Seems the most celebrated wedding of the summer has thrown a spotlight on an issue that is becoming more common — and, sometimes, more problematic and complicated.

From USA TODAY:

Chelsea Clinton, a Methodist, and Marc Mezvinsky, a conservative Jew, had their very private wedding on Saturday. But the public may not be done peering through the shrubbery at their lives.

Like it or not, the famous bride and groom will continue to be the focus of scrutiny for their religiously mixed marriage — a category that’s growing rapidly among U.S. couples.

Two decades ago, 25% of U.S. couples didn’t share the same faith. That was up to 31% by 2006-2008, according to the General Social Survey, by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The number was even higher, 37%, in the 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Both surveys included people who crossed major traditions such as Jewish-Protestant, believers married to the unaffiliated, and Protestants of different denominations, like former President Bill Clinton, a Baptist, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Methodist.

For those of nominal faith, this is no big deal. “Everybody party” is a popular way to avoid doctrinal conflicts, however thin on theology. But for those who hold deep but different faiths, life-cycle decisions will loom, from baptism (No? Yes? Whose church?) to burial (Can you rest in sacred ground of another faith?).

Every rite of passage, sacred ritual and major holy day will require negotiation: First Communion? Bar or bat mitzvah? Passover Seder, Easter vigil or Eid Al-Fitr feast to break Islam’s Ramadan fast?

Looking on: Parents and clergy who fear that distinctive beliefs, sacred rituals and centuries-old cultural traditions will be diluted or discarded.

Read on for various commentary and reaction.