Raising Children in an Interfaith Marriage - My Interview on BBC Asian Network
We Are Raising Our Kids in Both Faiths
I've been married to my husband for over 10 years. I come from a Hindu background and he comes from a Christian background. Neither of us are super strict about our religions (my husband less so than me) but we are raising our kids in both faiths.
We Keep it Relaxed and Focus on Values and Morals
By that I mean we attend church, not every Sunday but we do go, and we also do Hindu prayers (puja) at home and occasionally go to the mandir. We celebrate Christian festivals like Easter and Christmas...and by that I mean we to to church on those occasions, not just stuff our faces with chocolate eggs and mince pies. We do that too of course! We also celebrate Hindu festivals like Diwali by doing puja at home/going to the mandir...and of course stuffing our faces with samosas and ras malai! We read the kids stories from the Ramayana and the Bible. Sometimes it is confusing for them but we keep it relaxed and focus more on the shared morals and values.
My Interview on BBC Asian Network
The other night I was a guest on the Mobeen Azhar radio show on BBC Asian Network as they were discussing raising kids in an interfaith marriage. I talked about whether or not I think the kids will be confused (yes there are times when they are....we're hoping they'll be ok in the end!), and what advice I'd give to couples from different religions who are planning on tying the knot (don't do it!...unless you're open to a bit of religious give and take). You can listen to my interview here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06b0fmg
Love Is All You Need
I don't know how an interfaith marriage and raising kids would work in with people who are very strict about their religions and do everything by the book. I imagine there would be a lot of clashes especially if one/both of the couple thought their religion was the only true religion. Myself and my husband have the view that love is the most important thing. We're just giving the kids two ways to worship God, two different sets of stories and lessons and two different communities to connect with.
MummyImperfect x
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
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I agree that love is important. My faith teaches me that God is love so I want to know more about Him and the love that He offers to us and others.
What I find interesting about this article is that you are introducing your kids to two different worldviews (which impacts how they see the natural and spiritual world). Do you find that the classic views of Hinduism and Christianity are compatible? Or do you find the compatibility as you search for shared values?
While growing up I was exposed to Christianity a lot as I went to a Church of England school and have a lot of cousins that are Christians. As a Hindu I was uncomfortable about the fact that some of them thought I would be going to hell unless I converted to Christianity. Hindu's don't have this view as we think there are different ways of worshiping the same God.
Now we go to a Church where the Priest preaches about the bible but makes it clear that this is just one set of rules and one way to get a spiritual connection with God, it's not the only way. I feel comfortable attending that church with my family because those views are compatible with my own. The main things we take away from both Church and the Mandir is knowing there is a higher power than yourself, thinking about others and how you can help people, giving to your community, forgetting your ego and being kind, and that good always overcomes evil....even when times are hard and it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel, God is there for us.
I can't contribute a direct experience to this topic, though I'm glad it looks like you enjoyed the interview.
I just had to stop by to say that is one amazing shirt your host is wearing!
Lol yes it is. I think we had mutual T-Shirt admiration. He liked mine because it says "If the love doesn't feel like 90s RnB I don't want it." :-D
@mummyimperfect it doesn't matter what religion we are make our child gud human being is first thing.