vlad111, I'd still like to know, were you married in the Orthodox Church or the Roman Catholic Church? I'd be surprised if the issue of children didn't come up at some point at that time.
Yes. Both churches typically require a promise from the parents to rise the child in that church prior to matrimony. This would be interesting to know.
As far as the specific issue at hand, being Serbian does not equal being Orthodox. Neither does being Orthodox equal being Serbian. The cultural Orthodoxy you speak of is not limited to Serbia, of course. It can be found in Greece, Russia, Israel, Syria, Egypt, etc. Any place that has an indigenous Orthodox population which, from the people's perspective, has always been Orthodox...as long as they can remember, everyone was Orthodox. Therefore, in order to be [Serbian, Greek, Russian, Copt, etc.] is to be Orthodox.
This is not just an Orthodox phenomenon either. You will find the same thing among Roman Catholics in Italy, Spain, France, etc. It seems fairly common among Jewish families nearly everywhere (I've met many culturally proud Jews who attend synagogue on Passover and Hanukkah but otherwise give no thought to religion), and I'm sure this occurs among Muslims, Hindus, etc.
My point is that while a certain culture may tie itself to a religious identity, that does not mean one must be of that culture to be of that religion, nor does it mean that those within the culture are truly pious, religious people. I'm from the Appalachian mountains of Southeastern Kentucky. If my culture dictated me, I would be culturally Baptist or Pentecostal, without much thought to religion at all. Obviously, this is not the case. I defy the cultural identification as an Orthodox Christian who really hates to miss a service, and is quite frankly an Orthonerd (I am posting on OC.net, afterall!).
It sounds like this issue you have now began a long time ago. Your parents are culturally Orthodox, but not regular parishioners. They did not raise you religiously. You admit this yourself. Because of this, chances are you didn't give much thought to the religion of your spouse, and so married a devout Catholic woman. You are not religious, was not raised religious, and now you are having a child yourself. It seems that your parents are only nominally Orthodox themselves (at best) and you are not Orthodox at all.
If you intend to raise the child Orthodox, absolutely baptize him or her in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. If you do not intend to raise the child Orthodox, do not unite him or her to a Church that, essentially, the child will not truly be a part of. Of course, I encourage you to gain a greater understanding of your wife's piety, and use that to explore your own religious upbringing. Speak to a local Orthodox priest about the issue, and thoroughly think it through. I encourage you to rediscover your Orthodoxy in a new light, but if you are not practicing the Faith, why would you baptize your child into it?
