South African Pagans Gain Power to Solemnize Marriages
A modern Pagan group in South Africa has been granted official recognition under the Civil Union Act. This will allow designated members of SAPRA (South Africa’s Pagan Rights Alliance) to legally perform marriages and civil unions for gay and straight couples.
“If your religious festivals follow lunar phases and seasonal solstices, you will be happy to know that marriage under pagan rite and ritual is now a possibility for South Africans … Sapra has nominated 13 pagans to become religious marriage officers. Once their registration is complete, traditional ceremonies will be legally recognised. To qualify the nominees must write a test set by home affairs within six months of Sapra’s registration.”
The Civil Union Act is opt-in for any religious group who wants to participate. Dissenting religious organizations (such as the Catholic and Anglican Churches) can still operate under the older 1961 Marriage Act, which defines a marriage as between a man and a woman. The Reforming Church in Pretoria, a gay-friendly Christian church, has called for the older Marriage Act to be gradually phased out in order to avoid the inadvertent establishment of “straight” laws, and “gay” laws.
“The old Marriage Act of 1961 is actually outdated and should gradually be phased out, so that there is only one Act under which couples can marry … Most people wrongly assume that the Civil Union Act is intended for same-sex couples only. It is not. What is more important is that the underlying principle of the kind of relationship between the two parties is one of equality.”
South Africa’s shift to civil unions represents an ethic where each religious body can decide for itself what sort of marriages and unions it can perform. A far more sensible approach than in America, where (predominately) Christian conceptions of what is a “moral” or “proper” marriage is imposed on modern Pagans and other groups open to broader definitions. SAPRA has taken an important step into a post-Christian world. A world where Pagan clergy and adherents can determine their own morality and destiny.
3 responses so far
Hooray! Well done SA!
Wonderful news!
Re: marriage and the season, I was disturbed to hear Pat Robertson praise St. Valentine on Feb. 13 as a “wonderful Martyr” who “died in defense of Christian marriage.”
That seems like a new and disturbing spin.
Wooohooo! SO happy to hear and agree for sure. America has something BIG to learn from Africa.