My wife and I have been invited to the wedding of a novus ordo woman and a divorced Greek Orthodox man. The vows will be exchanged at a surf club. Are we obligated not to attend? What have others of you done when in similar circuмstances? Does attendance necessarily signify approval? Because if we don't attend, then we will most certainly lose a friend who is very important to us.
I thought of a similar dilemma. At sporting events, when the national anthem is played, I stand silently while everyone else stands with hand on heart. I stand, basically, out of respect for everyone else's feelings. The anthem itself is filled with sentimentality bordering on religiosity. Our flag is held up as an idol to be worshipped rather than merely a symbol representative of our nation's autonomy. I stand out of respect for the strong feelings that people associate with the anthem and with loved ones they have lost or who are currently serving overseas. At the same time, I don't approve of the anthem or the religious fervor with which people in this country are expected to embrace patriotism. This country was colonized by a country who outlawed the Holy Mass and killed Catholic priests on sight. Our nation was founded by freemasons of English origin, enemies of the Church, and became a shining haven for all walks of protestantism, still remains so, yet shunned Catholics, saying "Irish need not apply", and was hostile towards Italian and Spanish immigrants. Catholicism is still stomped on in this country and we are leading the world in murdering innocent, un-baptised babies. But I stand, because I know that people won't understand my whole perspective by my sitting. Rather, they will no longer listen to what I have to say as they label me an American-hater and enemy to their family members who are serving. That label couldn't be farther from the truth, so I avoid the situation entirely and stand silently out of respect for them and their families.
Could attendance at the above-mentioned wedding be looked at the same way? If we don't attend, then we are no longer friends. They don't want to hear about how we will pray for their conversion. They will take it as an offence against them and a severence of our relationship. What would you do? What have you done in similar circuмstances?