The Anglican church in the diocese of Sydney is changing the wording of its marriage service to provide, optionally for couples who choose
it, for the wife to submit to the husband.
This replaces the old vow for the woman to ‘obey’ – made optional in the
Anglican rite in 1928.
It is not my place to critique religious rites so long as
they occur within a church context between consenting adults. However the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) provides that those who are recognised
ministers of religion of a recognised denomination, are empowered to solemnise marriages
under the Act.
Because marriage is an institution of law, ministers of
religion are in my view effectively agents of the state in terms of solemnisation of
marriage. It is concerning therefore that wives may undertake to
submit to husbands in a legal process, even one that occurs within a
church. This is so for two reasons.
