It's scary how deep religious sentiments go in governing people's decisions and behaviour. I'd say that one of the hardest things for my mother to deal with was her family's feeling towards my sister and me not marrying fellow Jews, which was pretty inevitable living in a place with a miniscule Jewish community. But having the freedom to date whoever we chose did push us further apart from them.

Wishing you luck with speaking with your parents about this. Remember it's your life and your future 💙