Yesterday, I filled out some registration form for my son. There was again this one box that always brings smile on my face- religion. It’s a tiny box, perfect for a few letters. However, in our case there are few letters more than usual. He is Catholic. He is Sikh. He is Catholic-Sikh or Sikh-Catholic (whatever choice you prefer).
We are multicultural, multilingual, interracial and multireligious family. Our son is typical Global Citizen -> you can read more here My little global citizen-raising multicultural child
I’m Catholic. My whole family (close and far) is Catholic. My husband is Sikh. His whole family (close and far) is Sikh. We are not fundamentalists, but we like our religions- their traditions, rituals and values. This is how we were brought up by our parents and this is what we would like to pass on to our children.
There is only one solution- to combine both faiths and create fabulous fusion of religions 🙂
We are blessed to understand each other so well from beginning and agree to embrace both faiths in our family. There was never a topic of conversion from one religion to another. I’m not saying conversion is something bad, no no. I would probably consider that if I had to. Luckily, I didn’t have to. My husband and his family accepted me they way I am- white Catholic European girl.
Living in an interfaith family is a choice. The same choice as choosing one dominant religion or no religion. Although some of you might not agree, I consider our decision as the right one. It can only benefit and enrich our child. It will make him open minded and unprejudiced. It will teach him to respect faiths other than Sikhism and Catholicism as we do not consider any religion being greater than others. They all have equal status.
We will never push our son to maintain his interfaith status in the future. He is free to believe in whatever he wants. He might choose to be just Sikh or just Catholic. He might even convert into Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or become atheist. That’s his and only his decision. We just want him to know and respect his parents’ religions.
Living in the UK helps a lot to maintain both faiths on the same, equal level. There are large Polish and Indian communities. There are Polish Churches (Catholic Churches but with Polish as main language) and Sikh Gurudwaras. We live relatively close to both and we visit them as often as we want. It doesn’t mean I go to Church every Sunday (as I should…), but let’s say- once a month. Similarly, we visit Gurudwara once a month or whenever there is any festival or we just want to pray for something/say thank you/take blessings.
We celebrate together all festivals- Easter, Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Diwali, Gurpurab, Baisakhi etc. We often share these beautiful moments with family or friends. We do all necessary preparations for each festival like buying certain things/gifts, cleaning house, cooking, dressing accordingly. Once, we celebrated Easter in India 🙂 and Diwali in Poland 🙂
Some people might believe that two religions under one roof must contradict. It’s not true at all. In fact, we have completely opposite situation. They complement each other. They both bring various rituals, traditions, but on the other hand, they both share similar or even the same values. It’s wonderful to see your child being surrounded by both of them.
We do our best and we are pretty sure our son won’t be confused in the future. Our religions are quite different, yet they represent the same values. Although he is only 3 years old, he can say prayers in Polish and in Punjabi by heart. He knows how to behave in Church and in Gurudwara. We want to make sure he feels comfortable (almost like at home) in both places of worship. He has to be familiar with Catholic/Sikh rituals, prayers and theology to feel like I’m one of them. So far, he can clearly see the difference between them, but he is not aware about his interfaith heritage.
The most important thing is we want to raise him as a confident person, proud of his multicultural and multireligious heritage.
God is one.
(On the first photo- shelf in our main room)
What about your family? Do you follow one religion or maybe you live in interfaith family like us? Share your story, I’m sure it will be an interesting one 🙂
Cheers,
Marlena
Fabulous Fusions 
My mom was raised a devout Catholic and my father raised a devout Sikh. They got married in the Catholic Church. My parents had the conversation and decided to raise us in the Sikh Temple. Me and my three siblings were baptized as Sikhs. But ultimately for myself and I think for my siblings as well, we landed on being Catholic-Sikhs or Sikh-Catholics. I am 37 years old and am still working on practicing both religions and passing both on to my 4 children. Your blog means a lot to me. I have always said I am half Sikh half Catholic, with an undertone of knowing that isn’t really possible. But after stumbling upon your article an blog, I feel like I created an obstacle that maybe was never there.
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Hindus and Sikhs lose their identity and religion very easily while islam and Christianity followers will never and and are brought up with fundamentalist views of their religion and conversions of others to their faith. This is a fact. In your case, you baptized your child while your husband was not even interested to do the same as a Sikh. If he was. Hindu, he would have easily agreed to convert to Christianity. This is a result of thousands of years of Islamic and Christian rule and years of leftist education demeaning especially Hinduism. As a Hindu, I am truly sad the way Christian missionaries are forcefully converting our people abusing our Gods and culture, splitting families and propagating hatred against Hindus, which they have been doing for thousands of years.
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My husband is Sikh as well. We just mix it all together. Whatever will be, will be! Lol
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You and your husband also create fabulous fusions:)
You are totally right- whatever will be, will be. I can’t say I’m doing something right or wrong. I’m just going with the flow (sometimes pre-planned flow :P).
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What do you do in terms of diet and turban/hair cutting? Because usually Sikhs are vegetarian and don’t cut their hair. Asking as I’m in a similar position 🙂
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It is really fabulous….your decision of raising your son half catholic and half sikh is amazing….
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Thank you so much 🙂
I/We hope it will benefit our son, enrich him culturally and make him proud of his double heritage.
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Wonderful. Reading your blog brought smile on my face. Such a good soul you are. You have set an example. Kudos!! Best wishes for you and your family. Happy blogging….
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Hello Reena,
Thank you so so much for such a kind words:) :* Not sure if I’m such a good soul… better ask my husband and my kid how I am when I get angry 😛
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Ha ha ha. IT MIGHT BE TRUE WITH ALL WIVES & MOTHERS
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You’re totally right 😉
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Great blog!
I would like to ask about baptism. I am Christian, Catholic and my boyfriend is Sikh. If I am blessed with a child one day, my biggest wish is to baptise them and pass my faith, I consider it the biggest gift.
Have you baptised your boy?
Pozdrowienia z Polski 🙂
Ola
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Hello Ola 🙂
Thanks a lot. Lovely to see you here. What a fabulous fusion you and your boyfriend create 🙂 🙂
Look at the second photo with the priest and the comment- it’s been taken during my son’s Christening (Baptism). So asnwer to your question is- Yes, we have baptised him in a Catholic faith. However, we didn’t do baptism in Sikh faith as it is something completely different to the Catholic one (just the name is same). For me- Christening didn’t mean an awful lot from a religious point of view. I would bring him up as a half-Catholic anyways. It was more as a tradition, part of our culture.
I wish you to be blessed with healthy, happy kids 🙂 who will be baptised of course 🙂
Pozdrowienia
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I think is wonderful not to limit yourselves and your child to just one way of life… embracing religious and cultural beliefs is the only way that we are going to eradicate intolerance and fear in the world! I totally agree with how you’re doing things 😃
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Thank you! 🙂
You are so right. Nowadays, intolerance and prejudices are becoming more and more ‘popular’ in the world… 😦 Fear is taking place of love and embrace.
Btw: tell me your name my friend, I can never say ‘Hi’ personally 🙂
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The identity of the Panda can only be revealed when we meet in person 😉
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So we have to meet soon 😀😀
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This post is just so beautiful! Thanks for sharing 😊
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Hi Gul 🙂
Thank you so much.
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