Currently one of the more thrilling plotlines in seminal UK radio soap The Archers concerns the local vicar who happens to be going out with the lovely Usha, who is a Hindu.
At the moment it is all going swimmingly but I dare say that if he proposes some issues may arise to add a little drama to the proceedings (anything to wrest the plot away from the bloody Grundies, sez I).
Anyway, what generally happens when a religious leader gets married to someone who is actively part of another faith – not just agnostic or atheist? Are there any specific rules? Does anyone have any real-life examples? I know there won’t be one specific answer; I’m just generally interested.
Well, speaking for the American Evangelical side of the aisle, generally the pastor’s wife is expected to be, if not an actual Pillar Of The Church serving actively at her husband’s side, leading Bible studies and women’s missionary circles and whatnot, then at least a [air quotes] “good Christian woman”, and if she isn’t–if a bachelor pastor married a Hindu or a Moslem or some other non-Christian-- then his job would probably be in jeopardy. It would depend on the church and how their denominational rules for hiring and firing pastors went.
The rationale also goes that the pastor’s wife is expected to be his Sister In Christ and his Helpmeet, divinely appointed to help him do (read: survive) his job, and if she’s of a different faith, then obviously she’s not a “help meet” for him.
Even in the (potentially more liberal) Church of England, the vicar’s wife has a same kind of life mapped out for her – as the (unpaid) helper of her husband, she’s expected to arrange coffee mornings, visit the sick etc. Until recently it was looked on v. askance if she got a part-time or full job, as far as I can recall.
This might be a byproduct of sexism if anything – perhaps so many women have become vicars in the past few years because they know their husbands can still work full-time and not have to do much pastoral stuff - allowing them to live off a ecclesiastical stipend very happily. If the sexes were reversed, as I said above, it could be a very different story.
Well, among Orthodox Jews, intermarriage is strictly forbidden, and so a rabbi would not marry a non-Jewish woman, period. I’m fairly certain that Conservative rabbis will also not perform intermarriage ceremonies, and so a Conservative Rabbi would also not intermarry himself.
Among the Reform, there is a broad spectrum of beliefs ranging from rabbis who will actively perform interfaith ceremonies with clergy from other religions coofficating, to those that will do so only without the clergy to those that will not perform intermarriages at all. I don’t know what consequences await those that themselves intermarry out. Perhaps you might want to ask someone from the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
I’m an atheist. My wife is an ordained Episcopal priest. The mariage came first but my status was a non-issue when she joined the Ministry.
I imagine some parishes might not be too happy were we (she really) posted there. The ones I’ve dealt with have been just fine with it.
My role is to nod & smile & eat cookies at church functions now and again. Mostly I just stay away. They’re decent enough folks to chat with so I can’t complain even if they do waste a lot of time on a silly superstition. I’m always diplomatic and so are they.
There’s a famous Christian theologian named Harvey Cox. His (second) wife is Jewish. I couldn’t find any single webpage describing this situation very completely, but if you search on “Harvey Cox”, “wife”, and “Jewish”, you’ll find this mentioned on a number of webpages.
Many people in Japan are practicing Buddhists, but still observe Shinto rituals as well. Neither side has a problem with this, I believe. Folk religions also tend to be more tolerant about these things – you sacrifice to the gods of the place you’re in; if you go somewhere else, you sacrifice to the gods of that place.
Their soul goes straight to hell, obviously. Next question!
OK, so maybe not. Well, then again, maybe.
Upon further reflection, it seems like this situation would boil down to one of three cases:
The marriage would not be allowed, or the clergy-person would be un-clergy-ized.
Nothing would really happen and life would go on as normal.
The middle case, where there’d be a knock-down drag-out fight (never typed that phrase before…) between aforementioned clergy-person and the flock/religious organization which would crystallize into one of the above two cases.
