Jewish faith is also being actively represented (some will officiate at wedding ceremonies that are performed Jewishly of a mixed religion couple). There are some freelancing rabbis that will officiate at “joint” religion ceremonies with a Priest or other non-Jewish religious figures, but these rabbis will often freely admit that their presence is more symbolic and doesn’t “Jewishly” marry the couple in the eyes of the Jewish faith, which some couples often mistakenly believe takes place (there have been some lawsuits).
Just some FYI info!
- Garris