Customer Reviews

Complete Idiot's Guide to Interfaith Relationships

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the most practical book I've found on the subject. It gives very useful advice about day-to-day situations that you will encounter in your interfaith relationship, such as meeting your significant other's parents for the first time, responding to concerns voiced by friends or family (it even gives advice for friends and families), planning the wedding, deciding what customs to practice or not practice as a couple and as individuals, celebrating holidays together, deciding how to raise children, dealing with family conflicts over baptisms etc., and more. Throughout, it alerts the reader to potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. I was impressed with the sensitive, nonjudgemental approach to such a wide variety of common scenarios that involve not only religion but cultural, ethnic, and racial differences as well. The book also contains introductions to a variety of religions to give the reader a basic knowledge and awareness of his/her sig other's religion. There are some great books out there on the more subtle psychological aspects of interfaith relationships, but this book is a must-have for advice on how to survive on a daily basis. I would recommend reading this book early in your relationship and using it as a starting point for deeper exploration of your significant other's religion.

This is the most practical book I've found on the subject. It gives very useful advice about day-to-day situations that you will encounter in your interfaith relationship, such as meeting your significant other's parents for the first time, responding to concerns voiced by friends or family (it even gives advice for friends and families), planning the wedding, deciding what customs to practice or not practice as a couple and as individuals, celebrating holidays together, deciding how to raise children, dealing with family conflicts over baptisms etc., and more. Throughout, it alerts the reader to potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. I was impressed with the sensitive, nonjudgemental approach to such a wide variety of common scenarios that involve not only religion but cultural, ethnic, and racial differences as well. The book also contains introductions to a variety of religions to give the reader a basic knowledge and awareness of his/her sig other's religion. There are some great books out there on the more subtle psychological aspects of interfaith relationships, but this book is a must-have for advice on how to survive on a daily basis. I would recommend reading this book early in your relationship and using it as a starting point for deeper exploration of your significant other's religion.

I didn't particularly enjoy this book. The book is written by a woman in a Jewish/Christian relationship, and I would say that it is skewed significantly but inadvertantly toward that audience. A lot of the advice in the book is written for laughs rather than practicality. For example, one suggestion to calm fears of cooking a dinner for inlaws is to put so many garnishes on the plate that they spend all their time picking through them without getting to taste the food. Or else, cook a traditional dish from an unfamiliar country so that your mother in law will not know what it's even supposed to taste like anyway. My areas of most careful reading centered upon Islam and Christianity, and I can say that most of the serious advice and religious background was basic. When they say for "Idiots", they aren't joking.

While the book does a good job of explaining difficulties couples in internfaith relationships face (sometimes on a daily basis), it is designed as a guide for people that are planning on entering into an interfaith marraige. For people that are in a relationship without plans (or desire) to enter into a marraige any time soon, this book is not appropriate. The title is a little misleading because it uses the broader term "relationships" instead of "marraiges", but the book focuses on marraige, the wedding event, rearing children, divorce, and death, among many other topics. These are topics that must be tackled with any interfaith marraige, and this book does a good job of initiating discussion and kickstarting ideas.