General
Marry Your Own, A Discussion of Mixed Marriage. Daniel A. Lord, S. J. The Queen's Work Eighth Edition. St. Louis, MO. 1937.
This booklet advocates against a mixed marriage, which it defines as a marriage between two individuals of differing faiths,
specifically Catholic and any other faith. The booklet supports its claims by telling a story of a conversation between a
Catholic priest and two twin siblings, Dick and Sue, who are both currently dating individuals outside of their own faith.
Father Hall bases his position on the fact that "the greatest source of fallen-away Catholics is mixed marriages" and that
spouses of a differing faith will either "regard religion with indifference as something not particularly interesting, or
will consider the faith he or she professes to be really important." The priest then continues on to discuss other possible
problems of mixed marriages, such as, what religion with the child be raised in? The booklet also briefly addresses the issue
of birth control, claiming that if both spouses are not practicing Catholics one might pressure the other into using birth
control. While the booklet does mostly define a mixed marriage as being an interfaith marriage, it does, in one section, also
incorporate race into the argument by essentially stating that since the siblings, Dick and Sue, have no trouble understanding
why an interracial marriage won't work, it makes no sense why they don't also understand why interfaith marriages are bad
as well. At the end of the booklet Father Hall concedes that the only way interfaith marriages work is if the non-Catholic
spouse converts, however this has to be done prior to the marriage itself. Since "marrying a person to convert him is almost
like marrying a man to reform him. Sometimes it's done. But the odds in the open market are ten to one against it." The booklet
ends with three advertisements, mostly regarding other booklets about marriage and faith that one can order. This item is
identified as the eighth edition of the booklet, with the original published in 1929.