Chelsea Clinton Wedding: Can Mixed-Faith Marriages Work? (VIDEO)

With Chelsea Clinton's July 31 wedding to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky fast approaching, the surrounding media frenzy has zeroed in on a particular point of interest: the fact that Mezvinsky is Jewish and Clinton Methodist.

Mixed-faith marriages are not uncommon. According to the General Social Survey, 15 percent of U.S. households were interfaith in 1988. By 2006 the figure had climbed to 25 percent, and it continues to grow.

Still, the interfaith aspect of such unions presents unique issues that single-faith couples do not encounter, and this complication has armed the media with an additional lens through which to scrutinize the impending Clinton-Mezvinsky union.

This morning, the CBS Early Show featured a segment in which relationship coach Donna Barnes discussed with co-anchor Harry Smith the particular challenges that mixed-faith couples face.

Barnes listed questions that may come up if Clinton and Mezvinsky decide to have children. "How do we raise the kids?" she said. "If we convert to one or the other [religion], then our whole family is not converting, so what do we do at holidays?"

She added that having parents of two different faiths can be of great value to children, however. "How wonderful to be a child who's exposed to both, and to be taught a little bit of the Jewish religion and a little bit of the Methodist religion," she said.

See the rest of the discussion below:

Comments

[Louise Zeitlin]

08:38 PM on 07/31/2010

I was raised a Catholic, I married a man who is Jewish. We have a fantastic marriage built on love, faith, respect and understand­ing. We didn't raise our sons in either faith, though we celebrate both religions holidays. My rule in raising my boys was to live by the law of the Ten Commandmen­ts, if you do that you'll never go wrong. Both faiths do recognize these commandmen­ts, so no problem, and a no brainer. So, yes, you can have a successful marriage, and I do.

[hobo62]

09:13 AM on 07/29/2010

Ask Cokie Roberts and her husband how they made theirs work.

[denisew]

01:31 PM on 07/28/2010

As I was saying, before being left out of the conversati­on by a moderator, after 43 years of an interfaith marriage, religion has been the least of the challenges of marriage. My interfaith marriage was a problem for some family and friends, we didn't listen to anyone, it is no one's business. Life is too damn short and precious to worry about religion of all things.

[gclafontaine]

10:00 AM on 07/28/2010

What is "faith"?

[copestir]

10:20 PM on 07/27/2010

I think it is best if we focus on how we can love one another.

[hyjanks]

10:13 PM on 07/27/2010

No. Mixed faith marriages are doomed to failure for one simple reason: Each partner has a god that they assume to be the one and only. There cannot be two one and onlys. Unless they keep their superstiti­ons and myths to themselves­--which is really not healthy in a legitimate relationsh­ip--there is bound to be conflict.
There's only one way out: A wrestling match between opposing gods. Winner take all. If the husband's god looses, he agrees that his wife's is the one and only.
Pretty simple, I'd say.

[skerdaddle]

05:47 PM on 07/27/2010

Christians aren't supposed to become "unequally yoked" meaning someone who is not also a Christian, becasue it results in one being pullled away from ones faith and compromisi­ng it in order to please ones spouse. If as a Christian ones faith is as important as God wants it to be, one would obey and want to seek someone like minded who holds it as highly as they do. But being as Hillary and Bill are about as obedient to the biblical teachings as an unbeliever­, I'm not suprised she's marrying outside Christiani­ty. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.

[macmooski]

10:24 AM on 07/27/2010

The key word is Faith... if either is committed to theirs.. no way can it work... fundamenta­l divisions exist. But since they are products of today's society... superficia­l faith.. then yes, they will be just fine.

[curiousdwk]

03:31 PM on 07/26/2010

If the two of them look to their religions in terms of values, of course it can work. If either of them look to their religions in terms of moralistic right and worng, of judgments, of absolutes, or of mixing up the idiotic teachings of the church with reason and empathy, then it can't work.

[copestir]

09:55 PM on 07/27/2010

This is how my marriage worked. This is the best articulati­on of this process I have heard in 36 years of marriage. That is what made my marriage work.

[hyjanks]

10:18 PM on 07/27/2010

So, you kept your superstiti­ons and secret desires of of your god being the one and only god to yourself?
Hmmmm.

[hyjanks]

10:16 PM on 07/27/2010

It's my understand­ing that every religion is based on moralistic right and wrong: You really don't want to piss off Jesus or Allah with all of this values crap.
Jesus and Allah both are arrogant, self-cente­red, jealous gods who demand loyalty. Fail that, and it's grab that roofer's shovel and start shoveling the black stuff into that furnace.

[Louise Zeitlin]

10:58 PM on 07/31/2010

:o(

[Mark Knudsen]

03:01 PM on 07/25/2010

I thinkl I lost it in cyber space so again
what the problem , it says in red print I have sheep of many fold andGod creqated every thing in the world the only bad apple he admited to was lusafer and his statement was also his greatest camnad was the Golden rule which is included in various ways in all of the major religions of the world all the other stuff was to make man think his sinterpata­tions were better than the other guys IF these two kids willl keep the is mind they will be faif ahead of many ot those that think they have all the answers after alll has it n ot been said he who stands on the corne saying lord lord the lowest is fartherst from his... sorry I can,t spell That my sin for the day

[Mark Knudsen]

02:13 PM on 07/25/2010

well I thought Jesus said I have sheep of many fold and I thought he created every thing and lusifer was the only bad guy,, come on the only rule we need is the golden rule every thing else is mans stupid creation so he thinks he is better than the other guy wouman whaqt ever get off these holier than thow kicks thawt hve been the sorce of troubl;e sense man begain to think he was soo special and fall soo short of his own proffesed beliefs sorry i cant spell forgiver me my sins

[dylansfan]

06:31 PM on 08/01/2010

Wow, you really can't spell but I like your post :)

[Naithom]

03:32 AM on 07/25/2010

Can't speak for anyone else, but I'm Jewish and my husband is Wiccan and we just celebrated our 19th anniversar­y.

[al343806]

09:17 PM on 07/27/2010

congrats!

[al343806]

09:19 PM on 07/27/2010

On further thought, I suppose I should have said Mazel Tov and the Wiccan equivalent to Mazel Tov, unfortunat­ely I do not know that...

[baffledman]

02:40 AM on 07/25/2010

Did someone at HuffPo actually think before they posted this article? This should be a Fox story.

[cameron d]

06:08 PM on 07/24/2010

Do you really think either of these people are actually religious? C'mon. There's no way she's a practicing Methodist.

[chandran007]

11:16 AM on 07/23/2010

Interfaith works as long as you are not very religious or you not belong to any of these four cults.

Southern Baptist evangelica­l
Pentecosta­ls
Islam.
Political Atheists ( Communists and atheist activists)