Elvis Ministers But No Atheists Allowed: Las Vegas Refuses to Allow Atheists to Perform Weddings

In Las Vegas, you can have an Elvis impersonator or a Liberace look alike marry you. You can have a shotgun wedding or a drive through divorce. However, if you want an atheist to marry you, you better get out of town. Sin City has not tolerance for atheists who want to help people tie the knot. That may be the subject of a new lawsuit on behalf of jilted wedding guy, Michael Jacobson, 64, who was refused a license for not being affiliated with a formal religious congregation.

Jacobson has faced discrimination for his atheism his whole life. In the Army, he was forced to put down Judaism (his family’s religion) on his dog tags because some religion had to be listed.

There are roughly 2,500 people licensed to perform marriage in the county and all are connected to a congregation — though some are as small as two people. The lawmakers insist that such duties must be “incidental” to other duties with the congregation — a laughable suggestion in a city with a huge industry of theme and joke weddings.

This would make for a great lawsuit if Las Vegas does not wise up. In my view, the city should lose faster than a drive through marriage by an Elvis impersonator on the strip.

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