No, Being Both Muslim & Catholic Is Not 'Confusing' for My Kids

[pythagorean]

No, Being Both Muslim & Catholic Is Not 'Confusing' for My Kids



When a family friend found out my husband and I were planning to raise our children both Muslim and Catholic, they asked, “Are you sure you’re making the right decision?” But what else would we do? Our daughters are both and neither, part of two very different worlds; I am a Pakistani Muslim immigrant married to a Dutch-descended Canadian Catholic.
And you know what? Our daughters are doing just fine. They are brilliant, confident and bright. At ages 3 and 1, they don’t yet understand how lucky they are to be a part of two cultures — two religions. They don’t yet have an appreciation for unity or inclusivity, but they do understand love and family.
 
This way of life may not work for religious or cultural purists, but it works for us. Both my husband and I come from families in which religious doctrine was never a focus. Instead, our lives were filled with big family gatherings at every major holiday, tables overflowing with food and couches overflowing with cousins. This is what we want for our girls — times two.
We choose to celebrate every religious holiday with gusto — because who doesn’t need a reason to celebrate? For Eid, we get dressed up in traditional Pakistani clothes with bright colors and sequins everywhere and head to my parents’ house to eat lamb curry and honey-drenched pastries. For Christmas, my girls get fruit at the bottom of their stockings and a chocolate letter, keeping up with the tradition from my mother-in-law’s family. This year for Easter, my 3-year-old laid out her egg hunt haul on a brand-new prayer rug my grandmother had brought her from Pakistan.
 
We were at a kids indoor play center a few months ago, and I got to chatting with another mother whom I hadn’t met before. She asked about what our family background was because my daughters don’t look like me. A little bit into the conversion, she put her hand on my shoulder and asked, with a very concerned look on her face, “But, aren’t they so confused?”
 
I didn’t know how to respond to such a ridiculous question. It had literally never crossed my mind that being multi-cultural or multi-religious would be at all confusing. Challenging, maybe. Complex, sure. But confusing? Why? I didn’t continue that conversation for long, but I thought about it over and over as I watched my girls squealing in the grimy ball pit.
 
Was I hurting them by exposing them to both halves of their DNA? Was I going to scar them by telling them about both Mohammad and Jesus, Allah and God? What would we do if Eid and Christmas ever fell on the same day?


snip----

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/parenting/no-being-both-muslim-catholic-is-not-confusing-for-my-kids/ar-AA18Wdrv

[pattylt]

Her kids are 1 and 3. She has no clue how raising them into two religions will work out. If they still reside in Canada, the odds are they’ll become atheist, rejecting both and believing neither. I hope she’s ok with that outcome.

[Cranky]

The good new is that if Ramadan falls during Lent, they'll have both covered! Until as you say they no longer believe in that shit...

[brewerb]

As an atheist I fail to see why I should care. Again, I'm atheist............ not anti-theist.

And you're obviously very confused.

[SteveII]

No, you are not raising your kids as both. Both of those religions claim exclusivity so by not choosing, you choose neither. Your are describing religious pluralism.

[Rhythmcs]

The SO and I have a similar thing going on. The kids all have their own ever-evolving opinions..on pretty much all matters.

[1Sam15]

No, you are not raising your kids as both. Both of those religions claim exclusivity so by not choosing, you choose neither.  Your are describing religious pluralism.

Same gang leader/god though, right?

[Cranky]

Catholics and Muslims with the same god?  I've seen some pretty nasty debates about that.  And between Catholics!

Theologically they are... umm... er... well theology is bullshit so it doesn't really matter if their prophet went to heaven on a winged horse or was beamed up by Scotty...

[pattylt]

Atheism is much simpler to me. My children were raised knowing their mom and dad weren’t believers but I never forbade them from exploring religions or going to church with friends…on the condition they told me what they were taught. I asked them if it made sense to them, did they think it was true. I told them we would support them no matter what.

Surprise! They’re both atheists, too. They explored the claims. They listed to why I didn’t believe. They learned critical thinking and not to ever take an authority at face value. Always question. Another surprise, they are now happy healthy adults and not criminals or unsympathetic to others. They saw a few of their friends get sucked into religion and become unpleasant people to be around.

[Rhythmcs]

I think that children, especially, derive benefits from understanding that there is more than one set of "experts" about any given claim. This is an unintentional benefit of religious pluralism. Another, ofc, is that religious pluralism builds secular sentiments - which are good for every follower of every religion as well as every person who does not accept any religion.

The simple idea...that an idea, any idea, is arguable.

[pythagorean]

I've seen some pretty nasty debates about that.  And between Catholics!

There have been some pretty nasty Holy Wars here in America in the last 500 years over Catholicism vs Idolatry.

They couldn't agree on which is which.

But some theological issues did get settled.

Stuff like welcoming the stranger, the treatment of refugees and immigrants, slavery, and the Spanish Inquisition, for example.

Today, anybody who calls themselves a Catholic, but who is on the wrong side of these theological issues (*cough*...Steve King...*cough*) needs to have a priest or a nun thump them over the head with History book.

[no one]

Stevieboi, has there ever been a time when you opened your shithole, and the stupid hasn't fallen out?

[Aegon]

No, you are not raising your kids as both. Both of those religions claim exclusivity so by not choosing, you choose neither.  Your are describing religious pluralism.

Same gang leader/god though, right?

I imagine the concept of the Trinity is quite antithetical to all branches of Islam.

[pattylt]

Same gang leader/god though, right?

I imagine the concept of the Trinity is quite antithetical to all branches of Islam.

So much so that no Christian is allowed to pray within a Mosque…something even Jews are permitted to do….as long as Muslim services are not taking place.

[Aegon]

I imagine the concept of the Trinity is quite antithetical to all branches of Islam.

So much so that no Christian is allowed to pray within a Mosque…something even Jews are permitted to do….as long as Muslim services are not taking place.

Well that seems incorrect. Way too many types of mosques, Muslims and Christians for that to be a general rule that's true. I imagine there are quite a few mosques who would welcome anyone to pray when there isn't a specific service, much like anyone can walk into a church pew and pray.

[pattylt]

So much so that no Christian is allowed to pray within a Mosque…something even Jews are permitted to do….as long as Muslim services are not taking place.

Well that seems incorrect. Way too many types of mosques, Muslims and Christians for that to be a general rule that's true. I imagine there are quite a few mosques who would welcome anyone to pray when there isn't a specific service, much like anyone can walk into a church pew and pray.

Opps, you’re right.  It seems they now do welcome anyone to visit and/or pray.  Jews are permitted by Judaism to pray in a Mosque but not a church…due to Judaism considers Christianity to not be monotheistic.  I’m sorry I got it wrong!

[Rhythmcs]

Bahaiis could probably allow the trinity.

[Bucky Ball]

Catholics and Muslims with the same god?  I've seen some pretty nasty debates about that.  And between Catholics!

Theologically they are... umm... er... well theology is bullshit so it doesn't really matter if their prophet went to heaven on a winged horse or was beamed up by Scotty...

It is claimed they are both "Abrahamic" religions.
In the sense that they both recognize Abraham as a "prophet" (as a Biblical figure) they are both Abrahamic.

But, in fact historically, they are not the same god.
Allah is not Yahweh.
There are mountains of scholarly work and archaeological evidence that, that is true.

They are actually (known in World Mythology) as brothers.
Allah existed pre-Islam in Arabic religions, as the moon god, whose name was Sin.
There is abundant proof archaeologically of that fact. Al'illah was the (god) of the crescent phase of moon, and he had 3 divine daughters, (which was temporarily included in the Quran, (the Satanic Verses, which were removed).
In the Bible the Jews were repeatedly told to stop (also) worshipping the god Sin. His brother (from Babylonian mythology) Yahweh. Scholars did not understand where Yahweh came from, really, until archaeology found the Royal Library of King Ashurbanipal (at Nineveh) in the mid 19th Century.

[Bucky Ball]

No, you are not raising your kids as both. Both of those religions claim exclusivity so by not choosing, you choose neither. Your are describing religious pluralism.

Stevie's strict anal-retentive way of thinking about anything, binds NO ONE except Stevie. One can (obviously) expose one's family to the concepts in any number of religions, so they understand how they overlap and are basically all just snake oil, as Joseph Campbell discussed in his great book, "The Hero with A Thousand Faces".
Fundamentalists such as Stevie have a high need for cognitive closure, and a low tolerance for ambiguity. They are psychologically crippled, and thus turn to religion.
Stevie claimed dishonestly that he had proven the Case for Christianity trumped all other world religions. He didn't. He didn't even attempt to make a case for any other, than his own.

ETA:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle

[Dancefortwo]

Atheism is much simpler to me.  My children were raised knowing their mom and dad weren’t believers but I never forbade them from exploring religions or going to church with friends…on the condition they told me what they were taught.  I asked them if it made sense to them, did they think it was true.  I told them we would support them no matter what.

Surprise!  They’re both atheists, too.  They explored the claims.  They listed to why I didn’t believe.  They learned critical thinking and not to ever take an authority at face value.  Always question. Another surprise, they are now happy healthy adults and not criminals or unsympathetic to others. They saw a few of their friends get sucked into religion and become unpleasant people to be around.

Same.  My kids could expore any religion they wanted and read about several worldviews but didn't seem to care much about them one way or another.  When my oldest daughter came out as transgender a several of her Christian friends dropped her like she had leprosy or something.  

Her best friend, who is still her best friend today, was raised a Quaker but has stood by her through thick and thin.  The Quakers are an odd sect of Christianity but it's one of the few that I don't have too many problems with.  They were the first Christian denomination that came out against slavery in the US and forbade their members to have slaves. They were part of the underground movement during the Civil War. They generally don't believe in war and violence.  

Their church services are odd too.  They don't have preachers who sermonize and everyone sorts of gets together and talks about anything they want to talk about.  The mother of my daughter's friend who is a Quaker went to a "gathering", as they call church, and read a Shakespeare sonnet!

[pattylt]

I’ve never met a Quaker but I have read about them and I, too, admire them. They seem to try to take the best of Christianity and live by it. They may have a few odd quirks but it’s nothing offensive as far as I can tell. Too bad other Christian’s don’t look up to them or embrace their simple beliefs. It might have appealed to me when I was in my seeking mode…still trying to hold on to god but frustrated by all the versions I ran into.

[Fireball]

I know an atheist quaker (online) and he seems to just try to live the best life he can. He's against a lot of what the religious cause in this world.

[Theresa_N]

I am an atheist Quaker, if you don't consider the universe god. Quakers believe all have the light within. There are different sects of Quakers from the biblical literalist to the open to anything. The light is not necessesarily a theistic god.

[Rahn127]

If all you are doing is enjoying the holidays, then keep on doing that. I enjoy Christmas just as much as anyone else.
For me it is a gift giving holiday and nothing more.

As your children get older what they believe will be shaped by their friends. Hopefully they will grow up and see religions for the farce they are.

[SYZ]

...When a family friend found out my husband and I were planning to raise our children both Muslim and Catholic, they asked, “Are you sure you’re making the right decision?” ...They are brilliant, confident and bright. At ages 3 and 1, they don’t yet understand how lucky they are to be a part of two cultures — two religions.

As a lifelong atheist, I think this is one of the silliest of claims
I've read for some.  There is NO way that any parent should be
inculcating any children aged one and three in religious practices.

In fact, I find your included image to be offensive.

An obviously young girl forced to wear the oppressive religious
rags of Islam.  Seriously?

     

That you've chosen to effectively force your and your husband's
religious beliefs on your little kids shows the height of arrogance,
self-absorption, and presumption you both hold.

How dare you impose upon these two open and innocent minds?         

This is an enlightened 21st century, secular Australian society
you've chosen to live in, not an oppressed society stifled by archaic
religious dogma wherein women are second class citizens and
men make all the rules.