Let me pray, mamma

The amount of suffering she had been through that day was unbearable. As I picked her frail body off the floor I could see the cuts and bruises left on her skin where he had beaten her. I told her how everything would be okay, how God will see that we are good people, how he will always love us no matter what. She looked at me with her glazed brown eyes. I could see her pain, I wanted to help her but the only way was through her believing that God is the answer. Carrying her down the smoky corridors with chambers to each side, she let out a faint squeal where I had touched a fresh open wound down her side, I hate seeing her like this, but what can I do with such little hope in living? How could we go on like this? 

I held her close and pushed past the men puffing smoke into the clammy air, covering her with my scarf so people couldn't see her tears. I told her that if you believe God will save you then he will come, she asked me, 'mamma, if all I see is the dark and all I feel is hurt, when we will God help me find the light and feel the warmth?'

I began to run through the cramped spaces in the corridors but kept my footsteps quite as to not arouse suspicion from the soldiers. I had no shoes anyway so the only sound was the deep inhale and exhale of my lungs getting exhausted from trying to breathe the smoky air, and my daughter's cries of pain when she bounced roughly in my arms. I reached the dorm full of women like me an children like my daughter, I tried to pry her out of my arms but she gripped tighter each time, I asked her why this was, she said, 'I am praying mamma. Let me pray.'
She had never prayed before.

I sat on the bed cloth for about 2 minutes before she raised her head from the curled position she had taken up, clinging to my chest like a tumour. I asked her what she prayed for and  she struggled to say just one word out of her small, dry mouth.

'Hope.'

My daughter, who had been lost for so long in the hands of the Nazi, had been able to finally realize the true meaning of faith. 'I am so proud of you.' I whispered to her softly, while stroking back her curls behind her ear. I was about to wipe the tears dripping from her scarred face but she stopped me, 'no, God can wipe away my tears if He is in me, and if we get out of here, mamma, it is then I can wipe my tears. When I know truly that God is in me and in everyone who has love and faith.'

Three days after, my daughter and I escaped the death camp with five others. We were the lucky ones. Before the escape every one of us prayed to God and he had answered. He had given me and my daughter faith, the faith we would have been so very lost without.

K. Newman

Twin Towers

On the 11^th September 2001 I was one of the many people who survived the Twin towers attack. But I was only lucky as I was on the third floor of the building so it was a lot more easy to escape compared to others. But I still wasn't able to breathe as the amount of smoke in the building was toxic. People around me were losing arms and getting fatally injured and paper was flying around everywhere. I was listening to people make phone calls to their loved ones saying goodbye on my fight out of the building, it was horrible. In my head I was praying to God to protect me and keep me alive as I thought I would be one of the people who couldn't make it out of the building.

I was wondering to myself, why would God let this happen to me? Why did he let me come into work today? Why would he let all the people in the building have their lives taken? If God’s omnipotent and all powerful why could he not convince the terrorist bombers to change their mind and respect other people’s lives? If God is also omniscient and saw and knew what was going on why was I and about nineteen others the only survivors? If God is all loving why did he let the other workers in the building lose their lives in such a tragic way? I was upset because all of my work friends and people I did not know was not able to make it out alive like I did, and telling their loved ones the news broke my heart. If God is all loving why did many of their lives get taken so quickly? This was mostly a moral evil as the terrorist bombers were responsible for making two planes crash into both of the buildings taking many lives but why would God let these people do that?

God is the creator and ruler of the Universe, as a Roman Catholic I agree that Jesus suffered and maybe God wanted us to because we need to know the understanding of the suffering like he did. God also gave us free will which means people can choose therefore humans create the evil and suffering but maybe the terrorists that day thought that bombing the world trade center was the right thing to do to. They must have liked the thought of people suffering to show their belief in their own faith and that they would do anything for their own God. Jesus also argued for change and we can do the same, the prayer I said in my head that day was the prayer that saved my life. We don’t know why most people’s lives got taken so quickly that day. God probably wanted their suffering to end and they would've got the reward of eternal paradise when they died and if you were on the higher floors, God may have thought it was better to die quicker than suffer in pain for a longer time; he wanted them to be at peace.
HL @harl3yl

This is why I still believe in God because even though many other people in the building lost their lives, and he let this happen. The best explanation for it was that God gave us free will, we could avoid the evil and suffering by doing god acts and loving one another and showing God that we don’t deserve to suffer. God also spared my life because in my prayer I was telling him how I wasn't ready to die and he saved me. The terrorists may have been tempted by their own God or the devil to bomb the buildings. For the people that did lose their lives, God put them at peace they got the reward of eternal paradise. 

Bringing up Children

Dear diary,
                         I am worried for my children.

I promised myself before Kirsty and Katie were born that I would never be the kind of parent to force my own beliefs onto my children, as my parents did to me, and I am not. Believe me, I am not. However, all the same I feel that my daughters are too young to be making an important decision about faith by themselves.They are ten and eleven years old, and I don't feel they know enough about the world's religions to be able to make awell-informed choice and to stray away from Christianity. Both John and I felt that a strict Roman Catholic school might stifle them, so we did not send them to one, but now I am wondering if this was a mistake.

Also...well, I admit, this isn't all just about them. It's about me too. Catholicism is all I have ever known. If they turn to Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, or any other religion? I'm not ignorant, I do have a working knowledge of most of the biggest religions in the world today, but I am by no means an expert. I won't be able to guide them through it, help them, show them what they must do, because it is simply not something that I have experience in. That thought scares me very much.
Futhermore, the fact is that religious discrimination is everywhere in today's world. I have not experienced it firsthand myself, I admit, but I see it everyday and there is not a thing that I, myself, as one person, can do about it. I want the best for my children and cannot bear the thought of allowing them to take their own religious route knowing full well what they are exposing themselves to. People can be cruel. I do not want my children to lead a life of being insulted, blamed, discriminated against because I did not give them enough guidance when they were young. 
Ultimately, if my children choose to follow a religion that is different from mine, it is their choice, and it is okay. But I worry about the consequences.

Bringing Up Children in a Multi-Faith Society - ES

I am going to be taking the role of a Catholic Christian Mother who is worried about her children questioning the Roman Catholic faith and the existence of God.

Dear diary, 
                  I have made a huge mistake, ever since I allowed Lucy and Oliver to go to a mixed faith secondary school they have been questioning our faith. I was having second thoughts at the time, I should have just followed my instincts and sent them to a Roman Catholic school. 
                  It was a few weeks ago, I wasn't paying attention but they were discussing their school day over dinner and gradually they got on the subject of their Muslim friends Abdul, Nafiah and Rashida (I think these are their names) and they began telling me about their culture and traditions. I wasn't really paying attention at the time as I was doing some cleaning, until they began asking me "does God really exist?" and "could Allah be the true God?" I brushed it off but ever since they've been questioning me on how I know God exists and why I don't believe in Allah. I brush it off and try to change the subject but they're at that time in life where they have all these questions and decisions to make. 
                  I know for a fact going to both a Roman Catholic Primary and Secondary school was one of the best experiences of my life, and it brought me closer to God as my faith grew over the years. However, I'm worried Oliver and Lucy are going to disagree with our faith, and now I feel they've missed out on a wonderful Christian Catholic upbringing. One of my tasks in life was to spread the word of God and now I feel I've failed. John (my husband) doesn't seem to be concerned, however lately I've been quite upset about the whole situation. I mean I've been trying to teach them to follow the Christian faith for the first 11 years of their life, and now they've only been at Secondary school for several months and they're already questioning our faith. I don't know whether to feel extremely proud of their intelligence and strength to explore other faiths or whether I have failed to raise them as good Catholics who believe in God. I was certain I was going to send them to a Roman Catholic Secondary school but I felt bad I was separating them from their friends, although now I feel I've made a bigger mistake.
                 I always knew I would face issues when raising my children in a multi-faith society, however nowadays I just feel they're slipping away from God and not appreciating the things he has and is doing for us. I know I cannot force them to be a Catholic Christian, but if there was just a way I could get through to them so they too believe God has and always be there for them, of course I would do it. I just pray that God will reach out to them and help them to discover their faith once again. 


                                                                                                                                              ES

                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                            

Muslim & Catholic Marriage - SOK

Dear Diary,

I am so confused. This morning, I was discussing wedding arrangements with my fiancé Abdul-Rashid who is a Muslim. He wants to have a traditional Muslim wedding in a mosque but I prefer a Catholic one because I have been a Catholic all my life and my whole family are Catholics as well. I really want any children we have to be baptized, brought up in the Catholic faith and have the Catholic education. Even the Roman Catholic Church says that if one parent is Catholic, all children in that relationship should also be brought up in the Catholic faith. Abdul-Rashid however, wants them to be Muslim as in their religion they believe that the children should follow their father’s faith. I can’t imagine my beautiful future kids being forced to wear headscarves to conceal their lovely hair and wear clothes up to their ankles and wrists all the time-even during summer! It just wouldn’t be fair on them or me because he would try to convert me to Islam. I am seriously having second thoughts…

Maybe this marriage isn’t going to be such a good idea. It would put a lot of strain on both of us and our children. I don’t think this marriage will work, so it’s probably best to end it now. I will talk to him this evening. I should have thought about this before. This is a lesson for everyone and an experience for me.

Goodnight diary,

Amanda

S.O.K. 

Christian & Hindu Marraige - JN

I am going to be taking the role of a Christian man and his struggles as his faith prevents him leading a happy life with the woman he loves.

I am a man who is in love with a beautiful girl, we wish to marry, have kids and grow old together as any loving couple would.  Yet it is not that simple. I am a Christian man and my girlfriend Alisha is a Hindu woman. We have been dating for many years now and I wish to propose, but there are a mounting number of issues that I’m not sure we can deal with as a couple. Our clashes in faiths are the only things holding us back.

Firstly the marriage ceremony, Alisha’s family wishes for her to have a Hindu shaadi in India whereas I want a Christian marriage in a church with all my family. Then if we make a choice there is also the issue of raising our children, would we make them choose between faiths or make desictions for them?  Would we get them baptized or not, would we have them educated in a Christian or a Hindu school? This could not only cause tension between us but in our families as well, which is something me and Alisha do not want to risk.

Faith plays a great part in both mine and Alisha’s life and I am not certain we can both carry out good lives in the eyes of our Gods if we marry.

J.N.

Blog: Multifaith Marriage, Conversion, Children - HH

This weeks Daybreak topic is issues in a multi-faith society, especially in relationships. I asked you to send in your veiws and the response was huge.
  
The first issue I came across alot, to do with multi faith marriages. One letter I recieved was from a jewish boy call Isacc who wants to marry his muslim girlfriend. He wrote saying " It's really hard because I love my girlfriend but my family mean alot to me to. They want me to marry a jewish girl as that is what my religion says is best for me. Either way I willl end up upsetting both of them." As you can see this is a very big dilemma. Isacc will either end up upsetting his family or his girlfriend. This would be a very hard decision for anyone to make, and I wish you all the best, whatever the outcome.
    
The next issue I came across was conversion. Many relationships have two people of diffrent religions or one person religious and the other not. This can be very conflicting as they have diffent views on their faith. I recieved a letter from Claire, who is not religious, who is going out with a catholic boy, John, who is trying to convert her to catholicism. She said " I really love my boyfriend, but it's hard.I have never had a religion before and I don't want to change." This is a hard issue because Claire wants to please her boyfriend, but she doesn't want to have a faith. This issue is very common in our multi religious society and I believe the best solution is talking it out.
  
Our final issue is bringing up of children in a multi-faith society. Many faiths have diffrent views on how they should raise there children. I had a letter from a catholic and muslim couple. Rose is a catholic girl, who is pregnant with her muslim husband Tamwar. Rose said " Me and Tamwar have been discussing the faith of our child since I found out I was pregnant. We both want diffrent faiths for our child, and it is causing arguments between us." Faith is a big part in bringing up a child, but the most important thing is that the child is healthy, then to discuss the faith of the child.

H.H

  

Blog: Interfaith Marriage & Children - JS

This week i decided to write about issues in a multifaith society as i feel that it has become a more common problem these days. I am specifically going to talk about what religion to bring your children up in. This is a common problem. I spoke to several people and one person said:                     

'I have been raised a Catholic since I was born, but my husband is Jewish. I have always been open about other religions and my husband is happy to raise our daughter as a catholic. However, it has caused a lot of upset and tension on his side of the family. I think that they automatically thought that we were going to raise her as Jewish. '

This is a common problem and can put a strain on marriages, especially when it creates upset between families. The best thing to do is sit down with the whole family and discuss the issue. Remeber that it is your child and that you shouldn't be forced to do something that you don't want to. As long as your child is happy and taught morals then that it is the most important thing. You may chose to bring them up in one religion, but you can always talk to your children about the other religion as well.

Also, there are many problems in relationships where people are only allowed to marry someone from the same religion.

Cornelia said: 'I have had several issues involving my relationship with Syed who is muslim. His family isn't very happy with our relationship and it is causing a lot of stress.'

This is a very difficult topic and is best to sit with the family and have a discussion about how important it is for you to all get along and how important your relationship is.
 

 

J.S.