A tale of interfaith marriage

Abstract

Interfaith marriage is a form of interreligious communication based on two animating principles: members of different religions can and should listen to each other without feeling impelled to defend the superiority of their own traditions, and the foremost goal of such exercises is not to learn about but from each other. The author narrates how he and his wife have tried to implement these values in their own marriage, joining to celebrate God together through sharing (but not dissolving) their different liturgical and theological backgrounds. Making such a decision strains against tribal instincts to protect strict confessional boundaries, but, in an increasingly interconnected world, unyielding commitment to the supremacy of one’s own religion may inhibit exercising the injunction to care for humanity that all faiths preach.