Are you born Hindu?

[sunrays]

I need some advice on the question of religion. I am Christian and my husband Hindu (Indian born). Neither of us practice our religion and it has never been an issue. We are expecting our first in October and I want to know if she will automatically be Hindu as her father is, or if we can leave that decision for her once she is older.
We both want her to learn about both religions and cultures and would love to hear if anyone has been in a similar situation or knows more on this.

Thanks
Sunrays

 

[jayinhongkong]

Being Indian and having grown up in a Christian environment...I would ensure she learned enough about both and participated in the activities of both religions while growing up - then let her decide when she's older I celebrate Christmas and Diwali...hehe

 

[shri]

The more religions you teach a child about, the more they'll figure that it is about being a good person and not always about worshipping at the right place or to the right god.

 

[engee]

Hey Sunrays,

U can always tell her that religions dont really matter.They all teach the same thing,how to be a good person.There is only one divine power.People look into it with different perspectives thats all.and its nobig deal.

Pls dont worry abt all that.Eventually she will know what to do.

Cheers
engee

 

[Daizy]

I don't believe people are born with a religion. You can't be born christian or muslim, its a choice you make sometime in your life to follow a certain belief. If neither of you are religious and don't care to impose either religion, then teach her values, teach her about God and when she gets older and wants to know what she is, you can tell her that she both until she grows a little older and can investigate other religions and make her own choice.

 

[captainmal2]

I would personally describe myself as an Agnostic - while I believe in God as a force responsible for life, I don't subscribe to any particular religious interpretation of him. So, in my opinion, I feel that a child should be brought up with a set of morals, but when it comes to religion, they should be able to choose for themselves if they feel the need to fulfill a spiritual need. It is strange how parents do not push their children into politics at a young age because their minds are too immature to understand the scope of politics, and yet parents the world over expose their children to even more complicated subjects such as religion - which posits to explain the creation of the very universe!

I think if you just raise your kid and teach him right-from-wrong, if he/she is interested in exploring Hinduism, Christianity, or even Buddhism, then by all means support them - but I feel too much pressure may drive them away from religion altogether - pretty much like it did for me (which I don't regret in the least).

~Malcolm~

 

[Sunayana]

Read all comments!!!
Good that we all give more importance to the moral values that a child should learn.
All religion teach us how one can develop these good values and child develops the capability of understanding the different between right/wrong.
More important is to give importance to those moral values by putting examples, telling stories from different religion. Helping child understand the moral of those stories.
Also, parent shall not enforce the religion that they follow and should never tell that our religion is better than others.
Try to grow your child with a respectful attitude for other religions too.
As u and ur husband belongs to different religion, your child will get opportunity to learn 2 religions at same time. He/she can become more sensible and will understand more quickly the fact that all religions talks the same things.