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Three Religions and a Wedding
The all-inclusive, all-denominational aspect of Scientology is one I appreciate very much. In contrast, I was raised with the idea that religions were separate. Ours was not like theirs, there’s was not like ours. You do your thing. We will do our thing. Please just leave us alone. Not a surprising attitude to have passed down to one from a generation born during World War II. But with Scientology, I have a better understanding of what each of us has in common, what our religions have in common, and what we could accomplish if we unify in our goal of making the world a better place.
In families with mixed religions, the precept “respect the religious beliefs of others,” from the non-religious moral code The Way to Happiness, by L. Ron Hubbard, is vital to practice for obvious reasons.
My daughter, who was raised on that book, applied this brilliantly at her wedding last month. Guests of many religions were in attendance. We had Jewish relatives from my side, Catholics from my husband’s side, Christians from the groom’s side, and of course, Scientologist friends in abundance.
The bride and groom took care to have the minister define a couple of Scientology words at the beginning of the ceremony so that the vows would be understood by everyone. For example, he explained that “ARC” stands for Affinity, Reality and Communication. During the ceremony, he held up the rings and asked the bride and groom to imagine the ARC Triangle inside each one. He said, “I should like to see you make a pact between you that you will never close your eyes on a broken triangle,” meaning always resolve any conflict or upset. “Heal any breach with the reality of your love through communication.”
After the dinner, my daughter brought out the Kiddush cup that my mom had given them as a gift. My mom explained to them that the Hebrew words on it meant “I am for you and you are for me” and then she said a Hebrew prayer for the wine.
The following weekend, to honor the heritage of the groom’s mother, my daughter put on a Korean wedding dress, and a Christian Ceremony was held at their church.
Although Scientology is the religion that she and her husband have chosen, they were happy to observe the traditions of other faiths and incorporate these into this very beautiful time in their lives.
When I was married 25 years ago, you could not have paid me a million bucks to take the vows of a religion that wasn’t my own (I was a fairly new Scientologist and a tad bit righteous about it!) And here I am, in 2019, watching two beautiful ceremonies with my daughter and her husband, including everyone, alienating none. “Respect the religious beliefs of others” well demonstrated.
I couldn’t be more proud!
