Religion and Marriage, Mixed. Can It Work?
I admit, this distressed me. Adolescents who attend religious services with one or both of their parents are more likely to feel greater well-being, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Ours does not. Now,our son, who is 13, might have a better excuse than most. His father is Jewish, his mother, Christian, and though he was bar-mitzvahed, he also celebrates Christmas (Christmas Eve in church) and Easter. My rules. (He was also baptized, but my husband doesn't really know what that means. Just blame it on my Catholic cousins who taught me that those babies who aren't, and die, go to Purgatory, and even though it's undoubtedly untrue, I wasn't taking any chances). The study looked at how spiritual beliefs or behaviors have appeared to strengthen generally happy marriages and how a person’s religious and/or spiritual functioning may influence that of his or her family members. Sadly, once kids have their bar mitzvah...