Religious Diversity in Relationships: A Dead Trap You Should Avoid

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Love is blind and Ignorance is bliss as the sayings go though, independently.
Love and relationships are vital factors to humanity that feature in our everyday lives. We are faced with the need to meet people of different religious backgrounds and have a need for tolerance.

I will start with a quick background of mine as a first-hand experience.

I was born into a polygamous family where my father is a Christian and my mother is a Muslim. Well, there are a few families like that, and luckily, we have managed to live through the years. My younger sister is also a Muslim, and she is the only female and last child of my mother. The first four children are males and are Christians; hence, there is some diversity in the family.

We have without doubt tried to live harmoniously despite the religious diversity; however, some hitches have been unavoidable, and I will make an attempt to talk about a few of them.
I can remember vividly when my younger sister and I got into some debates as regards religious views, and she made a statement that struck my heart. She said I was able to win the argument because I was older and had more in-depth knowledge about Christianity as opposed to her being younger and having limited knowledge about Islam. It was never in my intention to enter into such an argument with her, but that was inevitable and seemed to be the very last time such an argument occurred.

There were times I was asked in church about my mother, and I seemed to have no significant or satisfying response to give. Occasionally, I felt hurt having to dress up for church on a Sunday while my mother and sister went separate ways for their Islamic meetings. My mother has wept and said things to encourage me to convert, but this is one request I am unable to oblige despite the excess love I have for her. This was a diversity I had little or no control over.

The above situations made me vow not to marry a lady of a different religion. This was not because of religious intolerance; rather, I would not want anything to mark a difference among our children. In recent times, I have seen people of separate religions professing love and marriage to each other; I can only wish them well or counsel them from experience if they would listen. This does not also mean people of diverse religions do not get along well or that their relationships do not blossom; I would rather advise the path of caution.

Lovers may be understanding and all promising during courtship, but when the die is cast, not all partners can have it smooth.

This exposition is not targeted to hurt any feelings but rather to share my thoughts on religious diversity in relationships.

I wish us all a beautiful Sallah celebration.... Cheers 🥂

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Thank you for reading. I would appreciate your comments and contributions 🤗