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CajunRick
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
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| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Tue Feb 6th, 2007 11:10 pm |
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ROME, FEB. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Church in Italy continues to send up warning flags about the special difficulties faced by spouses in interreligious marriages, especially those between Catholics and Muslims.
The issue recently came to the fore again when ISTAT, the country's statistical office, revealed that the number of marriages between Italians and foreigners had tripled in 10 years.
In 2005 the Italian bishops' conference issued guidelines in its note "Marriages between Catholics and Muslims in Italy."
Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi of Aosta, president of the episcopal conference's Commission for the Family, addressed the issue again in the Jan. 28 edition of Famiglia Cristiana magazine.
A man and a woman are "very distant objectively … when they plan a life as a couple and a family, while belonging to two such different cultural and religious worlds," Bishop Anfossi wrote.
"And it is known that the more distant two candidates for marriage are, the more is asked of them in terms of dialogue, understanding and love," he observed. "When the Church suggests prudence in the case of a marriage where one of the partners is Muslim, it is not guided by precautionary measures but simply interprets the objective difficulties … [related] to the way of understanding marriage, which is very different between the two parties."
The article also cites Muslim allowance of polygamy and divorce, and the requirements of the Catholic partner to raise children Catholic while Islam requires that male children be raised Muslim.
The entire article is available from Zenit.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Steven Barrett
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 894 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Sun Feb 25th, 2007 01:24 am |
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I would never, in a millon years, recommend or give any assent to an inter-religious marriage between any Christian, much less Catholic, to a (male) Muslim. He rules the roost and has the Koran to fall back on (so he'd like to think.) It's just too darn dangerous and fraught with all sorts of perils, especially for the kids.
If a Muslim from Saudi Arabia or Iran marries a non-Muslim woman here and they relocate to his home country, the American wife, whether or not she's converted to Islam, is always going to be on the short end of the legal stick. He'll get the kids and if she's divorced by him, she'll never see them again.
Don't let anyone you know and love marry a Muslim. Our religious and social cultures are so far apart and with Americans being held in such contempt in the Middle East, it's a losing gamble. 
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For anybody interested in reading commentary from a Catholic's socially conservative/fiscally liberal viewpoint, go to my new blog at http://www.politicsramble.com/ .
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Gnyssa
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| Joined: | Sat Nov 18th, 2006 |
| Location: | California USA |
| Posts: | 29 |
| First Name: | Gnyssa | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Episcopalian, Roman Catholic since 2003, RC priest 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Apr 28th, 2007 11:14 pm |
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While we must love and pray for our Muslim brothers and sisters, there is wisdom in this caution. I have had to deal with the pain which comes from problems with Muslim-Christian marriages many times now. Please take this warning seriously.
Father Gnyssa
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BodRod
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Apple Valley, California USA |
| Posts: | 827 |
| First Name: | Cliff | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised an SDA, then Generic Christian, finally at home with ... |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 06:31 am |
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Steven Barrett wrote:
Don't let anyone you know and love marry a Muslim.
That wording troubles me!!! Could you restate your concept?
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Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 305 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 10:55 pm |
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I had to laugh at your comment on the wording, it does make it sound like if you know someone and hate them, you can let them marry a Muslim, or don't know someone but love them....
Seriously, I know there can be many problems with marrying any person of another culture but I am not convinced Muslims are worse than say, Satanists or Wiccans or atheists. There is a Muslim family in my homeschool group who are very normal. The man is American, white, and a captain in the Army overseas, the wife is Egyption, well educated and fits in very well with American culture. So perhaps it is the ethnic culture of the Muslim, not the just the beliefs, that can be so difficult.
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Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 10 months and 17
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CajunRick
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| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 11:17 pm |
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mrsbmoo wrote: There is a Muslim family in my homeschool group who are very normal. The man is American, white, and a captain in the Army overseas, the wife is Egyption, well educated and fits in very well with American culture.
The main problem with mixed marriages between Christians and Muslims is the absolute requirement that a Muslim convert his or her partner to Islam, and that the children be raised in that faith. Fundamentalist Muslims can certainly be a problem, but more mainstream Muslims fit quite well in a tolerant American culture.
Islam gives a husband the responsibility for the family's faith. He is committed to see that his wife and children submit to Allah, according to the Qu'ran. Meanwhile, a Catholic must be committed to raising the children in the Church. The conflict cannot be resolved. One partner must fail. And that is not a sound basis for a marriage.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
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| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | former Methodist. RCA, Presbyterian, Holiness, Wesleyan... Catholic as of June ... |
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Posted: Sun Apr 29th, 2007 11:32 pm |
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I suspect in this case the husband has no faith or at least no strong faith. The kids are being raised Muslim but not the fundamentalist sort at all. I think the only way an interfaith marriage works well is when one or both partners are apathetic about their chosen faith. Although I admit I have seen Jewish/Christian marriages that worked.
My main disagreement with a previous poster is about grouping American mainstream Muslims in the same catagory as Middle-eastern fundamentalist Muslims. Not all Muslims are violent women repressing peolple. I think that was my point although it is getting late so my thought train is wandering.
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Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 10 months and 17
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Steven Barrett
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 894 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Apr 30th, 2007 01:45 am |
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I think Cajunrick did a great job of explaining the very precarious business of Christians marrying Muslims, particularly insofar as Christian women are concerned. That's what I was getting at, and maybe or maybe not I was in a hurry at the time I wrote that sentence.
Check out the March 2007 Catholic World Report (p. 10) which carries a story about mixed-marriages between Catholics and Muslims. While certainly not all Muslims pose a threat to either Christianity or Western Civilization in general, a growing number of Muslims are becoming more -- should I politely say -- assertive. Unfortunately, for many Christian women, this assertiveness carries with it the dark possibility of a forced conversion, immediate divorces (with the father getting the kids) and or being forced to emigrate with their husbands to his homeland.
God forbid that it be Saudi Arabia or Iran, two of the most backward nations in the world for women! They have proved to be the most intractable and unfriendly nations insofar as seeing to it that the rights on non-Muslim spouses, especially American wives, are protected.
Let's not forget, we are locked in both a shooting and cultural war with radical Islam, which seems to be growing stronger. We westerners are all too often too damn polite and courtly when it comes to looking at the rest of the world. We don't find the word "compromise" and terms like "fair play" symbolic of weakness.
On the other hand, within Islam, the growing radical element seeks nothing less than a stacked deck for Muslims, especially Muslim men. Any sign of western flexibility, compromise, fair play, whatever we'd like to call it -- is nothing less than a sign of weakness and a green light for them to take advantage of both our laws and religious liberality.
When are we going to wake up and stop walking around with signs on our backs saying "Do whatever you want to us" when it comes to Islam and all of the backwardness it stands for all across the Muslim world?
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For anybody interested in reading commentary from a Catholic's socially conservative/fiscally liberal viewpoint, go to my new blog at http://www.politicsramble.com/ .
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5314 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Mon Apr 30th, 2007 12:55 pm |
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I think it is also important to note that we are not necessarily talking about Muslim couples, especially those living in countries like Egypt which have secularized governments. Women there can vote, own property, etc. Countries with variations of Sharia (Islamic) law are competely different, and non-Muslims essentially have no rights whatsoever. Chaldean Catholics in Iraq have been targeted for murder, and even Sunni-Shi'a couples have serious religious difficulties.
But in Muslim-Christian couples anywhere, there is an inherent incompatibility of faiths. Even a non-practicing Muslim may take his family (perhaps on vacation) to an Islamic country where suddenly by virtue of his gender and faith, he becomes the absolute lord and master of his family. He can divorce his wife instantly and leave her stranded with no rights, no property, no children, and no home. If she can make her way to her embassy, she can get home, but she will go alone. And the only way she is likely to ever see her children again is to arrange to have them kidnapped.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Steven Barrett
Member
| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 894 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon Apr 30th, 2007 01:06 pm |
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Rick,
While the nations you listed where there is some modification of the Sharia Islamic law are still somewhat "moderate" compared to Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq; all it's going to take is one bullet or bomb in each of those nations to bring about Islamic governments plus all their niceities in train.
Not a very reassuring thought on top of the other "challenges" you listed.
When we have so many Christian guys who are looking for the right person, it behooves the Christian, and particularly Catholic women, to explain why they fall for these Muslims? Is there som "Aladdin Attraction Syndrome" out there we haven't read about?
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For anybody interested in reading commentary from a Catholic's socially conservative/fiscally liberal viewpoint, go to my new blog at http://www.politicsramble.com/ .
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