Raising a Child in a Mixed-Faith Marriage

[Michlow]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

Mich - not a task I would want to take on, or recommend, but once you've taken it on, well, you've taken it on.

My thoughts would be:

Start with what you know. What you stated above is a great place to start, and your husband should respect your right as a mother to pass along these ideas to your child. At the same time, your husband will have that same right to present his opposing views. When your children are little, they are less prepared for a non-unified front, so you need to find points you can agree on and present those. If, for example, your husband believes that the teachings of Jesus, whether He be God or simple prophet, are at least applicable and beneficial, you can start with that common ground.

As your child gets older, they should hear both sides and then be encouraged to find the answers by looking at other resources, including the Bible. At the very least, the Bible is a fine piece of literature with historical accounts, prose and poetry and insight into ancient cultures. Reading the Bible should be encouraged on those points alone.

Your husband should keep himself open to new ideas, too. If he wants to produce a child who is open-minded, curious and interested in exploration, then he must also be open to exploration of ideas, including the idea that there is a God, or common divine source of humanity.

Miss B - I appreciate your thoughts.

My husband and I have had several very productive conversations about morals, ethics and character. One of the things that is very apparent (in fact I would not have been attracted to his person in the first place if it were not so). Is that we share many of the same ideals, though we may have differing reasoning behind them.

In fact, I have to admit that he often puts me to shame in some areas. Because he is a secular humanist, and he believes that all mankind has is each other, he feels a very strong burden to ease the plight of his fellow man.

We have had many talks about Jesus, the man, and there is definitely some agreement there as to his teachings and characters. The disagreement of course comes in when you step into the divine realm.

On the bright side we have an awesome relationship. I know that he finds the idea that there is some super power creator who is in charge of everything to be ludicrous, and he knows that I find that there is no one in charge of the universe to be depressing and terrifying!