Interfaith marriages-do they work?

miss_independent

Haven't read the whole thread but wanted to let people know interfaith marriages can and do work. My mum is Catholic and my dad is Muslim, they have been married over 30 years and I was raised Catholic and have friends who are Christians of all denominations, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists etc.

We all practice our respective faiths, Mum and I attending church and Dad, the mosque. Dad eats Halal, we don't, so we generally eat vegetarian or fish when we eat together rather than meat or chicken. Growing up we never ate pork around Dad and I wasn't allowed a dog. We celebrate Christmas, Easter and Eid. My female Muslim relatives don't wear the hijab but when I am around my Muslim relatives I do dress more modestly - though I dress quite modestly anyway. We respect each others faiths and look for the common ground. We have open discussions and are able to be honest with each other. There are alot more similarities than you might think.

It can work and both my parents and I are devout. You just have to refrain from being pig-headed and trying to ram your belief's down each other's throats. I tend to find the only people who have a problem with my parents having an interfaith marriage are bigots and I don't generally care about their opinions!

seven-day-weekend

That's good to hear, Miss Independent

getzls

balletshoes wrote: »

as I don't believe in eternity, that was never a consideration for me (or my OH) when we got married.

I take it your Hubby won't need to buy you an enternity ring then.;)

Here in N.I. it can cause problems.
Bet you didn't expect to hear that!

Though i know marriages here where the children are brought up, say, boys after the Father's religion and the girls the Mothers.

Kaz2904

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Personally I could never have married someone of a different faith and could only think that if you did then compromises regarding your faith would be necessary. How can anyone marry someone who disagrees about something that is fundamental to your way of life which makes me wonder if those that do are possibly nominal.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but certainly Christians are specifically advised at the very least not to marry a non Christian.

Have to disagree with this..
Raised by my Auntie and Uncle who were both heavily involved with the church. Uncle having conversation with us a couple of years ago was saying how far he had seen the church come along as he could now discuss in prayer groups how the whole 7 days etc was more along the lines of Christians waking up to their religion rather than a literal 7 days of creation.

Dumbe

I have only read part of this thread but I have to admit I was surprised by some posts seeing issues between Christian, Muslim and Judaism .. I am not a regular follower of any religion by I do believe in god.

I would not think there would be huge differences all 3 believe in one God, a its most top line level.

Surely whether Jesus is the son of god, prophet or messiah is only semantics ( we are all daughters and sons of god in all 3 religions). --This was one of the arguments in one of the posts I read that seemed to be missing the point of religion which I understand it to worship a creator i.e God and treat people well e.g don't steal etc.. not argue about finer points.

But I could see issues say between any of the 3 single god religions and the multi god religions e.g Hinduism

Just my thoughts

seven-day-weekend

Dumbe wrote: »

I have only read part of this thread but I have to admit I was surprised by some posts seeing issues between Christian, Muslim and Judaism .. I am not a regular follower of any religion by I do believe in god.

I would not think there would be huge differences all 3 believe in one God, a its most top line level.

Surely whether Jesus is the son of god, prophet or messiah is only semantics ( we are all daughters and sons of god in all 3 religions). --This was one of the arguments in one of the posts I read that seemed to be missing the point of religion which I understand it to worship a creator i.e God and treat people well e.g don't steal etc.. not argue about finer points.

But I could see issues say between any of the 3 single god religions and the multi god religions e.g Hinduism

Just my thoughts

The problem is that Islam relegates Jesus to the status of a prophet and not even the most important one.

Judaism does not believe him to be the Messiah.

So, seeing as Christianity is about following Christ as Lord and Saviour (hence the name), how can it just be about semantics? Yes we are all sons and daughters of God, but to Christians Jesus is God the Son as well as the Son of God (not A son, THE Son).

So that's the difference.

"Jesus is Lord" (Greek: Kurios Iesous) is the shortest credal affirmation found in the New Testament, one of several slightly more elaborate variations.(Kelly:13) It serves as a statement of faith for the majority of Christians who regard Jesus as both fully man and God. It is the motto of the World Council of Churches."

"A messiah is a saviour or liberator of a group of people, most commonly in the Abrahamic religions""

Both quotes from Wikipedia

neverdespairgirl

wiogs wrote: »

Not sure why I should know but I don't know what constitutes Anglicanism. Never been taught anything to do with it as far as I can recall.

Anglicanism means, in this country, the Church of England. There are other Anglican churches in other countries, of course.

seven-day-weekend

There are 44 different churches which make up the Anglican Church:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/

[Deleted User]

Rather than get drawn into the relative tenets and merits of religious traditions - and to reply to the OP - marriages between people of different faiths and cultures can work very well, given common core values and moral beliefs.

My first husband was a nominal Christian but he left me and also disliked my attending church etc - it wasn't a happy few years!

My second husband is delightful, is happy for me to follow my faith and accompanies me to church events. Indeed he encourages me to follow my faith! We share the same family and moral values. He happens to be raised a Hindu from south Asia. We share a deep love based on friendship initially.

A common cultural and religious tradition is sometimes not as important as others would have you believe.

[just to add, a common misconception is that Hinduism worships a pantheon of gods, however their concept of God is that there is one divine genderless God 'Mahadev' who manifests him and herself in history and in people's lives in the many faces and names such as Krishna, Kali, Rama etc)

worried_jim

duchy wrote: »

Surely one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith is tolerance ?

Ha Ha- good one.:rotfl: