Inter-faith marriages
Books & a movie that
discuss inter-faith marriages
Sponsored link.
A movie:
Jennifer Kaplan is an independent filmmaker who recently released a
documentary titled "Mixed Blessings: the challenges of raising children in a
Jewish-Christian family." See:
http://www.mixedblessingsfilm.com/ A trailer can be seen at:
http://www.mixedblessingsfilm.com/
She writes:
"When we merge our lives with another whose beliefs differ from our own,
conflicts can and often do occur. How does each individual within a
relationship examine and articulate his or her own beliefs to his/her
spouse? What happens when one partner changes his mind about a previous
agreement? What if someone's faith wasn't important before raising children,
but becomes important after the birth of a child? And what about the
children?..."
The documentary is based on Kaplan's study of inter-faith
relationships and families, and her interviews with interfaith families, clergy
and experts. She found that "...the 'sticking point' for Jews
and Christians focused more around the children and how they were to be raised."
Mixed Blessings does not provide answers but rather raises questions that
couples can ask each other and allows the viewer to gain some understanding of
the complexities of mixed marriages. A companion discussion guide comes with
each film. The hour long film comes with a bonus hour of extras. See:
http://www.mixedbessingsfilm,com.
Books:
Amazon.com has a Web site that will facilitate your safe ordering of books on
inter-faith marriages. By clicking on the links below, can read reviews of
the book. The listings often show sample pages from the book.
 | Conservative Protestants:
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Dineen Miller & lynn Dovovan, "Winning Him Without Words: 10 Keys to Thriving in Your Spiritually Mismatched Marriage," Regal. Not published as of 2011-JAN. Review/order this book safely from the Amazon.com bookstore
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Bebe Nicholson, "When a believer marries a nonbeliever," (1997) [Methods that a conservative Christian spouse can use to convert her/his partner], (1997)
Review or order this book
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| Lee & Leslie Strobel, "Surviving a spiritual mismatch in
marriage," Zondervan, (2002). This chronicles the Strobel marriage
in which Leslie is a conservative Christian, and Lee was originally a skeptic who
later became born-again Christian. Review/order
this book
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Eastern Orthodox - other:
| Fr. Charles Joanides, "When you intermarry: A Resource for Inter-Christian, Intercultural Couples, Parents and
Families," Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, (2002). This book is aimed at clergy, counselors, inter-faith
couples and their families of origin.
Review/order this book
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| Fr. Charles Joanides, "Ministering to Intermarried Couples: A Resource for Clergy and Lay Workers,"
Holy Cross Orthodox Press, (2003).
Review/order this book
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| A.C. Vrame, et. al., "Intermarriage: Orthodox perspectives," Holy
Cross Orthodox Press, (1997). Order this
book
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Jewish - other:
| Harriet Goldner, "Two Grandmothers to Love," describes the differing
lives of two grandmothers -- one Christian, the other Jewish. Appropriate for
children ages 2 to 6. See
http://www.JewishFamilyFun.com
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| Joan Hawxhurst: "The interfaith family guidebook: Practical advice for Jewish
and Christian partners," Dovetail Publishing, (1998).
Review/order
this book
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| A. King, A.M. Schindler, "If I'm Jewish and You're Christian, What are the
Kids?: A parenting guide for interfaith families," Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, (1993). Review/order
this book
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| Y. Landy, "Intermarriage alert," Judaica Pr., (1996). [A book
opposing Jewish inter-faith marriages].Review/order
this book
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| D.A. Lerner, "Celebrating interfaith marriages: Creating your Jewish/Christian
ceremony," Owl, (1999) Review/order
this book The author has a description of her book at: http://www.interfaithmarriages.com/
This book is very highly regarded by Amazon.com reviewers, who gave the book a
4.5 star rating.
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| E.J. McClain, "Embracing the stranger: Intermarriage and the future of the
American Jewish community," Basic Books, (1995) Review/order
this book
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| Judy Petsonk, et. al., "The Intermarriage Handbook: A guide for Jews &
Christians," Quill, (1991) Read
reviews or order
this book
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Cokie Roberts & Steven V. Roberts, "Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families," Harper (2011). The book was written by an interfaith couple who chose to honor both of their faiths and traditionsby hosting a Passover Seder that has evolved from a small family gathering to a veritable event celebrated with loved ones from all walks of life. Review/order this book
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| David J. Rudolph, "Growing Your Olive Tree Marriage: A Guide for
Couples from Two Traditions," Messianic Jewish Publishers, (2003). Review/order
this book
| | Alan Silverstein, "It all begins with a date: Jewish concerns about
intermarriage," Jason Aronson, (1995) Review/order
this book
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| Christian-Muslim: |
| Other:
| Betty Sung, "Chinese-American Intermarriage," Center Migration
Studies, (1989). Order this
book
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| General:
> | P. & R. Cowan, "Mixed blessings: Overcoming the stumbling blocks in
interfaith marriage," Penguin, (1989) Review or
order this book safely from the Amazon.com bookstore
| | Joel Crohn, "Mixed matches: How to create successful interracial, interethnic
and interfaith relationships," Fawcett Books (1995) Review/order
this book
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| Gabrielle Glaser, "Strangers to the tribe: Portraits of interfaith marriage,"
Houghton Mifflin, (1997), Review/order
this book
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| J.C. Grearson, L.B. Smith, "Swaying: Essays on intercultural love,"
University of Iowa Press, (1995) Review/order
this book
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| Mary, Stanley and Ned Rosenbaum, "Celebrating our
differences: Living two faiths in one marriage," White Mane
Pub, (1999) Read
reviews or order
this book
|
| Dugan Romano, "Intercultural Marriage: Promises & Pitfalls,"
Intercultural Press, (1997) Read Reviews
or order this book
|
| Donna Schaper, "Raising interfaith children: Spiritual
orphans or spiritual heirs," Crossroad (1999) Read Reviews
or order this book
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| Nancy OMeara, "Tolerance 101: Practical solutions for interfaith
family problems." Foundation for Religious Freedom, (1999). An
Amazon.com reviewer writes: "A clear, concise, persuasive
case for religious tolerance. I love this book! It's great! The book is very
clear, interesting and persuasive. The examples are fascinating. 'Tolerance
101' should be prominently displayed in every library, church, temple,
mosque etc. in the country. This book provides a valuable service to people
of all religious persuasions." Read
reviews or order this inexpensive book
|
| I.M. Yob, "Keys to interfaith parenting," Barrons, (1998) Review/order
this book |
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A guide for parents in mixed marriages:
This book was written primarily to help Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist and other
non-theistic parents raise children without formal religious indoctrination. As
Terrence Walsh, an Amazon.com reviewer states:
"... it encourages you to raise kids who ask questions, consider
evidence, and look for their own answers regarding the meaning of life and
the existence of God. That way you can help ensure that they arrive at their
personal conclusions about religion and spirituality honestly when they
reach adulthood."
Another Amazon reviewer, Eliza from Maine comments:
"This book fills a definite void in parenting literature. It contains a
collection of perspectives from people who are dealing with raising children
in mixed or nonreligious households. It covers topics like dealing with
mixed beliefs, death and consolation, values, holidays, community, and
critical thinking. It is not prescriptive in that you won't find a set
answer for any topic but rather a variety of viewpoints and shared
experiences from those who are dealing with them now or have dealt with them
as they were raising their own children. It provides the background and
resources to adopt those strategies that you feel are right for you or adapt
your own. It has been great for me in thinking about issues and developing
ideas with my husband as we are planning to start our family."
Seventeen out of 19 reviewers gave this book a 5 star rating out of a maximum
of 5! There was one 4 star rating. One reviewer, "Mr. Pineapples" states that "Moral
and intellectual relativism is useless" and gives the book 1 star out of 5
-- the lowest rating..
 Dale McGowan, Ed., "Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring
Kids Without Religion," American Management Association (2007).
Read reviews or order this book
Inter-faith marriage ceremonies:
|
Laurie Sue Brockway, "A guide to blending faiths, cultures, and personal values into one beautiful wedding ceremony, Praeger, (2010) Review/order this book
|
| Joan Hawxhurst: "Interfaith Wedding Ceremonies: Samples and Sources," Dovetail Publishing, (1997). Review/order this book
| | D.A. Lerner, "Celebrating interfaith marriages: Creating your Jewish/Christian
ceremony," Owl, (1999)
Review/order
this book The author has a description of her book at:
http://www.interfaithmarriages.com/
This book is very highly regarded by Amazon.com reviewers, who gave the book a 4.5 star rating
out of 5 stars.
|
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Susanna Seefanachi Macomb, "Joining Hands and Hearts: Interfaith,
Intercultural Wedding Celebrations--A Practical Guide for Couples,"
Atria (2002). This book was reviewed by 25 Amazon.com visitors all of
whom gave it the maximum rating of 5 stars!
Order this
book |
"Mixed marriages" within the same religion:
The term "mixed marriages" generally refers to two spouses who follow
different religions. However, the term can be used to refer to a marriage
between spouses who follow different traditions within the same religion.
All of the larger world religious have long ago split into more than one
denomination or tradition. In the case of Christianity, differences in beliefs
and practices among its tens of thousands of faith groups are so great that some
observers consider Christianity to be a grouping of religions which share the
Bible, the name "Christian" but little else.
Some marriages, like those between a Catholic and an Evangelical Protestant,
or an Eastern Orthodox and a liberal Protestant can be as difficult to resolve
as those between spouses of different religions.
Some books deal with this topic:
| Lynn Nordhagen, "When only one converts," Our Sunday Visitor (2001).
This book received a 5 star (maximum) rating from all three reviewers. Review/order
this book
|
| Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener, "Beyond breaking the glass: A
spiritual guide to your Jewish wedding," CCAR Press, (2001).
It describes liberal Jewish wedding rituals and customs of the past
and present. Included is material on inter-faith marriages, same-sex
unions, and remarriage after divorce. Order this
book |
Amazon.com recommends the following books in interfaith marriages:
Quite often, Amazon offers used books and surplus new books at a much reduced
price through their Marketplace affiliates.
Copyright 1999 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance.
Originally published: 1999-MAR-16
Updated: 2011-MAR-11
Author: B.A. Robinson
Sponsored link
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