December 24, 2006
FROM THE ARCHIVES: CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?:
Same house, different faiths But if there's a divorce, who gets 'soul custody'? (Cathy Lynn Grossman, 12/05/02, USA TODAY)For millions of Americans, December is an extended toast to every holiday's highlights.Christmas is coming. The feast of Eid al-Fitr, concluding Muslims' month-long Ramadan fast, is this week. Hanukkah's final candles are lit Friday. Sunday is Bodhi Day, marking the anniversary of the enlightenment of the Buddha.
But when religious pluralism hits home -- 22% of U.S. households now have more than one faith under one roof -- the party's over for a growing number of families. Divorce is three times more prevalent in interfaith families with children than in same-faith households, according to the first national statistical look at the issue.
The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 (ARIS) finds that of all U.S. adults who have had children with someone of another faith, 10% are divorced, compared with 3% for parents of the same faith.
People, you've got to get in the spirit of this multi-faith deal. For instance, when our kids turn thirteen we're having BapMitzvahs, combination Baptism/Bar Mitzvahs to soak both sides of the family and hopefully pay for each one's college education.
[Originally posted: 2002-12-07] Posted by oj at December 24, 2006 12:07 AM
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Wanna see your grandchildren again?
Posted by: oj at December 7, 2002 12:28 PMHaving come out of a society of -- you would
say but I wouldn't -- tolerant Christians, I
was shocked to discover how things work in
an actual tolerant religious society.
Out here, lifelong Buddhists often have
Christian funerals. I have never yet discovered
what the deal is, but here's a brainteaser:
Try to imagine the famously tolerant and loving
Christians of East Tennessee reacting to
the Buddhist rites for the late Brother Luke.
I'm unclear about why Buddhists accepting Pascal's wager means that Christians shouldn't?
Posted by: OJ at December 8, 2002 8:26 AMI don't know that that was their motivation.
I don't think it was.
My point had to do with toleration.
Did Christians try stopping their burials? What's the point of this?
Posted by: oj at December 8, 2002 7:37 PMThat there is a religiously tolerant, as opposed to politically tolerant, state in the union.
I grew up in the South. My upbringing did not include merging religious practices. I cannot imagine an East
Tennessee Christian having a Buddhist funeral. No way.
Sorry to disappoint you, but Baptists don't give money for baptisms.
Posted by: dcj at December 7, 2002 12:25 PM