Source: News Blaze
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080813101051tsop.nb/topstory.html
Mark and Meris Steele gave little thought to the role of religion in their marriage until three years after their first child was born. It was then that Mark, a Catholic, and Meris, born Jewish, started sending their son Spencer to Jewish Sunday school.
They now realize it was at that point they decided to raise their children in the Jewish religion. Neither recalls the decision being difficult or explicit, nor did they discuss pros and cons.
"Maybe I did that in my head," Mark said, "but somewhere in the back of my mind was the idea that whatever the mom is, the kids are. I was 100 percent OK with raising them Jewish."
Their daughters, Kellan, 13, and Brenna, 10, attend the same Jewish school their brother, now 16, attended. All three have knowledge of Hebrew and have participated or are participating in the Jewish rites of passage, including bar and bat mitzvahs.
According to the recent U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 60 percent of Americans with children under age 18 living at home send their children to religious education programs, including 35 percent of those who describe themselves as unaffiliated with a particular religion. The survey also indicates that a majority of adults - 56 percent - say religion is very important in their lives and 82 percent say it is somewhat important.
The Steeles, who live in Maryland, describe themselves as not particularly religious, but they believe religion teaches important morals, ideals and values. They also believe it provides guidance to children, whether or not they continue to be religious as adults.
ACCEPTANCE OF INTERFAITH MARRIAGE
Interfaith marriages like that of the Steele family are fairly common in the United States. The Pew survey indicates that among married adults, 37 percent are married to someone from a different religious affiliation.
One reason interfaith marriage is fairly common may be related to one of the survey's key findings: Of those participants affiliated with a religion, 70 percent agreed that many religions can lead to eternal life. An earlier Pew Study shows that generally Americans are tolerant of other religions.