Aww...thank you so much.
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Intermarriage
- Thread starter Jake1001
- Start date
Yes...indeed.
Love is more about passion...attraction. Juliet didn't like Paris, she liked Romeo.
And yet Paris and her family were political allies.
That said, it is good two spouses have completely different interests.
I would never force my husband to watch a fashion show, as I would never want him to make me watch a soccer game.
Sand Dancer
Currently catless
I think it's great! No, not intermarried, but have friends that are. Update: Oh, I thought it was racial. Religiously, it may be a problem with raising kids and figuring out which religion to raise them as, if any. That and which parent they will go worship with, if any.
Sand Dancer
Currently catless
How does a spouse's religion affect yours? If it because of children?
I don't want children
I see marriage as being two lives joined together, in a holy bond
And for me, my life is very much tied-up with my Christianity
I simply couldn't share my life with someone who had massively different religious beliefs to me
It wouldn't work for me
Sometimes money. Some religions have a requirement of tithing.
On further consideration to the question there are multiple factors that lead to marriages succeeding or failing. The question has been well studied and I’m not aware of different religious or cultural affiliation being a key factor for marriage failure. As many of us live in multicultural societies there are many mixed marriages when it comes to politics, religion and culture. Some are comfortable with that, others not at all. When marriages fail there is a tendency towards confirmation bias where we falsely attribute our personal biases as the main reason for that marriage failing.
I researched and I didn't find a single study that didn't say divorce was higher amongst interfaith marriages. Maybe we're using different search engines.
Nobody says it can't work. It's only less likely.
21 Intriguing Interfaith Marriage Statistics
stvdv
Veteran Member
Thank you for this article. Great article with such clear numbers
Divorce rate is incredible high and clearly interfaith marriage makes it not any better
But knowing that divorce rate is very high, it's clear to me, that it's best not to invent extra challenges. The more compatible 2 people are the less chance to divorce. In the beginning differences can seem attractive, but in the long run the same differences start to annoy usually.
Some keys IMO:
1: Do not even think that your religion is better/higher than the other's religion
2: Just tolerating the other's religion is for sure not sufficient for a healthy durable relationship
3: You need to encourage the other in a healthy relationship; especially on soul level (feeling, faith, spiritual)
*: To belittle = divorce (I call it emotional/mental divorce the second belittling happens)
Its an interesting link. It would be reasonable to consider that divorce rates may be higher than average for interfaith marriage between certain groups eg evangelical Christians marrying non-evangelical Christains. OTOH interfaith marriage with Catholics doesn't appear to have a higher divorce rate than marriage between Catholics. Knowing the two groups (Evangelicals and Catholics)reasonably well its not hard to imagine why some evangelicals Christains would struggle with interfaith marriage whereas many Catholics, like many Baha'is wouldn't have a problem with it. I would avoid generalising the data from the Evangelical Christains and applying it to all other faiths. Some faiths clearly respect a diverse range of faiths whereas others don't at all.
That wasn't the only link I found by any means. I just used one example of about a dozen I found and yes I will definitely generalise that interfaith marriages are less likely to work, all around, including both Hinduism, Baha'i, and more.
You're free to believe differently, obviously.
https://marriageresourcecentre.org/interfaith-marriages/
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We're all entitled to our opinions of course.
The staunchest critic of interfaith marriage from both links you have posted was Naomi Riley:
Riley was a blogger for the Chronicle of Higher Education until she was fired in 2012 after writing a blog arguing for the elimination of Black Studies at university departments,[4] which resulted in a social media backlash, and a petition demanding her firing, which contained roughly 6,500 names.
Naomi Schaefer Riley - Wikipedia
Looks like she may have an underlying agenda in her 'research' so I'd look carefully at the 'facts' rather than accept what she says at face value.
The first link you suggested Mormons in the USA were the least likely to intermarry (17%). However it appears Hindus are even less likely (just 10%). Why do think that is?
If it's a world wide study, for Hindus it would be because in India, the Hindus are by far in the majority, and there would be less choices, just because of that. Over here, the trend is changing, not just with Hindus. Marriage is a complicated institution. I'm guessing it's important to Hindus to stay within their faith. From my POV, that's just wise. Who would want to marry someone who belittles your faith? I think I told you of the young couple I knew ... Kerala Christian, Sri Lankan Hindu ... who had two weddings, and the Christian parents refused to attend the Hindu wedding, and the Hindus attended both. Of the many Hindu - other marriages I've seen, it's almost always been the Hindu that gave up their faith.
I'd link several more studies but the whole issue isn't that important to me. Interested people can do their own investigating. I suggest you do some googling if you're actually interested.
Its an interesting topic personally as I'm part of an interfaith marriage for the last 21 years and have two teenage sons.
The first link referred to 10% of Hindus in the USA marrying someone outside their faith. It wasn't Hindus in India.
I agree that it makes sense to marry someone from within your own faith but that is not always possible or practical. The example of the Kerala Christain and Sri Lankan Hindu is an excellent illustration of trouble from the outset. If a Hindu marrying a Christian means giving up Hinduism, then that's a good reason to be wary of that specific kind of interfaith marriage. My point is there are options of interfaith marriage where both spouses retain their faith and culture and can find common ground with raising and educating their children. However, marrying someone of the same faith is certainly much easier if both partners want their children to grow up within the same faith tradition.
Perhaps I'll find time to do further research....
Well, I've always believed that "mixed marriages don't work."
As to the rest -- right there with you on that!
My wife and I have been married since 2004, she is Hindu and I was Baha'i. Didn't seem to cause problems except when overzealous Baha'i friends wanted to teach her the faith which she didn't really get.
Now I'm not Baha'i and I think it was harder on her to understand someone following no religion than it was to understand someone following Baha'i but the marriage still works just fine.
Now I'm not Baha'i and I think it was harder on her to understand someone following no religion than it was to understand someone following Baha'i but the marriage still works just fine.
Delighted for you that love can get by all that other stuff. Love long!
The hate of Hitler lives on, and this makes his eternal hate far more powerful that he was.
Anti-Semites claim that Jews are breeding more and taking over political positions.
Hitler's propaganda showed make-believe pictures of Jews scampering out of sewer grates, then interposed those videos with rats scampering out of sewer grates, then back to Jews, then back to rats. It wasn't long after, that Hitler rounded up Jews, rendered their fat (what little fat they had starving in death and torture camps), knocked out their gold fillings, and marched them into gas chambers.
Many create similar campaigns against Jews today, and, when asked if they are bigoted against Jews, they say "parish the thought."
You ask if Jews are increasing in numbers by breeding outside of their religion or ethnicity. What is the purpose of the question?
Orthodox Jewish law prohibits Jews from marrying outside of their religion, unless their new spouse converts. Many Jews have bred outside of their religion or ethnicity, which diluted their DNA (as DNA tests prove). Often Jews take on the DNA of the people that they have lived with (bred with them).
The answer to your question is that breeding outside of their religion or ethnicity would make more people with a trace of Jewish ethnicity, and it is possible that they could raise their kids to have the Jewish faith. However, their DNA would be less Jewish.
I often pondered what the world would be like if everyone was a mixture of everything (and eventually with intermarriages, and people from around the world living next to each other, this will come to pass). I used to ponder if that would eliminate bigotry entirely. But, I realize that it would not eliminate bigotry. Once one picked on minority is eliminated, they will find another minority to pick on.
In Mexico, you'd think that all would feel equal, since they are a mixture of Spanish and American Indian. But, they favor their Caucasian lineage (Spanish), so they are the elite, while the others are picked on.
The thing about bigotry is that no matter how many people are pushed to the bottom, there is only room for one at the top.
The Russians should have known that, when the Nazis (their former allies) attacked them. Similarly, the Japanese should have known that they were next on the bigotry list.
Anti-Semites claim that Jews are breeding more and taking over political positions.
Hitler's propaganda showed make-believe pictures of Jews scampering out of sewer grates, then interposed those videos with rats scampering out of sewer grates, then back to Jews, then back to rats. It wasn't long after, that Hitler rounded up Jews, rendered their fat (what little fat they had starving in death and torture camps), knocked out their gold fillings, and marched them into gas chambers.
Many create similar campaigns against Jews today, and, when asked if they are bigoted against Jews, they say "parish the thought."
You ask if Jews are increasing in numbers by breeding outside of their religion or ethnicity. What is the purpose of the question?
Orthodox Jewish law prohibits Jews from marrying outside of their religion, unless their new spouse converts. Many Jews have bred outside of their religion or ethnicity, which diluted their DNA (as DNA tests prove). Often Jews take on the DNA of the people that they have lived with (bred with them).
The answer to your question is that breeding outside of their religion or ethnicity would make more people with a trace of Jewish ethnicity, and it is possible that they could raise their kids to have the Jewish faith. However, their DNA would be less Jewish.
I often pondered what the world would be like if everyone was a mixture of everything (and eventually with intermarriages, and people from around the world living next to each other, this will come to pass). I used to ponder if that would eliminate bigotry entirely. But, I realize that it would not eliminate bigotry. Once one picked on minority is eliminated, they will find another minority to pick on.
In Mexico, you'd think that all would feel equal, since they are a mixture of Spanish and American Indian. But, they favor their Caucasian lineage (Spanish), so they are the elite, while the others are picked on.
The thing about bigotry is that no matter how many people are pushed to the bottom, there is only room for one at the top.
The Russians should have known that, when the Nazis (their former allies) attacked them. Similarly, the Japanese should have known that they were next on the bigotry list.
I used to have a German teacher who was from Germany. She had moved from Düsseldorf to Italy, she was evangelical (EKD). She married a Catholic Italian man; the ceremony was celebrated both by the Evangelical Pastor and the Catholic priest.
I think that interfaith marriage within Christendom is more frequent.
Neither gave up their own religion.
Thank you. I never once said it wasn't possible. Yours works, and I've seen it work. It's all about the chances. Many Hindus have arranged marriages, and divorce stats (although that's not always the best judge of 'success') indicate it works. They are no longer the old style 'never meet'. It's done by referral, consultation between families, lots of frank talk between the potential mates, and the total right of refusal. I'm guessing that the more 'off the norm' a faith is in any given locale, the more likely it would be to want to remain within your faith.
There is, after all, a huge variance in the differences between any 2 faiths, or faith adherents. An agnostic marrying a liberal Christian is nowhere near the gap as between a strong Muslim and a traditional Hindu.