Liz
High Elder
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2009
- Messages
- 989
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 36
- Location
- Oxford, England and York, England
This is such an interesting discussion ...deusveritasest said:I think you have over-simplified this. To even begin with, there is the very question of what service the children will be going to and to what extent they will be allowed to participate.Liz said:I guess it must depend on how much congruity there is. I can't imagine being married to a Hindu (as mentioned above), because that is such a different belief system, I could not in good conscience support it. But if you think about the way we talk to little children, it is all quite simple within Christianity. You start by taking a child to hear a service, perhaps not even the whole service, and they learn some simple prayers, then they ask questions like 'did God have a wife' or 'did Noah use his boat after the flood' - none of this will present problems! I reckon it is only when a child is old enough to think for him or herself that you get into more complicated questions, and by that time, it's reasonable enough to explain that not everyone agrees on the answers.Azurestone said:I only wonder, though it's none of my business, what will happen when children are on the way. I've probably talked about it, but usually whatever compromise goes out the window once it becomes a reality.
I suppose you may be right, but of course, it need not be a question as to which service children attend. There's no reason why they should not attend both, and I don't believe there's any reason they couldn't participate just as much as their peer-group in both services. The real issue comes after childhood, when the individual must make a decision - but then, you'd hope anyone making adult decisions about faith would do so carefully. With my partner and me, there is nothing whatsoever that would prevent a child from participating in both Orthodox and Anglican services just as fully as anyone else.
This is why I feel that, although I'd struggle to date, say, a Hindu - there's a different level of incompatibility there.