<p>Honestly, I’d be concerned if my child married anyone from any other country. It’s not cultural, or religious, or xenophobic. </p>
<p>The simple truth is it scares me to death to think my grandchildren could be the subjects of international legal disputes. There are many cases (some well-known, some not) of non-US citizen parents taking the kids “on vacation to see his/her family” and never returning to the US. Trying to get the kids back is incredibly difficult. And it’s not just Arab nations. It’s Norway. And Germany. And Australia. Just to name a few of the more publicized cases in recent years. </p>
<p>I don’t want my children and grandchilden to be subjects of international incidents.</p>
<p>I didn’t notice at first that this was an old topic, but since I read it all, I’ll post anyway.
I think it is reasonable and to be expected that parents would be disappointed and unhappy if a child wants to marry somebody of a different religion, especially if religion is important to the family. I personally would very much prefer my children to marry people who share the same faith (although not necessarily the same exact flavor of faith) as they do, because I actually believe in it and think it’s important. In discussing the pros and cons of any potential spouse with my kids, this would be an important issue to think about. If my child nevertheless decides to marry somebody of a different faith, I wouldn’t cut them out of my life, though. But I can’t pretend that it wouldn’t matter.</p>