I tried once to defend my position on interfaith relationships to a host of hostile people in an online group that I had joined. I am not a public speaker, and I was so shocked by their unexpected accusations that I was speechless. I was unprepared and did not know how to respond. Upon being questioned about my loyalty to Jesus, I snapped. They were throwing Bible verses at me, and I tried desperately to throw Bible verses that supported my position back at them. But as a rabbi once told me, even Satan can use the Bible to prove a point, depending on the interpretation of the verses. In the end, they were many, and I was one, and the ground was falling out from under me. There was no way I would win this battle.
Unfortunately, the reason I lost this "battle" was my own fault. I let their reasoning undermine my own faith. Once I began to doubt myself, I was finished. However, my question now is, "why was I fighting in the first place?" My argument began with the fact that God is Love. I presented them with the question: "If God is Love, how can loving our neighbors be wrong?" It is a commandment after all. But, by the end of the "fight," I was disproving my own theory. I was not loving my neighbors and allowing them to hold their own opinions; I was trying desperately to shove my own theory down their throats, and that was wrong.
I have learned to surround myself with those who support my decision to marry a Jewish man. Fortunately, they are many. Our families, friends, and even my church have been nothing but supportive. Yet, I continue to feel there is a message to be spread so that others in my position do not feel bullied into giving up their interfaith relationships for the sake of those who do not agree with them. I honestly believe God is smiling down upon the interfaith couples of the world. We are all included among his children.
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