Do interfaith marriages confuse childrens choices of religion?

Question

It would help if you were a child of interfaith marriage.

Thank you

This is a question of experience more than opinion.

Answer 1

If, by interfaith, you mean 2 different Christian denominations like, Pentecostal and Baptist, then it wouldn't be confusing. However, if you mean say, Baptist and Muslim, or Anglican and Buddhist, then that would be confusing.

Answer 2

It is my experience that the Children of Interfaith Marriages can become confused if the Parents do not take the time to:

1. Explain that no matter what Faiths are celebrated as the base in the marriage and home, there is only one God.

Why? This will help the children understand that the only difference in the Faiths, are the celebration styles and customs of those Faiths involved in the family history and lineage.

This helps children understand that God is the God of all, that He loves us all, and that we are all created in His image and likeness. In the likeness of the Original Being.

This helps children realize early on, that God should be feared only when we, by the tenets of our faith, do not honor Gods standards in how we treat one another and ourselves.

2. It helps greatly if both parents share in the celebration and teaching of the Faiths within the Home. This allows the children to grow up in knowing the truths of each Faith.

We all know that TRUTH is TRANSFORMING, not converting, but transforming from ignorance into wisdom, the end result!... Respect and Love.

3. If Suggestion 1 and 2 are done, it is likely the end result will be well adjusted, respectful and open hearted children who grow into being a more compassionate and personally secure individual, that embraces the beauty in the difference in all of us.

My son, now a man of 21 years of age, raised in a home with a Christian Mother, (COGIC and Pentacostal Roots), but through our 3 day a week Church experience, for many years, grewup understanding and questioning why Jesus, born Jewish was rejected.

He saw and understood, through Scripture, someone sent to teach us Gods standards, was rejected.

This caused him to want to know more, so, he studied more about the Jewish culture of Faith celebration and today, with his COGIC & Penatcostal Roots, converted to Judaism to celebrate the Traditional Customs.

He appreciates his Faith's celebration of what we Christians call the Last Supper, he knows that it in fact is a Passover Seder Celebration Ritual.
He celebrates his high holidays. I enjoy the experience.

Our Family bloodlines are Native American, Irish and African in both his Father and I families. But yet, his Spirit identifies most with his Jewish Heart, it must be in our lineage.

Can you image what his circle of extended family and friends look like.

They are beautiful. Especially in Gods eyes.

Answer 3

As a product of an interfaith marriage, I am of the opinion that it can be a very positive experience, if enlightenment is the goal. While the situation created a lot of negative emotions in me during my adolescence and teen years, it taught me to be open-minded and to question...internally and externally. It took me through periods in which I considered myself atheist (very briefly), agnostic, to where I am now. I consider myself very spiritual without ties to any religion. I have found reasons for respecting most of the worlds religions, while not feeling the need to attach myself to any one. I am personally glad that I did not end up in a family of non-questioning, religious zealots.

Answer 4

Eve

You should tell your friend that she is sadly mistaken. Islam is does not promote peace and all religions do not lead to that same path. I really feel sorry that your friend, who says she is a christian, does not teach her children about Christ. however, in the islamic world it is taught that when men marry christians(women are not allowed to by their false god only men) that the kids are suppose to be raised muslim.

your friend will probably become a muslim if this continues and will lose her soul just like her husband and her children if they die as a muslim. If you care about your friend, then you would learn about islam and try to talk to her before it is too late, if it is not already. My heart truly goes out to her and her children.

Also, your statement of by the way the father is not religious at all is totally nonsensical when read in context with the rest of your post. He is muslim, you said that, and their religious obligations and rituals are countless. And if this is the case then the mother would not teach her children about Christ to avoid strife becuase there would be none. Something seems a little strange.

As a matter of fact, you say she does not want to get into a faith conflict and then you say the father does not care. Then while would she be afraid/nervous to get into a faith conflict. You know what, your post loses all credibility. Especially since I know that Islam allows its members to lie to "better" Islam.

Answer 5

They don't have to.
As a child of an interfaith marriage, my parents chose to stress the commonalities of each religion such as love for ones neighbor, believing in a God that one could talk with and share feelings, and how to be moral and have good values.

We were taught to repent and keep clear consciences so we could listen and hear promptings and have and keep our self-esteem and integrity. They taught us to love learning, to love Truth wherever we could find it, and add it to all other good things we were learning.

My mother taught us to follow the dictates of our own clean consciences and my father taught us not to care what other people thought of us long as "Your nose is clean"!
(I have friends from interracial marriages whose parents taught them the same thing.)

My brothers and sisters and I are of two religions but we are all outstanding educated people and were very popular in our schools and have been successful in our chosen professions.

*People who chose to be unkind and disrepectful to people (who have religions) different than themselves are very fear-based people which my parents were not.*

Answer 6

I don't have personal experience but my friend do have.
She is a Christian married with a Muslim guy. Their children are teached the Islam beliefs and she doesn't make an interference to forward her beliefs about Jesus as the son of God. She encourages her children to learn about Islam because it is the relegion of their father and she says she doesn't want them to get into a faith conflict as she just want them to know that all relegions are to spread peace as well as to have a good behavior towards the others.
By the way, the father is not relegious at all. He doesn't care whatever faith they would beleive. He just wants them to decide when they become adults.

Answer 7

From experience. and a child old enough to evaluate. It has longer battle times and fierce sparing, it was not a resue being raised with the best love both sides could offer.

Answer 8

yes i am a child of interfaith marriges,
catholic and Methodist.


No it did not confuse me, in fact it helped me to learn abnout everything around me so I don't have a jaded view of other's beliefs. It made me more tolerant.

Answer 9

my mother is christian, my dad is jewish, i am agnostic, because i simply think it is pathetic that different religions bicker so much. i spose i'm actually apathetic, i literally could not care less.... i'd like there to be a god, and that is that. The world would be better if there was no religion. x

Answer 10

Oh, choices. Do I like daddy or mommy better? Do I want to go to heaven with the one who believes in the one true religion or do I want to go to hell with the one who believes in a false religion? Who should I spend eternity with.