I chose to be baptized when I was pregnant

Sriti says: February 5, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Shibit:

As a Hindu woman in an ineterracial-interfaith marriage, I respectfully disagree. I think religion is something that is very personal. In different phases of my life, I have felt different pulls. I chose to be baptized when I was pregnant with my child, to incorporate my husband’s ancestry. However, I refused to let my child be baptized, because I felt I was not in a position to make a commitment for her. Since then, she speaks our language, does puja daily and has brought our way of life back into our home.

Spirituality is not a destination, but a journey. I think you’re being just a little judgmental in your comments. It is this type of rhetoric that discourages those of us in interracial marriages from raising our child as a Hindu…the fear that they will never be accepted by “real” Hindus such as yourself.

Don’t judge buddy!-Shriti

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Sriti added: February 8, 2013 at 3:55 pm

Raising interfaith and or multiracial Desi kids is a unique experience. There are not very many such marriages in my community, so advice is rather sparse.

It would be nice to get the perspective of couples who have raised interfaith and multiracial children. I especially want to hear form Indian ladies married to non-Desis. How do you deal with festivals, in laws, etc. If there are values in the other culture/family that you consider harmful to your child, how do you protect him or her from it?

While nobody has been mean to my face about my marriage or my child, I have heard things through the grapevines. Is there a way to protect your child from hearing this stuff or feeling bad? -Sriti

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Sriti added: March 11, 2013 at 11:55 pm

Hay Niti!

I think the admin knocked it out of the ballpark! Any interfaith marriage is going to have elements of both religions – it is up to you and your spouse to decide what that balance is going to be for your household.

Baptism is a sacrament that leaves an indelible mark on the soul. There are two type of baptism – infant baptism and believer’s baptism. Believer’s baptism is generally performed when the child is older and able to profess their own faith. This is something that you both may want to research and consider as a compromise solution. See this link for more information on the sacrament:

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The rest of this is my personal experience, so it is one of my perspectives:

I got baptized because I felt that my child should be exposed to and have a sense of belonging in both religions. In order to be part of church life and community, my husband and I chose to be baptized. Shortly after our child was born, we were contacted by the Church to have our child baptized. We did not feel that we could make that decision for her. In fact, in hindsight, we both realized that even getting baptized ourselves was completely unnecessary for the purpose of making our child belong. She has to confront the fact that she is different and find her natural religious balance. Her (our daughter) relationship with God is her own. As parents, we have the unique privilege of guiding her, but it is up to God to call her.

Secondly, many aspects of traditional Christianity were incompatible with our belief system as a family and here’s why-
(1) The Life of Christ is very inspiring to us, and it is undeniable that if a person could live as he did, it is most definitely a successful life. However, the Church spends the vast majority of time(in my perspective) on his death. I think you can say this about the Christian religion as a whole – remember, the resurrection gave birth to Christianity.

(2) The concept that those who have not accepted Christ go to hell, and in the alternative – those who truly accept Christ can be forgiven of their sins by that very acceptance.

(3) “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
* If you are in the US, Church is about politics too. We disagreed with much of the Church’s conservative views and agenda – on homosexuality, on abortion, on birth control, on it’s view of the role of women etc.

However, this is just a personal experience. It is up to you to chose the right balance for your family. Please feel free to ask any questions of me and I will do my best to answer.

Thanks! -Sriti

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Also read:
Hindu-Christian marriages in America
Hindu-Christian Marriage
Will Gandhi go to Hell since he was not Baptized?
Idol-Worshippers
I am a Christian mother
I converted without knowledge of my family
I am Christian getting married to a Hindu
Do all Christians go to Heaven?
Ignorent Molly trying to convert a Krishna believer to Christianity ..a video
Namastey London movie…intolerant Christians ..a video
All religions are not same
A Hindu America?
Why I am a Hindu?
A fundamentalist Christian
Why I came back to Hinduism?
Dharma is not the same as religion
Text book on How to convert Hindu Students to Christianity

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