hindu children

[Guest guest]

I am a Christian married to a Hindu. I am wondering whether our children will be accepted as hindus. I want to raise them in an interfaith environment where I teach them both about Hinduism and about Jesus.

[Avinash 0]

If both you and your spouse have decided that you will teach your children about both Hinduism and about Jesus, then there is nothing to worry about. In order to teach your children Hinduism, if you want them to mix with other Hindus, then your children will be easily accepted by them.

 

Just one very small negative point:-

I have not witnessed it myself but as I have heard, there are some temples where they may not allow those whose one or both parents are not Hindu. I do not know which are these temples and I also do not know how strictly they follow this rule. But I know very well that the number of such temples is so small that you can easily neglect their number.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your comment, Avinash. Sadly I have not gotton very positive comments from the Catholic forum. I do have one more question. My husband and I were married in a Hindu ceremony where I converted to Hinduism according to my in laws. Would that matter to these temples that only accept children of parents who are both Hindu?

[Avinash 0]

 

Thanks for your comment, Avinash. Sadly I have not gotton very positive comments from the Catholic forum. I do have one more question. My husband and I were married in a Hindu ceremony where I converted to Hinduism according to my in laws. Would that matter to these temples that only accept children of parents who are both Hindu?

 

As per my knowledge, your children will have no problem in these temples. Even if some individual creates problem, then also you should not worry. This is because the number of such temples is so small that even if both you and your husband had been Hindus since generations, then also the chance that you would visit these temples would be very small. I am personally a Hindu. My parents, their parents and so forth were Hindus. My uncle (my father's elder brother) has a record of twleve genrations of my ancestors. All of them were Hindus. But even then I never visited the temples I mentiond though I have visited many-many temples in my life. This is because the number of such temples is very-very small. Moreover, in temples people are not asked to describe their lineage. Not only this, even in these temples, the restriction on those whose both parents are not Hindus is gradually being lifted off. I have read of some temples where earlier they did not allow non-Hindus to visit. But now they are allowing.

 

Just think long the following lines:-

Let us assume that your children are allowed entires in all temples of the world. Does it mean that they will visit all temples? Of course not. So, why worry about one or two temples who put restrictions?

 

You talked about Catholic forum. In Catholicism, there is a group called Catholic church. Most of the Catholic christians belong to this. This group is considered so important that it matters to christians a lot whether they are accepted in this group or not. (Of course, you must be knowing about this far better than me.)

But, in Hinduism, there is no such single group. There is various divisions within Hinduism. If you consider these divisions as groups, then the groups who allow only those whose both parents are Hindus, is so small that it should not matter you. There are so many other groups.

What is more important is that your children can very easily lead their life without belonging to any such group at all.

To catholics, it may matter a lot to them what Catholic church says about them. But, to Hindus, it matters least what one or another group of Hindus says.

I am a Hindu and I do not belong to any organised group. But it never affected me. I freely interact with the members of this group thought I do not belong to their groups and they know it.

[Guest guest]

Your comments have helped us out a lot Avinash. Mainstream Hindus seem to be very tolerant of other faiths and ideas. This is the type of spiritual environment I want our kids to grow up in. Thanks again.

[Guest guest]

 

I am a Christian married to a Hindu. I am wondering whether our children will be accepted as hindus. I want to raise them in an interfaith environment where I teach them both about Hinduism and about Jesus.

 

Your children will be accepted as Hindus, it's a non-issue. There may be some conflict between Catholicism and Hinduism, but I think the Gnostic Christianity has alot of similarities with Hinduism. I noticed you mentioned teaching them about Jesus, rather than Christianity. Then there shouldn't be a problem as alot of Jesus's teachings are in harmony with Hindu teachings.