Atheists approved to perform marriages in Oklahoma
Atheists who want to get married in Tulsa County without going before a minister or a judge may now do so.
Three leaders of local atheist organizations registered Thursday with the county court clerk to officiate at weddings.
"Up until now, the religious community has had a monopoly on who can officiate at weddings," said Bill Dusenberry, coordinator of the Tulsa Coalition of Reason, one of the three groups.
"As far as I know, this is the first time a person representing a known non-religious organization has been registered to perform weddings in Tulsa County," he said.
The other two are William Poire, president of the Atheist Community of Tulsa, and Randy Bradley, president of the Tulsa County chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Poire said others secularists are registered to do weddings in the county, but this is the first time celebrants approved by Freedom From Religion Foundation were registered.
One of those others is Christina Ward, who advertises online that she will perform secular weddings. Her website says she was ordained by the Spiritual Humanist Church of Pennsylvania and is registered with the county to perform legal marriages.
Dusenberry, who spearheaded the effort, said having secular celebrants, not ministers, available to conduct weddings will allow secular people to have large celebratory weddings.
State law says marriages must be performed by a judge or retired judge, or by an ordained or authorized preacher, minister or priest, or other ecclesiastical dignitary authorized by the church, or a rabbi. State law also makes provisions for religious groups that do not have ordained ministers, such as Quakers and Mormons.
Dusenberry said when he contacted the state about it, he was told Oklahoma has county option on who may conduct weddings, so he went to the county.
The Tulsa County Court Clerk’s Office in effect accepted the Tulsa County chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation as the equivalent of an ordaining organization for the purpose of approving celebrants.
Jason Jones, supervisor of the Family Division in the Court Clerk’s Office, said the three Freedom From Religion Foundation applicants presented letters stating they had met that organization’s requirements for performing marriages.
"That’s good enough for us to issue the license," Jones said. "We don’t police that."
Dusenberry said the Freedom from Religion Foundation has developed an application process for prospective celebrants that includes such requirements as having read 10 free-thought books; reading a newspaper or news magazine regularly; traveling outside Oklahoma at least three times; and being in love at least three times. He said the requirements are flexible.
The application process also includes a multiple-choice test that asks about the reliability of Fox News, and whether the Bible is ancient mythology, among other things.
"We want to reserve the opportunity to say no to prospective candidates," he said.
"We want reasonably well-informed people."
Couples applying to be married by a Freedom From Religion celebrant must be members of the organization who are at least 25 years old or college graduates, and must promise not to allow their children to be "religiously or philosophically brainwashed," its material says.
via Freedom From Religion Foundation approved to perform marriages | Tulsa World.
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