ANSWERS: 32
  • it would not work for me personally.... would not be interested in even dating an atheist if a man doesn't believe in similar things, especially the same relgious beliefs, there is not going to be much harmony
  • I think that would be a really complicated relationship.
  • Yes. My mother-in-law is a Catholic Italain & my father-in-law is a Russian Jew. They have been married for 49 years and they raised all 5 kids as Catholics. You just have to come to a compromise & there should be no problems.
  • Not usually.
  • I suppose it could work if you truly loved the person and each of you respected the others right to their own views but if one or both try to force their views down each others throats then it is doomed to failure I was a mormon in a relationship for a couple of years with someone who was an evnagelical christian who personally believed I was not a christian but we had an agreement not to discuss our beliefsswith the exception of our difference of opinion on what a true christian was the relationship was great we eventually broke up not because of our differences in religious beliefs but because she was still in the child bearing years and wanted kids and I felt I did not want to be a father again I had a child with my ex wife and that was enough for me
  • I've heard that love conquers all but that's asking alot, if I was a Christian I would not want to take the chance on my relationship with an atheist compromising my already slim chance of getting into that one place in the sky. And on the other hand, being an atheist I'm pretty sure that drive me nuts and I could not foresee much happiness coming out of it, I'd look elsewhere. I'm sure there are some relationships like that that are working out fine but relationships are tough enough without putting the strain of completely opposite world views into the mix.
  • Yes as long as they respect each other beliefs i mean the one that Christian has the right to believe whatever he or she wants just as the atheist and if they don't try to convert each other then the relationship can work.
  • One had better be a REAL strong Christian to deal with the compromises that will be coming up. Also the loneliness of not being evenly yoked and lack of fellow ship you have with a mate of the same faith. May work for a while till the sprit catches up with the rest of the body.....so to speak
  • It depends on how central they hold their religious beliefs. Many Christians go to church periodically, accept the basic premises of the religion, pray occasionally, and enjoy the cultural holidays. However, they may not put a lot of thought into the origins of the faith or into why they chose it. The same is a bit less true of atheists, who have mostly come to their beliefs following an active evaluation of them that took some time & energy (and enough determination to allow them to swim upstream against the cultural norm). But even atheists who have moved thoughts of religion out of their center of their lives are able to focus other common ground issues, such as enjoying common hobbies, family, or projects. The biggest risk, of course, is that over time one or both people will develop a bit more interest in religious faith or religion's impact, and unless they have enough love, respect, & tolerance for one another, it could lead to conflicts.
  • If the parties would compromise and be nonjudgmental of each other I don't see why not. True love conquers all:-)
  • well, it could make for some interesting conversation! my husband is what he likes to call a "recovering mormon" and very, very against organized religion..i dont have these strong opinions...so sometimes we debate these issues..its fun!
  • I think it depends on how rightwing and left wing you are, as well as how you feel about each other, how well you respect each other, and how open-minded and nonjudgmental you are. If you are both of these personality types and hold the utmost respect for her and can compromise, I think you can make it work. I don't believe there's any one obstacle that can stand in the way of two people who love and respect each other, just poor attitudes and mentalities.
  • Worked for my parents. My mother was, and is, a regular churchgoer. My father was an atheist, but very non-dogmatic. My father was quite happy for my mother to go to church, and to welcome the vicar as a guest. But he didn't go to church himself except for weddings and funerals. I went to church, Sunday School etc because I was expected to, and at about 16 realised I didn't believe a bit of it.
  • kinda... my bf believes in god and all that, and i kinda dont. and we're fine.
  • Well depends upon how religious the Christian is and how much the Atheist can tolerate it.
  • I had a christian guy that I dated and I was fine with that. He was always telling me that I should be scared and asking me why I am not scared etc. I finally asked him if he thought I was going to convert. He thought I should. I informed him that he shouldn't hold his breath. He started making me crazy and I ended it. He was scared of everything .
  • i was raised very hard core catholic. i've dated atheists and it was never the reason for our breakups, nor was it related in anyway and i had no issue with his religion [or lack thereof]. course now i'm not catholic at all but at the time i was very strong and active in that church
  • So long as both respect the beliefs of the other, I see nothing wrong with it.
  • If each respects the others' views and don't argue about them. NOTE: DISCUSSION is ok, but no name-calling, and no putting down the other's beliefs.
  • be interesting thats for sure
  • I believe that it's difficult to bring children into a house that has different views on religion, making it difficult to decide which one is right, but i think anything can work, if you really understand the other persons decision to believe in whatever they do. Love is love, and sometimes the heart doesn't know any better but to love what it wants to love. I just think in a relationship with different religious view, it can cause a bit of conflict. But i do think alot of strong christians, want to be with other people who at least believe in God.
  • yes they can, relationships work when its about the other person. the objective is to make the other feel loved and when that is the goal of the relation ship religion shouldn't matter only the fact that you are accepted and loved.
  • As long as each person was open from day one about their respective beliefs. My husband had me believe that he was a Christian only to change to an Atheist a month into our marriage. It was a hard pill to swallow because although I'm not as zealous as some Christians, I am a churchgoer and believe in the power of prayer. When we married I felt that although he was Catholic as long as we both believed in God I could compromise. I refuse to talk religion with my husband because he is always trying to convince me that I'm wrong to believe in a higher power. As you can see it is a very sour button in our household. But, I think agreeing to disagree is the best option for us if we want our marriage to work. I consider myself a very tolerant person but one can only compromise so much. I grew up in a Christian household and have seen God work wonders in my life and those close to me so, if I had to choose between my marriage and my faith, I would choose my faith. To my husband's credit, he hasn't had any problems with me raising our son with a Christian faith but, he does belittle the Bible stories I read to our son.
  • Of course they do - Religion isn't a matter that should get in the way of religion. I'm a solid atheist, and I dated a strongly catholic girl for quite a while - It went well, and sometimes even joined her giving things up for lent.
  • I'm debating the same thing at the moment: I'm an agnostic (as opposed to atheist) with perhaps a touch of atheistic tendencies...my girlfriend is a pretty devout christian (7th day adv) who even gives 10% of her income as a formal religious "tithe"...i only recently found that out and am a bit shocked...she is still a lovely beautiful person, but I really don't want to get to a point in our future relationship where (if we're going through hard times and it comes down to choosing to send our kids to college etc vs giving the church money that we still give the church money to "spread the word"...also I don't want my kids growing up believing that "daddy's going to hell because he doesn't believe"...that's a bit unfair and traumatic on the kids don't you think?
  • It all depends on how zealous either partner is.
  • eeeh...chemical mixture
  • I go out with a Christian guy and I am agnostic. its a pretty serious relatlionship. Most of our problems are with the religion. If it was up to me, I dont think there would be much. But hes very uncertain about what the future brings for us. Because it says in the bible that a believer shouldnt be with a non-believer. Im open to Christianity so Im trying to find God for all the right reasons. Not to just be with him. I'd say, that mixed religion relationships do work. There are some struggles but if your willing to work through it then all the best :)
  • Not in the long run...they can but, there has to be a lot of understanding between you guys before one of you comes out. No relationship is ever going to work if a guy keeps thinking his/her spouse is evil or going to hell.
  • haha yes im a muslin married to a catholic, we get arround our differences by both agreeing that both are the same in the respect that good family and social values are taught, and we accpet that the translation of allah is god and vise versa, so it becomes the same stuff in different langauges and ways of expression but with the same basic princibles, excluding prayer time lol but it does work i think if it doesnt work than you must be uncomfortable or doubtfull of your own religion to be intolerant of others
  • yes, im a muslin married to a catholic its alot more contreversial these days as compared to an atheist marreing a christian. it works on the condition that if you are doubtfull and uncomfortable in your own religion than you'll genrally be intolerant of everyones elses beleifs, because knowing and just being are two diff things
  • ANY relationship will work if emphasis is placed on the relationship and not seeming differences.

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