Lucinda Law and Glen Ramsay fell in love and decided to get married. While their parents were thrilled, the couple still had legal hurdles to overcome before marrying. Why? Lucinda's 16, and Glen is 26.
Glen and Lucinda have been dating for two years. When she was 9, Lucinda was introduced to Glen by her father, Greg, an "elder" with "Manifold Ministries," an "independent" Christian organization that currently has 25 members. The two apparently became close and, according to the Sunday Telegraph, "their love blossomed when Lucinda's father and Mr Ramsay worked together on an outreach program preaching against the 'new world order'."
Here's where it gets incredibly creepy: It was Law's father who encouraged the couple to get together, even though his daughter was only 14 at the time and Ramsay was 24. "He rang me and said what do you think about Lucinda?,", says Ramsay, "I hadn't thought about her in that way up to that point, but then I grew to realise that it might not be such a bad idea."
Well isn't that romantic?! Nothing says love quite like someone's Dad calling up a grown man and saying, "Hey, what about my teenage daughter, eh?" To which the suitor replies, "I never thought about her in a sexual way before, but hey! I think you might be on to something here!"
And just when did Ramsay think about proposing? When things got serious between them, but their religious beliefs prevented them from having sex. (Of course.) Lucinda was thrilled with the proposal: "I fell over backwards and said 'of course I will'. I've never really been career minded, I've always wanted to just be a good wife."
The two petitioned to be married (though the legal marrying age where they live is 18) and were granted the right through the help of a court-appointed lawyer. As Lucinda notes, "The judge said he could only grant permission in extraordinary and unusual circumstances and he thought we were extraordinary and unusual."
One could easily argue that it is none of our business why these two are marrying. A court has deemed it legal, and both parties seem like willing participants. Yet there is something disturbing about the manner in which Lucinda Law seems to have been groomed for this marriage by her father, meeting her husband at the age of 9 and then seemingly being offered to him at the age of 14. Commenters on the original story gave responses ranging from outrage to support to a general sense of unease, which is the feeling I get from this story. What do you think?
Linsmore Court Gives Permission For Lucinda Law, 16, To Marry Glen Ramsey, 26 [Sunday Telegraph]