If I'm Jewish and You're Christian, What Are the Kids? a Parenting Guide for Interfaith Families

This book was okay, though a bit superficial and not as in-depth as I would hope a book on this subject would be. I also didn't like how the two families were composites of many different families whom the author had interviewed, just for the sake of simplicity. Apparently the truth contained in these pages, regardless of how it wasn't as in-depth as it could've been, offends people in interfaith marriages who want to raise their kids as "both" instead of picking just one religion. The two boys who were being raised Jewish seemed more secure and happy in their religious identity than the three kids who were being raised "both." Those kids felt more conflicted and angry, and confused over which religion they truly were a part of, which they ought to choose, why they weren't doing more in either religion, why they couldn't have just one religion like their cousins did. The oldest, Hannah, felt this especially keenly; she wanted a place to call home, comforting religious rituals that united the family instead of divided them, the type of religion she could turn to when the going got tough, instead of her parents trying to be two religions at once and in the process seriously dumbing down both. I wasn't raised in any religion, though my parents were both Christians, and I felt the same way she did; how come all of the other kids get religious holidays, memories, and coming of age ceremonies? The librarian on duty when I checked this book out said she was in an interfaith marriage, and that she couldn't wait for me to return it so she could immediately check it out herself. The information in here may be more of a superficial overview than a real in-depth discussion, but it gets the point across well, as evidenced by how strongly some people feel over reading the advice to pick just one religion.

This book helped me to look within myself and sort through intimate and detailed issues that I never would have thought of on my own. It doesn't have all the answers, but it certainly brought me closer to finding them for myself. This book isn't meant to be the final word on interfaith marriages either, but it does compel you to address your ambivalent feelings about raising your children in an interfaith home. Consequently, if you don't agree with the author's point of view then at least you have come closer to understanding where you stand personally. It offers realistic, thought-provoking studies of two very different interfaith families. I have been ambivalent for a long time, and after reading this book I am finally beginning clarify my own convictions.