Interfaith Marriage
Positive Prospects
Jewish institutions have tended to focus on the question of membership for interfaith families. Rela Mintz Geffen and Egon Mayer (1998) recommend, rather, shifting the emphasis to the needs of the families involved in such a way as to develop meaningful outreach services for such families.
Although the Christian Orthodox Church has some of the most restrictive policies on intermarriage, the rate has risen steadily around the world. The Orthodox response has been to focus on the opportunities offered by the possibility of pastoral flexibility expressed in guidelines known as economia.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) guidelines emphasize sensitivity to cultural differences and advise negotiating legal issues within the context of the non-Presbyterian community.
As intermarried populations grow worldwide, children, particularly, may feel less isolated; they will have specifically interfaith communities to identify with. In the United States, on the cutting edge of intermarriage trends, the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first has seen an exponential growth of nondenominational networking groups for interfaith couples and the beginnings of schools and curricula specifically designed for children of interfaith couples (Rosenbaum 2002).
Relatively high involvement and commitment of interchurch couples can be viewed as an opportunity for ecumenical understanding rather than a threat to traditional values (Association of Interchurch Families 2000). They may even provide a foundation for future reconciliation among Christian denominations. This opportunity may be extrapolated to other sorts of intermarriage to improve pluralistic tolerance. In North America particularly, the growth of the non-Christian population coupled with an emphasis on individual rather than communal identity may promote interfaith understanding, with intermarriage as at least one vehicle of communication.
See also: BUDDHISM; CATHOLICISM; EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY; HINDUISM; ISLAM; JUDAISM; PROTESTANTISM; RELIGION
Bibliography
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Hawxhurst, Joan C. (1998). The Interfaith Family Guidebook: Practical Advice for Jewish and Christian Partners. Kalamazoo, MI: Dovetail Publishing.
Interfaith Marriage. (1992). Louisville, KY: Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS). (1996). "Israel by Religion." Tel Aviv, Israel: Government Publishing House.
Jewish Outreach Institute. (2000). "Survey of the American Rabbinate." New York: Author.
Jewish Outreach Institute. (2001). "Interest in and Awareness of Outreach." New York: Author.
Joanides, C. (2000). "Orthodox Perspective on Marriage." Originally presented at the 1998 Clergy & Laity Conference, Orlando, FL. Syosett, NY: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Lazerwitz, D. (1980). "Current Jewish Intermarriages in the United States." In Papers in Jewish Demography, ed. U. O. Schmelz. Proceedings of the Demographic Sessions held at the 7th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, August 1977. Jerusalem: Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Lee, R. M. (1994). Mixed and Matched: Interreligious Courtship and Marriage in Northern Ireland. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Mayer, E. (1983). Children of Intermarriage: A Study in Patterns of Identification and Family Life. New York: American Jewish Committee, Institute of Human Relations.
Mayer, E. (1985). Love and Tradition: Marriage Between Jews and Christians. New York: Plenum Press.
National Jewish Population Study (NJPS) (1990). New York: Council of Jewish Federations.
Official Catholic Directory. Anno Domini 2001. New York: P. J. Kennedy & Sons.
Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic Interchurch Marriages: and Other Pastoral Relationships. (1995). Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference.
Phillips, B. A. (1997). Re-examining Intermarriage: Trends, Textures, and Strategies: Report of a New Study. Los Angeles: Susan and David Wilstein Institute of Jewish Policy Studies : American Jewish Committee, William Petschek National Jewish Family Center.
Rebhun, U. (1999). "Jewish Identification in Intermarriage: Does a Spouse's Religion (Catholic vs. Protestant) Matter?" Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review 60(1):71–88.
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Rosenbaum, M. H., ed. (1992–2002). Dovetail: A Journal by and for Jewish-Christian Families. Boston, KY: Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family Resources (DI-IFR).
Rosenbaum, M. H., and Rosenbaum, S. N. (1999). Celebrating Our Differences: Living Two Faiths in One Marriage, 2nd edition. Shippensburg, PA: Ragged Edge Press.
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Other Resources
Association of Interchurch Families (AIF). (2000). Interchurch Families, Spring 2000. Available from http://www.aifw.org/aif.htm.
Fitzgerald, G. (1991). "From an Irish Perspective." London: Association of Interchurch Families. Available from http://www.aifw.org/aif.htm.
Melwani, L. (1999). "Mixed Marriages Part III: Two Religions, One Marriage—The Gamble, the Costs." Hinduism Today. Available from http://www. vivaaha.org/mixed.htm.
Ragataf, I. (2000). "Malaysia Curbs Intermarriage, Tightens Migration Policies." Politics, Society Geo-Scope. Available from http://www.islam-online.net/.
MARY HELÉNE ROSENBAUM
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaFamily Theory & Types of FamiliesInterfaith Marriage - Prevalence, Special Considerations: Challenges And Benefits, Interchurch Marriage, Positive Prospects