Inter religion marriage?

[issacotis]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me but since my family has strongly objected to him being a hindu i have started feeling restless when i think how can i be with a hindu for d rest of my life. But he doesn’t follow any religion as such only thing is he was born in a hindu family, he doesn’t worship or follow any religion. I have started felling that i made a very big mistake 4 years ago…but i had thot abt his religion at that time & it didn’t make a difference for 4 years. I KNOW I AM WRONG, but i dont want to lose him or hurt him.I am in a situation that i cant be with him also & cant be without him also. But i am scared at the thot that i will be spending my entire life with a non catholic. its scary coz now i realise that i shudnt have said yes to him.

i know inter religion marriages are very common these days. but i am highly stressed.

i have told all this to him & he has been very understanding.

I know i am wrong but has any1 else done this…plz share all ur genuine thots.
any1 who has married inter religion or any1 who has left their love because of religion i want to get some views. plz plz plz

 

[1ke]

A marriage between a Catholic and a non-Catholic, especially an unbaptized person, is a very bad idea. God’s plan for marriage and family is a united household in which the parents are a model of the faith for their children.

You know the right thing to do. Next time, choose more wisely.

Also, please do not write in “text message” abbreviations. Use real words. It is very difficult to decipher your post.

 

[Spencerian]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me but since my family has strongly objected to him being a hindu i have started feeling restless when i think how can i be with a hindu for d rest of my life. But he doesn’t follow any religion as such only thing is he was born in a hindu family, he doesn’t worship or follow any religion. I have started felling that i made a very big mistake 4 years ago…but i had thot abt his religion at that time & it didn’t make a difference for 4 years. I KNOW I AM WRONG, but i dont want to lose him or hurt him.I am in a situation that i cant be with him also & cant be without him also. But i am scared at the thot that i will be spending my entire life with a non catholic. its scary coz now i realise that i shudnt have said yes to him.

i know inter religion marriages are very common these days. but i am highly stressed.

i have told all this to him & he has been very understanding.

I know i am wrong but has any1 else done this…plz share all ur genuine thots.
any1 who has married inter religion or any1 who has left their love because of religion i want to get some views. plz plz plz

To add what 1ke said:

It is better to feel sadness and pain now in ending a relationship on better terms than to force it and creating a situation you cannot simply end later. You do not want to marry someone where the likelihood of divorce is higher. You also do not want to marry someone whose religious views are too different, nor have children in such a relationship.

Most importantly, you should only marry your best friend. Divorce happens because many people ignore this simple idea. Love rises and falls (although it is always present), but love through a great friendship can weather any and all trials of a marriage.

 

[rinnie]

I don’t kmow! It would be hard for me to be with someone who does not accept God.

I guess the question you must ask yourself is do you think a marriage can survive without God!

But the good news is to continue to pray and God will send you the answer. And remember he is never late. Good luck I will keep you in my prayers.

 

[puzzleannie]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me z

why don’t they matter to you? Why are you not as strong in your faith as he and his family are in theirs? Before you are ready to consider marriage with anyone you need first to put your priorities in order, put God first and discern his will for you and your life, learn more about your faith and become committed if you are not now. You are obligated to do all in your power to raise your children Catholic and there is almost no chance of that if you marry into a family with a very strong adherence to another religion.

 

[Sufjon]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me but since my family has strongly objected to him being a hindu i have started feeling restless when i think how can i be with a hindu for d rest of my life. But he doesn’t follow any religion as such only thing is he was born in a hindu family, he doesn’t worship or follow any religion. I have started felling that i made a very big mistake 4 years ago…but i had thot abt his religion at that time & it didn’t make a difference for 4 years. I KNOW I AM WRONG, but i dont want to lose him or hurt him.I am in a situation that i cant be with him also & cant be without him also. But i am scared at the thot that i will be spending my entire life with a non catholic. its scary coz now i realise that i shudnt have said yes to him.

i know inter religion marriages are very common these days. but i am highly stressed.

i have told all this to him & he has been very understanding.

I know i am wrong but has any1 else done this…plz share all ur genuine thots.
any1 who has married inter religion or any1 who has left their love because of religion i want to get some views. plz plz plz

Hi Issacotis: I am a Hindu who is married to a Catholic woman. My personal experience from 30 years of marriage is that this is a matter that is largely up to the two of you. If you are able to work out an arrangement on this issue, it’s a good sign that you’ll be able to work through the many other issues that the two of you will confront together in the course of your lives together. If you can’t, then it’s an indication that there will be contention on other things. Each of us has a journey, and each of our journeys are sacred to God as we are sacred to God. It’s up to the two of you to determine if this journey is something that you feel compelled to make together. No one on this forum can look into your hearts and assess the love that you have for each other, and this love that you have is what this is all about.

My sense is that if you try to work this out strictly on an analytical basis, you’ll just end up confused. This is an intuitive thing and it has to be felt, not overly reasoned. If this is the man you want to spend your life with and you are the woman that he wants to spend his life with, then you need to start charting a course and see what, if anything you might be able to do to make this work. If you fall prey to those who tell you that you’ll be fitted for a suit of flame for loving someone, you may miss the whole point, in which case you are making your own suit of flame right here on earth. God is about love. The permutation of God that Christians believe in gave only two commandments - only two, and both had to do with love. The two of you have this love for each other. What a wonderful thing. It’s a blessing, and if you can find a way to make it work, then you should see what you can do about it.

Good luck to the two of you and God bless you.

Your friend,
Sufjon

 

[chuckfrmvalyfrg]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me but since my family has strongly objected to him being a hindu i have started feeling restless when i think how can i be with a hindu for d rest of my life. But he doesn’t follow any religion as such only thing is he was born in a hindu family, he doesn’t worship or follow any religion. I have started felling that i made a very big mistake 4 years ago…but i had thot abt his religion at that time & it didn’t make a difference for 4 years. I KNOW I AM WRONG, but i dont want to lose him or hurt him.I am in a situation that i cant be with him also & cant be without him also. But i am scared at the thot that i will be spending my entire life with a non catholic. its scary coz now i realise that i shudnt have said yes to him.

i know inter religion marriages are very common these days. but i am highly stressed.

i have told all this to him & he has been very understanding.

I know i am wrong but has any1 else done this…plz share all ur genuine thots.
any1 who has married inter religion or any1 who has left their love because of religion i want to get some views. plz plz plz

This is a tough match . You don’t even share a belief in Christ , which you would have with an Orthodox Catholic or a Protestant . How are you going to share your spiritual life with this man ? Your Bf may not follow any religion NOW , but what if that changes ? It is not uncommon for people who are irreligous for a time to return to the religion of their birth/youth . What would you do if this reversion to Hinduism coincided with the birth of your first child ?

 

[Leegal]

Possible, but difficult. Is it that you are no longer in love with this man at all, but dependent on the relationship? If you no longer love him, then it’s best to end this now. It will hurt, but better now.

If you are confused, but do love him, the pray to God for guidance. I expect that as a Hindu he has religious beliefs, though not practicing.

Do you want to go through with the marriage or end the engagement? If you marry will he be willing to raise the children as Catholic?

 

[zz912]

1. Please don’t use text-speak. It’s annoying and hard to descipher.
2. You are struggling now because you failed to be serious about your relationship much earlier. This should have been discussed, thought about, and either begun resolving within the first 6 months you started dating, or ended the relationship without so much grief and wasted time.
3. If you want an honest answer from yourself, imagine that you JUST met this man. Imagine that you had not been dating at all. Would you invest considerable time and effort to resolve this issue or simply cut bait and move on? There is your answer. You need to ignore the wasted 4 years. They are what we call in business a “sunk cost”. You have already wasted those 4 years without being serious, and nothing you can do now can change that. You need to determine NOW about how you will spend the time in the future.

 

[jerry_joseph]

i know i am ridiculous but this is a serious problem. my boyfriend n i m going arnd for 4 years now & we were all very keen on getting married, but the problem is i am a Christan & he is a hindu. earlier all these things didn’t matter to me but since my family has strongly objected to him being a hindu i have started feeling restless when i think how can i be with a hindu for d rest of my life. But he doesn’t follow any religion as such only thing is he was born in a hindu family, he doesn’t worship or follow any religion. I have started felling that i made a very big mistake 4 years ago…but i had thot abt his religion at that time & it didn’t make a difference for 4 years. I KNOW I AM WRONG, but i dont want to lose him or hurt him.I am in a situation that i cant be with him also & cant be without him also. But i am scared at the thot that i will be spending my entire life with a non catholic. its scary coz now i realise that i shudnt have said yes to him.

i know inter religion marriages are very common these days. but i am highly stressed.

i have told all this to him & he has been very understanding.

I know i am wrong but has any1 else done this…plz share all ur genuine thots.
any1 who has married inter religion or any1 who has left their love because of religion i want to get some views. plz plz plz

There are lot of factors affecting the success of a married life. Religion is an important factor in this. Through marriage not only two persons but two families are coming together. So support from both family members are required . Cultural gap is also another problem. Either one of you should adjust with another persons wishes. In case of most inter religious marriages, in early days of marriages both thinks about their physical relations only. But situations will change when you gets children . In most inter religious families then only problem arises. In which religions will they grow up?.

 

[rinnie]

Hi Issacotis: I am a Hindu who is married to a Catholic woman. My personal experience from 30 years of marriage is that this is a matter that is largely up to the two of you. If you are able to work out an arrangement on this issue, it’s a good sign that you’ll be able to work through the many other issues that the two of you will confront together in the course of your lives together. If you can’t, then it’s an indication that there will be contention on other things. Each of us has a journey, and each of our journeys are sacred to God as we are sacred to God. It’s up to the two of you to determine if this journey is something that you feel compelled to make together. No one on this forum can look into your hearts and assess the love that you have for each other, and this love that you have is what this is all about.

My sense is that if you try to work this out strictly on an analytical basis, you’ll just end up confused. This is an intuitive thing and it has to be felt, not overly reasoned. If this is the man you want to spend your life with and you are the woman that he wants to spend his life with, then you need to start charting a course and see what, if anything you might be able to do to make this work. If you fall prey to those who tell you that you’ll be fitted for a suit of flame for loving someone, you may miss the whole point, in which case you are making your own suit of flame right here on earth. God is about love. The permutation of God that Christians believe in gave only two commandments - only two, and both had to do with love. The two of you have this love for each other. What a wonderful thing. It’s a blessing, and if you can find a way to make it work, then you should see what you can do about it.

Good luck to the two of you and God bless you.

Your friend,
Sufjon

Sufjon what a heartwarming response. If I may get a lilttle personal, can I ask you if being married to your wife all of those years (hey its 30 for me also) did those years of marriage change any of your thinking as far as Religion itself goes?

What I mean is could you consider yourself a Christian also, and do you feel closer to Christ at all. Thanks Sufjon. If I am getting too personal you don’t have to answer! I understand

 

[Sufjon]

Sufjon what a heartwarming response. If I may get a lilttle personal, can I ask you if being married to your wife all of those years (hey its 30 for me also) did those years of marriage change any of your thinking as far as Religion itself goes?

What I mean is could you consider yourself a Christian also, and do you feel closer to Christ at all. Thanks Sufjon. If I am getting too personal you don’t have to answer! I understand

Hi Rinnie: Thank you for the very kind note. It’s good to hear from you again by the way, and congratulations on being married for such a long time. I suppose that my marriage situation has had some influence on my thinking over time. The question about being a Christian is a rather complicated one. There isn’t any rule in Hinduism that says I can’t believe in Christ, or practice Christianity. It probably sounds strange to a Christian, but from a Hindu point of view, belief in and love of Christ can be done within the context of Hinduism. The only real differences are my understanding of the words and actions of Jesus as opposed to what most mainstream Christians would believe. What I believe would be more in line with Christian Mystics. My wife wanted to raise our children Catholic, so we did that. I go to church with her, but the wording of some of the prayers and song responses are problematic for me, so I change them a bit. For instance, I can’t say “glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth” and do that with conviction without changing the words to “glory to God in the highest and peace to all beings.” This is because I believe animals have souls and I also believe that there are many souls who are not currently embodied (the dead for instance). For me, I can’t properly proclaim the glory of God without including all the creations that are surely very dear to Him. I know it sounds trivial, but it matters to me.

So, I do believe in Jesus, but I have some profound differences in understanding of His words, actions and purposes that go a lot deeper than the prayer response example I gave.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[Marybeloved]

Hi Rinnie: Thank you for the very kind note. It’s good to hear from you again by the way, and congratulations on being married for such a long time. I suppose that my marriage situation has had some influence on my thinking over time. The question about being a Christian is a rather complicated one. There isn’t any rule in Hinduism that says I can’t believe in Christ, or practice Christianity. It probably sounds strange to a Christian, but from a Hindu point of view, belief in and love of Christ can be done within the context of Hinduism. The only real differences are my understanding of the words and actions of Jesus as opposed to what most mainstream Christians would believe. What I believe would be more in line with Christian Mystics. My wife wanted to raise our children Catholic, so we did that. I go to church with her, but the wording of some of the prayers and song responses are problematic for me, so I change them a bit. For instance, I can’t say “glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth” and do that with conviction without changing the words to “glory to God in the highest and peace to all beings.” This is because I believe animals have souls and I also believe that there are many souls who are not currently embodied (the dead for instance). For me, I can’t properly proclaim the glory of God without including all the creations that are surely very dear to Him. I know it sounds trivial, but it matters to me.

So, I do believe in Jesus, but I have some profound differences in understanding of His words, actions and purposes that go a lot deeper than the prayer response example I gave.

Your friend
Sufjon

Hi Sufjon,

I had just thought about asking you about how you and your wife dealt with the children issue before I saw this response. Personally, I think that this is one of the most difficult issues in all kinds of inter-religious marriages. Adults (the reasonable ones) can let their spouses practice the religion of their choice, and even provide support, like you obviously appear to do so lovingly for your Catholic wife. Only problem, of course would be if someone wanted to practice some strange “religion” like Satanism and the kind- I know for certain that I would run as far as my legs could carry me from any person who I knew was involved with that. But children are just a whole other matter- very difficult sacrifice to make, by the way- you show tremendous willingness to give up having your own way. A rare quality (virtue?) .

The only other major issue particularly for a Catholic would be contraceptives. I don’t think anyone can practice NFP by themselves . But then again, this is mostly an issue even if both spouses claim Catholicism :sad_yes: Here’s my question, Do you think you would have been willing to make such a huge sacrifice for your wife if she had required you to? I’ve always wondered about these things. Obviously so many good and kind and wonderful non-catholics are out there. Would make such great spouses. But I fear for those two issues, children and NFP. They are both tremendous sacrifices to expect from anyone. Raising your child without your own faith, and the sacrifices of not using contraceptives is huge even when you believe in the Church teaching! I cant imagine how much harder if you do not accept the church teaching on the issue or even don’t believe in Catholicism at all. They do worry this single Catholic a lot . What do you think from your experience? (Congratulations from me too, by the way! Thirty years?- One more for family!)

Peace.

 

[Sufjon]

Hi Sufjon,

I had just thought about asking you about how you and your wife dealt with the children issue before I saw this response. Personally, I think that this is one of the most difficult issues in all kinds of inter-religious marriages. Adults (the reasonable ones) can let their spouses practice the religion of their choice, and even provide support, like you obviously appear to do so lovingly for your Catholic wife. Only problem, of course would be if someone wanted to practice some strange “religion” like Satanism and the kind- I know for certain that I would run as far as my legs could carry me from any person who I knew was involved with that. But children are just a whole other matter- very difficult sacrifice to make, by the way- you show tremendous willingness to give up having your own way. A rare quality (virtue?) .

The only other major issue particularly for a Catholic would be contraceptives. I don’t think anyone can practice NFP by themselves . But then again, this is mostly an issue even if both spouses claim Catholicism :sad_yes: Here’s my question, Do you think you would have been willing to make such a huge sacrifice for your wife if she had required you to? I’ve always wondered about these things. Obviously so many good and kind and wonderful non-catholics are out there. Would make such great spouses. But I fear for those two issues, children and NFP. They are both tremendous sacrifices to expect from anyone. Raising your child without your own faith, and the sacrifices of not using contraceptives is huge even when you believe in the Church teaching! I cant imagine how much harder if you do not accept the church teaching on the issue or even don’t believe in Catholicism at all. They do worry this single Catholic a lot . What do you think from your experience? (Congratulations from me too, by the way! Thirty years?- One more for family!)

Peace.

Hi MaryBleoved - it’s good to hear from you again. I think it would be incredibly difficult to marry someone who had a completely different religion like Satanism. This would be something I would find hard to reconcile with, but I really think that sort of thing probably would have been vetted on the first or second date. There are so many ancillary personality traits that attend certain belief systems that I think a Satanist wouldn’t notice me or view me as a prospective mate, and likewise, I probably wouldn’t notice a satanist in that way. We would have a hard time finding common interests at the outset, so I just don’t think it could happen, but if it did, I have to agree it would be a real challenge.

As far as contraceptives are concerned, we didn’t have any real issues there. The particular path of Hinduism that I follow prescribes celibacy even in marriage after a certain point, especially after you’re done having children. Personally, I don’t have a problem with contraceptives, but my wife had a strictly Catholic view on contraceptives and I was happy to do it that way, since there was so much more to our relationship than that anyway. I have to say that I have reservations about the celibacy issue in my own faith, because I think it’s really something that you can’t force, or you’ll inhibit your own spiritual growth. That’s why in some forms of Hindu practice, sex is used to grow spiritually, and this would be found in things like tantra. Most westerners think that tantra is about sex, but out of about 100 tantras, only about 5 or 6 as I recall deal with sex. Anyway, I think that the best way for many people to move past something is to move through it, by experiencing it fully. If you practice abstinence and aren’t ready, then you’ll just go around wanting sex. If you go around wanting sex, then you’re in a state of want, and I really think that we should move past want. While there are those who can practice abstinence pretty easily, for most of us, the best way to move past craving is to have at least some of what you crave, and when you have some, make the very most of it. Specifically, it’s a matter of taking your time and noticing every aspect of the experience until you have burned away
the need for the experience. Then there’s one less thing standing between you and full realization of your spiritual potential. When I was a teenager I worked at a 7-11 after school, and we could have all the free popcorn and Slurpees we could handle. I have not had the desire for popcorn or Slurpees since I was 16. They’re out of my system. This is kind of what tantra does in some respects, but this doesn’t mean to go around having orgies like I did with the Slurpees and popcorn. It’s really more of a matter of being fully attentive to what you’re doing while you’re doing it.

Your friend,
Sufjon

 

[jschutzm]

As someone who is in an inter-faith marriage, let me begin with some hope. They CAN work out. – But they take more then mere love and good intentions.
In my case… we are both Christians… myself Catholic, my wife Baptist. So it is easier for us, since we believe many similar doctrines regarding God and religion. Yet even our slight doctrinal differences are enough to spark some serious strife and conflict in our marriage. So much so that we have all but banned the discussion on our doctrinal differences from our household.

I have given this same advice to many inter-faith couples.

1. The more devout EITHER of you are… the more strife and conflict you will have in your marriage.
2. Divorce rate is hovering around 50% and for inter-faith couples… their divorce rate is EVEN higher. You have a significantly higher chance of getting a divorce if you believe in different things… unless of course your faith is very lukewarm and plays a very small part of your life. Finances and Religion are #1 adn #2 reasons for divorce.
3. Children make a stressful situation worse. They only heighten and punctuate your differences in belief and effect more then that. They also affect your outlook on life… how you deal with stress, failure, turmoil, finances, etc. These can creep in, in subtle ways and can make each of you feel like you are not united.
4. Families put pressure on each spouse to convert… it is human nature. Especially when grandchildren enter the picture. They may be OK with you now…but wait 'til they want to introduce your child to Hindu traditions. - This can be VERY confusing to children.
5. MOST children of inter-faith marriages end up with little to NO faith of their own. It is VERY hard for children to reconcile why Mommy and Daddy don’t believe the same things if there is an objective truth to either one. Most of the time they end up with either a mish-mash of beliefs… or Agnostic, as it is easier for them to conclude that religion doesn’t matter then to try and reconcile the differences.

If you intend to go through with this… you need to sit down and hash out EXACTLY how you will handle the religious education of your children. Better to do it now, then when Timmy is 6 or 7

Discuss with each family, as well… as even though it is YOUR marriage… you aren’t just marrying him… but entering into another family. Their buy-in and some ground rules will go a long way to making this work… should you decide to continue.

 

[jschutzm]

. No one on this forum can look into your hearts and assess the love that you have for each other, and this love that you have is what this is all about.

TRUE… no one person can tell you… but I vehemently reject the the idea that ALL marriage is about is “love” and ‘feelings’ – that is a totally non-Catholic view of marriage. Catholics believe that marriage is MUCH more then mere feelings. It is a commitment, a sacrament, it is about raising children, about 'the 2 becoming one" - spiritually, as well as physically.

So I have to disagree with Sufijon’s response. Sorry to say. It “sounds” good on the surface and is the type of answer you’d get from a romance movie and the secular world…but it doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to it.
No offense intended. Just giving you a different perspective.

My sense is that if you try to work this out strictly on an analytical basis, you’ll just end up confused. This is an intuitive thing and it has to be felt, not overly reasoned. If this is the man you want to spend your life with and you are the woman that he wants to spend his life with, then you need to start charting a course and see what, if anything you might be able to do to make this work. If you fall prey to those who tell you that you’ll be fitted for a suit of flame for loving someone, you may miss the whole point, in which case you are making your own suit of flame right here on earth. God is about love. The permutation of God that Christians believe in gave only two commandments - only two, and both had to do with love. The two of you have this love for each other. What a wonderful thing. It’s a blessing, and if you can find a way to make it work, then you should see what you can do about it.

Again… I have to disagree, only that Marriage is about MORE then love. Not just feelings and isn’t merely an intuitive thing. YES God commanded us to love thy neighbor as ourselves… but he did not command us to MARRY everyone we love. Marriage is a different thing then love. We should not reduce it to such a casual thing. I may have love and charity for my fellow man… some more then others…but I do not marry everyone I love.

 

[UnityofTrinity]

since he is not particularly devoted to his religion, maybe you can ask him to convert to Catholicism and thus married in the church? In Asia we have many couples are interfaith married and they have lived together for decades

 

[Sufjon]

TRUE… no one person can tell you… but I vehemently reject the the idea that ALL marriage is about is “love” and ‘feelings’ – that is a totally non-Catholic view of marriage. Catholics believe that marriage is MUCH more then mere feelings. It is a commitment, a sacrament, it is about raising children, about 'the 2 becoming one" - spiritually, as well as physically.

So I have to disagree with Sufijon’s response. Sorry to say. It “sounds” good on the surface and is the type of answer you’d get from a romance movie and the secular world…but it doesn’t have a whole lot of substance to it.
No offense intended. Just giving you a different perspective.

Again… I have to disagree, only that Marriage is about MORE then love. Not just feelings and isn’t merely an intuitive thing. YES God commanded us to love thy neighbor as ourselves… but he did not command us to MARRY everyone we love. Marriage is a different thing then love. We should not reduce it to such a casual thing. I may have love and charity for my fellow man… some more then others…but I do not marry everyone I love.

Hi schutzm: I would not venture to assert that the path I took is the path for everyone. I can only say that I am happy with the outcome, but this is hardly a one size fits everyone world. I do tend to follow my intuition, and from this I would know on the first date not to try and marry you, and you certainly wouldn’t be able to make it work with me. But that’s just my intuition again…

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[Tyuiop411]

If he’s hostile to religion it may be hard to maintain the marriage, but seeing as he appears to be a cultural hindu you shouldn’t run into any problems in regards to how you should raise any children (religion wise). Honestly, if he agrees to let you raise any children Catholic I don’t see why your family would have any issue with him.

I will say as a word of warning it’s better to ask any faith-obligation related questions before you date someone. I once dated a Muslim girl (her and her family where only culturally Muslim) and I made sure to clear the two big questions (Catholic marriage/raising any children Catholic) with both her and her parents before I even started dating her.

 

[rinnie]

Hi Rinnie: Thank you for the very kind note. It’s good to hear from you again by the way, and congratulations on being married for such a long time. I suppose that my marriage situation has had some influence on my thinking over time. The question about being a Christian is a rather complicated one. There isn’t any rule in Hinduism that says I can’t believe in Christ, or practice Christianity. It probably sounds strange to a Christian, but from a Hindu point of view, belief in and love of Christ can be done within the context of Hinduism. The only real differences are my understanding of the words and actions of Jesus as opposed to what most mainstream Christians would believe. What I believe would be more in line with Christian Mystics. My wife wanted to raise our children Catholic, so we did that. I go to church with her, but the wording of some of the prayers and song responses are problematic for me, so I change them a bit. For instance, I can’t say “glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth” and do that with conviction without changing the words to “glory to God in the highest and peace to all beings.” This is because I believe animals have souls and I also believe that there are many souls who are not currently embodied (the dead for instance). For me, I can’t properly proclaim the glory of God without including all the creations that are surely very dear to Him. I know it sounds trivial, but it matters to me.

So, I do believe in Jesus, but I have some profound differences in understanding of His words, actions and purposes that go a lot deeper than the prayer response example I gave.

Your friend
Sufjon

Hi love, Hey I can maybe help you on one thing, Here is one thing to remember all souls who are not on earth have already found peace in Christ!! So they don’t need it, only the souls on earth.

And for the souls who have not accepted God don’t want his peace and never will anyway so its their choice and they have made their choice to not have his peace.

The reason I asked and you have pretty much proven my point, in a good way, and that is never underestimate the power of God. He brought you to his Son Jesus and thats amazing.

I did ask once if animals had souls and I was told no! But I also asked if they go to heaven and I was told yes. I think God just gives them great big hearts. Thats why I think they can all get into heaven because they are like little babys they are always purely inocent. I feel sorry for people who have never felt the love of an animal. It is a love you cannot explain. It is alot like the love of Christ though, unconditional.

Its sound terrible to compare the love of Christ like the love an animal can have for us, but only people who have had that love could understand. How we can even ignore our animals at times but they still LOVE us when we call out thier names. God is like that, always waiting to help us.

But that is probally why they don’t have souls because when they die they are full of nothing but goodness and God probally takes them up Body and all. They have no soul to have to be judged, they are just full of goodness!