Swedish File Sharing Church Weds First Couple in Kopimist Ceremony
The first marriage in the newly formed Swedish Church of Kopimism took place last month when a couple converted two files into one.
The Missionary Church of Kopimism received recognition from the Swedish government in January of this year which led to them being officially able to wed couples.
The Church has a membership over 6,000 and can be found in over 20 countries including the U.S. Members gather every week to share files of music, films and other content. The content they consider "holy" are the files that are shared in the Church. The Church's followers also regard copying as a sacrament.
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Kopimists take Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste commands, as their holy symbols and teach that all information is sacred and that free copying and sharing is morally sound.
The wedding was conducted in late April during the SHARE conference in Belgrade, Serbia. An Italian man and Romanian woman vowed on stage to "share love, knowledge and feelings" with each other "as long as information exists." Church leaders also advised the newlyweds to share some of their DNA.
The presiding priest or Kopimistic "Op" wore a Guy Fawkes mask as a computer read vows and some of Kopimism's central beliefs aloud.
"Copying and remixing information communicated by another person is seen as an act of respect," it said. "Do you want to share your love, your knowledge, and your feelings with [the bride] as long as that information exists?"
Isak Gerson, the 20-year-old founder of Kopimism, hoped the couple could copy themselves and create a new life form, according to a post on the Church's website.
"Hopefully, they will copy and remix some DNA-cells and create a new human being," he wrote. "That is the spirit of Kopimism. Feel the love and share that information. Copy all of its holiness."
