My husband and I are probably best described as agnostic. I am Jewish but not very religious; it's more of a cultural affiliation for me. We did hire a female hippie rabbi to marry us, but she let us pick and choose what to include in our ceremony. I don't have strong spiritual beliefs that are grounded in any particular religion, but I would like my child to understand his/her cultural background. That includes both being Jewish and also my husband's cultural ties. He is first generation American on both sides, and his parents are from two different European countries.

My MIL is a member of a fairly extreme Christian denomination. She doesn't even know that I am pregnant yet, but I am worried about how we are going to balance this issue. If her church was a little more casual or mainstream, then I might not be bothered so much, but it's pretty deep into fire and brimstone territory and neither my husband nor I can really stomach it. To her credit, she has never been overly pushy about this issue with me. She has invited me to her church once or twice, and she did suggest that we use her preacher to officiate at our wedding, but that was about it.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How can we communicate that our child's religious education (and/or lack thereof) is not open for discussion without appearing disrespectful of her beliefs?

Thanks in advance.