INTERFAITH MARRIAGES: August 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Jewish Woman Weds a New Thought Christian Man by a Muslim Officiant

The bride and groom must be admired by one and all, in this divisive world, where people have difficulty in agreeing, and difficulty in getting along – they are setting a new standard, that of respecting each other’s uniqueness.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com

Jewish Woman Weds a New Thought Christian Man by a Muslim Officiant Wedding in Dallas on Saturday Aug 25 2012

Officiant Mike Ghouse with Bride Rebekah and Groom Mark

Dallas, Texas - Not only are two special people being joined together, so are two spiritual traditions, as well. Out of different spiritual paths, they have come together to learn the best of what each has to offer, appreciating their differences, and confirming their love. So this is not only a joyous occasion, but a holy one, as well. May they see that their love for each other is truly a gift from God.

The groom spent many years of his younger life in Hawaii so Mark and Rebekah wanted to include a few native rituals from the islands. The Hawaiian word for love is Aloha. Today we’ve come together to celebrate the special Aloha that exists between Mark and Rebekah and their desire to make their Aloha eternal through the commitment of marriage. When two people promise with Aloha in their hearts to share the adventure of life, it is a beautiful moment that they and all of us who are present today will always remember.

Since the bride is Jewish, Rebekah and Mark wanted to use the chuppah (canopy) as a symbol of the home that they will build together. It is open on all sides to welcome people in with unconditional hospitality. All of the attendees are the most important people in their lives, sharing their best and worst days and an irreplaceable part of their yesterdays, their today, and all of their tomorrows.

The couple gives and receives a precious gift from one another. It is the promise that they shall each continue to be deserving of the faith and trust that they place in one another as husband and wife. This responsibility is not taken lightly.

Almost nothing offers a greater possibility for happiness and living life well. When marriage works it justifies all the effort. Life is richer when experience is shared. We are more ourselves when we are responding to the stimulus of others, especially when we are responding to the gift of love. A truly loving relationship brings out the best in each other.

Blessed are life, health, and love, which enable us to enjoy the happiness of this beautiful day.

“May the sun bring you new energy by day.
May the moon softly restore you by night.
May the rain wash away your worries.
And may you live the days of your lives in peace, love, and happiness."

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity Show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhouseDiary.com is updated daily.

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UPDATES.

Interfaith marriages are becoming a common place, and in a few years, it will be a norm. Even though I have officiated ceremonies for Jewish-Christian, Hindu-Christian, Atheist-Jain and several other combinations, a majority of them are between Muslims and non-Muslims. These include in particular Muslim women with Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Jain and men of other faiths. I have a few articles that I hope to complete and publish them in Islam Online and other respected Islamic journals and bring relief to so many men and women who fall in love and want to get married.

God loves those who get married and stay married, because without marriage you and I would not have existed, marriage adds dignity to the relationship. Many Muslim scholars and I view that, the larger purpose of Islam is to create a cohesive world, Islam is universal enough to accommodate all views.

SpeakerMike Ghouse@gmail.com
www.InterfaithSpeaker.com
Google Profile - over 12 Million Views

ABOUT THE WEDDINGS

It is disappointing to many a religiously oriented first-time marrying couples. Their clergy or a parent invariably insists that the other person to convert to their faith tradition, some do, and some fake it and some are not comfortable with the idea at all.

When a couple is deeply committed to marry, they go ahead and get married any way but sorely miss out on the ceremony. Over the years, I have seen too many couples miss out on the joy of that additional sense of completeness that comes with a religious ceremony. Marriage is between two individuals, and their families and friends ought to be supporters and cheerleaders to celebrate and complete their joy.

As a Pluralist, I have chosen to officiate the weddings of such couples to reflect the essence of Bride and Groom's tradition. I laud such couples who embrace genuine humanity by respecting the otherness of other, and accepting each other's uniqueness. If the couple prefers to please the religiosity of their parents, relatives and friends, the sermon would include reflections and essence of the faith of the couple.

I am blessed to have performed some uniquely beautiful combination of weddings; Jewish Bride and a Christian groom; Muslim bride and Jain groom, Hindu Bride and Muslim groom, Christians Bride and Atheist groom..... it was such a joy to see their families cheer at the end.

I had a difficult father of a Christian groom who was vehemently against the Hindu girl marrying without conversion, he did not even want to be a part of the wedding, but I felt, a good heart to heart conversation will make a dent, and it did. The man who did not talk with his son for two months and did not want to be a part of the wedding was greatful for the semblance of Christian wedding and then hung out with the kids for celebrations. Oh, there are lots of good stories to share.

By the way, officiating wedding is not my business, I do it for the joy for fulfilling the religious needs of the couples.

Mike Ghouse is a member of the American Marriage Ministries, a non-profit established in Washington State in 2009.

"We provide all people the ability to celebrate marriage and other religious functions according to their beliefs. We believe that this is an innate human right and is also protected by the 1st Amendment. Our values come from the understanding that all people, whether religious or not, have deep personal values and should be treated with respect, acceptance, and understanding."

Marriage is a celebration that brings people together, and we want to extend that ethos further by being a church comprised of a wide cross-section of people that have found common ground in the service of bringing people together.

To begin, the legal dimension to officiating a wedding simply involves completing a piece of paper, the marriage license. The marriage license is the legal document of marriage. It is filed for by the couple from their local government prior to the wedding.

The role of the minister is to conduct the wedding, have the couple present their marriage license, make sure that the information is correct, and complete the license. The couple then returns the completed license back to its office of issuance.

Personally, Mike is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, interfaith, politics and civic affairs.

Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily. Two books are poised to be released this year on Pluralism in America, and Americans Together building a cohesive America. Details at www.MikeGhouse.net

WEDDING OFFICIANT

Mike officiates the interfaith weddings for couples, and delivers a pluralistic sermon to reflect the humanity in respecting the otherness of other, and accepting each other's uniqueness.

If the couple prefers to include the religiosity in the sermon to fulfill the desires of the parents, relatives and friends, the sermon would be tailored to include reflections and essence of the faith(s) of the bride and the groom.

Mike is committed to perform interfaith weddings, and he is a member of the American Marriage Ministries to serve couples the ability to celebrate marriage and other religious functions according to their beliefs.

Mike has performed a variety of combinations - Jewish-Christian; Muslim-Hindu; Jain-Muslim; Muslim-Jewish; Atheist-Hindu and other combinations.

Mike Ghouse can be reached through SpeakerMikeGhouse@gmail.com or text message him at (214) 325-1916