DiscussMormonism.com

My mother was part of the Disciples of Christ church and my father was LDS. From what I remember too, faith was never a contentious issue till after they actually divorced. In fact I was very active in both faiths simultaneously and was even baptized in both churches and never thought anything at the time of it. It was only after they separated and my mother falsely leading me to believe that my father and everything about him was scum that I stopped being active and even grew to resent the church. Does anyone else come from a home like that or have had a positive experience like that.

It was only after they separated and my mother falsely leading me to believe that my father and everything about him was scum that I stopped being active and even grew to resent the church.

Well, now that you realize this, there is no resentment towards the LDS Church right?

bcspace wrote:

It was only after they separated and my mother falsely leading me to believe that my father and everything about him was scum that I stopped being active and even grew to resent the church.

Well, now that you realize this, there is no resentment towards the LDS Church right?

Not particularly. I've even grown to respect it and its heritage more as of late. Doesn't mean I'm planning on being active again anytime soon, though I would be lying if I said the thought of going back hasn't crossed my mind.

It's not the same as your experience, but Ms.Jack is also in a dual faith marriage. If you search for her threads, you can probably find some of her discussion of that. Additionally she also publishes a blog which, though not focused on that topic, does have some remarks on her situation. She's written about it for several other blogs (LDS and interdenominational) and has been interviewed on NPR, if memory serves.

WheatThins ~ I'm a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church and I'm married to a Mormon. We're both active and believing members of our faiths. We have a daughter whom we're raising in both religions with the goal of letting her choose one when she gets older. We were interviewed about this last year by PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, here.

We actually discussed the possibility of baptizing our children in both religions, but several friends of mine who have served in significant ecclesiastical leadership positions for the LDS church (bishops, mission presidents, etc.) advised against it. We make a good effort to incorporate aspects of both religions into our family life though. For example, I was just now going through my daughter's Daisy Scouting book and brainstorming ways to incorporate both religions into her annual My Promise, My Faith pin.

A lot of people have tsk-tsk'ed at us. I sometimes get the impression that people would like to see our marriage fail or our children abandon both religions altogether just so that they can say, "See? This is why interfaith marriages totally don't work." I have to put up with prejudiced garbage from time to time. And while I won't deny that things can be religiously difficult in our family, it's not as impossible as some would think. I'm really not worried about "religious confusion" much, either. Kids are more perceptive and resilient than most people realize.

I'm a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church and I'm married to a Mormon. We're both active and believing members of our faiths. We have a daughter whom we're raising in both religions with the goal of letting her choose one when she gets older. We were interviewed about this last year by PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, here.

That's absolutely wonderful that you're able to expose her to both worlds without to much internal conflict, and its only going to help her in the long run. Not only will she be able to gain a greater respect and acceptance of other peoples ideals and beliefs(something that a world filled with so many religious zealots and extremists needs badly) but your showing her that even in peoples differences they can live and work together and be happy. :D

And while I won't deny that things can be religiously difficult in our family, it's not as impossible as some would think. I'm really not worried about "religious confusion" much, either. Kids are more perceptive and resilient than most people realize.

Isn't that the truth? Kids never have trouble integrating and melding different values and beliefs. Its only when people try to tell them its a one way belief street that confusion and conflict is created.

WheatThins wrote:Isn't that the truth? Kids never have trouble integrating and melding different values and beliefs. Its only when people try to tell them its a one way belief street that confusion and conflict is created.

So true.

When I was 12 or 13, I remember I was in an arcade pounding away at the 1992 X-Men Arcade Game. My mother's friend was in the arcade with me (this was the mid-90s and he's probably in his 60s now). He walked up behind me and asked me which member of the X-Men was my favorite. I pointed to Storm.

"But she's black!" he blurted out.

I was kind of quiet for a moment. And finally I said, "So?" My mom's friend shook his head and wandered off.

It was the first time in my life anyone had ever suggested to me that I shouldn't like a fictional character based on race. Something that would have been unthinkable to prior generations (a white girl identifying with a black woman) had been quietly internalized without me ever giving it a second thought.

I think we're often the same way with religion. If we didn't teach our children to hate each other . . . well, I won't say that they never would hate one another. But it would probably be far less common, and take them far longer to reach that point.