Religion and marriage

[Strider]

I did a search and I couldn't find a topic on this already.

I was just wondering if religion is an important thing to you when you consider dating and eventually marrying someone. Would you only marry someone within your religion or would you want the other person to convert to your religion before marrying them?

Overall, I just want to know how important you think religion is in a marriage. What kind of role does it take in your life concerning another person?

[eunoia]

I think as long as there can be a reconciliation of different religions (if that happens) then it's fine. Personally I think as long as I loved someone, we could work out how to raise our kids/co-exist with different beliefs.

I'd never ask someone to change their religious beliefs (or non-belief, for that matter) for me. Ever.

[Kryptonite]

I can't say it'd bother me. I mean, if it was a source of our arguments, we'd have to work it out. As Jessie said, asking someone to change their beliefs for me is simply wrong.

[BrittneyNicole]

I can't see how it would really be a big deal for me. Like said, I would never ask someone to change their religion for me as that's just wrong.

[udontno]

To be honest, I don't think it is that big of a deal. I would definitely date someone of a different religion than me (and I have). It's not that big of a deal.

Now, as to how I would raise my children in a house where the religion is divided, I don't know. I've thought about this a lot lately. Around here, it is generally said that the children will be whatever denomination the father is (most people around here are some form of Christians). However, I think there should be some sort of way to combine the two views and let the children see both sides and let them decide. If it's two totally different religions, I'm not sure how I would manage things. I would want the child to decide for him/herself whenever he/she is old enough to though.

[Pessimistic Panda]

I really don't see it as an issue. I don't have a problem with what people believe and they just have to have the same feeling for me to have i work out.

[SillyEvee]

I dunno...
Religion is really important to me right now. I don't know if I could marry someone who didn't share my religion. But I know I could never be comfortable if someone converted religions (or converted from non-belief) for me. I would always wonder if it was sincere or "to be with me," and that's like...a huge lie! It's a really well-intentioned lie, but I couldn't imagine a relationship with someone where he didn't feel like he could be totally honest with me. I dunno. So, if I had to get married tomorrow, it would have to be to someone who shared by religious beliefs. But all that might change as I get older and more used to my faith.

[R.K.]

Non-believer.

It would depend on how "religious" my other half would be.

[Maiden]

I wouldn't actively look for someone from the same religion, but then my religion isn't that important to things like marriage. As long as they accept my religion, that's fine. I'm wiccan and I'd really like to raise my kids wiccan so it would be awesome if I can find somebody with similar beliefs but I won't try to convert them if they're something else and want to stay that way.

[Oiseau the Little Bird!]

Yeah, honestly, I don't think I could ever convert or have someone convert for me for them to be "allowed" to marry me. Luckily, there's no such rule in Wicca. However, I think that taking on that serious of a change for someone you love is an excellent example of how much you're willing to do for that person.

[Lorelei]

I'm not going to ask anyone to change what they believe in just to be with me. I'm not really worth it.

As long as the man I love can live with me without being immature about what I believe vs. what he believes, (aka trying to convert me) then I'm fine with it. It's actually quite fun and enriching to discuss religion with someone who believes something you don't, so if he could talk about it with me in a mature way, then sure.

[A]

It's slightly irrelevant, because I'm not really attracted to people who are not secularised. But if the issue ever arose, I'd have to examine their thoughts and beliefs very carefully to make sure they were actually compatible with me as a person (since it's a relationship). I'd need to find out their stance on abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and so on - since I think anyone who opposes those things is quite backward - I don't think it'd be a good idea to conduct a relationship with someone whom I believe to be backward-thinking. I'd also have to investigate how seriously they take their religious doctrine.

I'd never ask anyone to convert to please me, I'd just try to avoid relationships in which I had incompatible views with the other person. But as I said, that's relatively easy because I'm generally not attracted to people I interpret to be backward-thinking.

[soul]

I am not religious and religion has never been a big part of my life. I would never not date someone because of their religion unless they subscribed to some extreme belief system. However, I don't think I could marry someone who was extremely religious simply because I wouldn't change my beliefs for them and I can for see that being an issue.