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Do you think an atheist can make a relationship with a religious person work for the long hall? I've been with my fiance for 9 years and he talks more and more about Christianity every year.

MamaMOB 5 Apr 19
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3

It is not impossible. I personally would not because I cannot stand living with god-believers (excluding deists) under the same roof let alone in a relationship (mainly because they're always trying to convert me with same repetitive/ unconvincing nonsense), but I'm not you 😀. You go do you.

3

That would depend upon how much he brings his beliefs up and if said views are being forced upon you.

3

Thank you all for your views. This really gave me a lot to think about. We love each other and religion isn't our only problem or even our biggest. We can only make this work with work.

2

It depends on the breed of theist. If they insist on making it central to their life and pushing it on you, I'd say that's a huge red flag. If they take the attitude that you have your beliefs and they have theirs and you agree on everything else pertinent to the relationship (like how to raise kids, church/state separation), then it can work. I've seen it work, there just has to be an understanding of boundaries.

2

A tale of caution.
I knew my wife for 12 years before we got married, the reasons for getting married were not the best to begin with but i digress. She is mexican and so most obviously she has a Catholic background. But she was not at all religious in the 12 years. Once we got married though the hints of religoun started creeping in. And when we had a child religion bloomed in her and the need to raise the child with religion. And then she had a miscarage and then her father commited suicide and she turned to religion with gusto. Following the Preacher who was transfered to a different and much larger church, she got involved with one of the groups there who convinced her to go on a church retreat. They took away her phone and cloistered her away praying the whole time and volia, she had a god experience. Aparently god gave her a hug and held her hand and she could no longer be with me. She left and now spend most of her free time at church and has a shrine in her bedroom.

Not that would happen to you, but I never dreamed it woudl happen to me.

2

If you’ve been together for 9 years and you’re only engaged? Dang. I’ve had issues in the past with dating someone of a different ideology. It is possible as long as it’s consistent. It becoming more of a priority for the partner is a bit of a red flag for what the future holds depending if they start pressuring you to do it too. It’s really important to set your boundaries with it and have the potentially awkward discussion. Relationships only work with communication and openness.

We want a wedding and we're poor so we decided to wait. The contract isn't really important to me as long as we have the commitment which we always have. I don't think he's trying to pressure me at this point but it's just another worry for me. He loves the story of Saul and I think that story is one of the reasons the religion is barbaric. So I keep my mouth shut which is uncommon for me. I have to figure out how to approach the subject in a not argumentative way. Fun hehe

@MamaMOB you don’t need money to marry! Lol. And the longer you wait the harder it will be but I also do NOT envy you because staying non argumentative in that type of discussion is damn nigh impossible. Good luck!!!

We want a wedding not just a marriage. I want the party, I want the fan fair. I want the dream I've had since I was 3. That takes money. As I said the contract isn't important. It's not going to be an easy talk. Because I'm very argumentative. The bipolar doesn't help.

@MamaMOB gotta love that party!!!! And always aim high on that gift registry!!! Lol and good luck with the talk but hopefully it doesn’t need to happen! 🙂

@Ness religion didn't create marriage. It's usurped it. And since we've been together for nearly a decade we already consider ourselves basically married. The law would not since we haven't lived together in two years.

2

If it were me I would simply ask myself 1 or 2 questions on a regular basis:

  1. Is this the same person that I fell in love with?

and/or

  1. Am I the same person that fell in love with that person?

These are good hard questions.

@MamaMOB I think they are. Someone I went on a date with who had recently left her husband told me that though he was very much the same person that she fell in love with she was no longer the same person that fell in love with him. That conversation stuck with me. Since then I have constantly thought that had I got married when I was a believer that I would most likely be the one leaving my spouse for the same reason...

2

Anyone can make a relationship with anyone else last for the long haul. What you're really asking is "how?"

Give & take coupled with mutual respect. If you don't have those going on in the relationship, it doesn't really matter where your differences lie.

2

It depends on the people involved, and the level of mutual respect they have for each other. Talking about his faith more and more may be something to watch. That being said, as long as he's talking, and not preaching (or trying to force your views to change) then you can still be OK.

It may very well be a road that gets more difficult with time, life events, children, etc...

2

You'll be our test case. We'll be watching...

I'll keep you updated hehe

2

I think it all depends on how atheist you are. I'm an antitheist so for me it's no, it will never work if the person takes their God seriously. I find people who are into religion are by definition passive. Bad things happen? it's because God wanted it that way. Good things? they've been rewarded and it has nothing to do with their own hard efforts. Philosophically, I cannot mesh with someone who believes in a higher-power and who's carroted into doing good deeds in order to be recognized at the pearly gates. That's just me.

1

It is very difficult, especially if there are children to bring up.

1

It didn't work for me, but each couple is different.

1

I lived together with a wonderful lady for 12-years. We split not due to religion, but due to probably more to the complexities of 'Empty Nest Syndrome' after her daugher left home. She was brought-up Pentecostal, then had gravitated through other heavy religions and was a Catholic for our time together. I'd been raised Catholic in childhood, so I'd been there, done that. We just had an agreement that her religion was hers and I'd not interfere in any way nor try to influence her daughter. But that worked both ways... I wasn't expected to support her church activities. Same deal my non-religious dad had to sign-off on with the preist to marry my Catholic mom 40-years earlier. I never attended any church events and as her daughter entered her teens she resisted as well, but not by any influence from me. Ten years later, now the daughter is Agnostic. Her comment to me on a recent meeting in the grocery store: "How can there POSSIBLY be a god that cares... and lets the shit happen that's happening these days?" Oh, I'm sure there's a few bible verses that have that nicely covered, but it seems she's doing the thinking for herself now.

1

I like to talk about everything with my significant other. We’d just be butting heads on the topic until one of our beliefs or the relationship would break. Some people can put the topic in the background and still enjoy each other.
I couldn’t manage that.

1

I think that this is somethign ech person dealing with it has to decide for themselves, as everyone has different capabilities an tolerances.

For me personally, I do nto thinkI could make it work over the long term.

Of course you could instead have amany short religionships instead of the idealized life logn relationship. Life ling realtinships are not for everyone, even if that is idealized as what people whoudl work for.

1

As someone who came from religious extended family and into an atheist one, I don't think you can. In all the cases I've seen, things are fine until you have children or an emergency comes up that hard decisions need to be made. Religious people make choices following whatever book or teaching has told them will make them or their loved ones better people. That means denying freedom of choice to the child just so their soul will not be damned. And depending on how literal a christian is, it may mean denying medical services, women's rights, etc.

I know it seems wierd, but I 'felt' differently once I was officially married, like I had more responsibility or was an adult now. Even though we had lived together for a year. I started to unconsciously be more what I imagined a wife should be, an adult should be. Think about your fiance's parents, and anyone he admires - that is who he will become when he needs to be 'an adult'. It doesn't happen all at once, but it does happen.

Does he have to become his parents? Do I? Depends on how much a person self-examines their motives and eliminates the beliefs and behaviours that s/he doesn't like. If s/he is young - it's unlikely - because this is another part of themselves they haven't fully explored and want to see where it goes. If s/he is middle aged - it's more likely - especially for the behaviours that push others or good experiences away. If s/he is senior citizen - less likely - most people at that point are comfortable with who they are or resigned to it. (though there are many 'middle aged' senior citizens until they die).

You got right to the heart of this hehe. He and I are becoming our parents, to an extent at least, and we had shitty parents regardless of religion. I work my ass off not to be my mom so I'm becoming my dad. And although he wants nothing more then to not be his father hes been coming out more and more. I'm a doormat and he's a bully. These are not the people we were almost 10 years ago.

@MamaMOB "I'm a doormat and he's a bully"..... It sounds like a similar relationship I was in. I didn't know at the time that he's behavior would be classified as narcissistic. I highly recommend reading articles from the below linked website. You may find more of your fiance's behaviors to be unhealthy (to you) than just the religiousity. [psychologytoday.com]

Feel free to PM me.

1

Only if you both respect each others beliefs, Stephen Hawking was an atheist married to a christian girl, so yeah it's possible, it depends of other facets of your personalities i'd say. Are you both able to accept that you are not gonna agree on everything?

1

Thats up to you ! My gf is very religious but we never talk shop, so to say. we enjoy sex and leave it at that.

0

I'm sure it can work, but be aware that he is looking at a future in a way far different from you. This might not be an issue in the relationship, but be warned that it might.

I dated a Christian woman, and she told me one night that it bothered her greatly that I would be in Hell. Your fiancé might not be vocal about it, but I imagine he worries about your immortal soul as well. It depends on his flavor of Christianity. Is he part of the intolerant, everybody-burns mentality, or is he part of the more liberally minded God-would-not-punish-good-people mentality?

If he is part of the religion that believes that nonbelievers are going to Hell regardless of how good they were in life, then your fiancé has some inner demons he's struggling with. He might not even tell you, but I'm sure with the belief that you'll suffer for all eternity. After all, nobody wants to see their loved ones hurt.

Talk with him about this and find out how much it makes him uncomfortable. If you're lucky, he believes in a loving god that wouldn't punish you for needing more evidence. Or maybe he'll believe that God will reveal himself to you later in life, though I don't feel comfortable feeding those false hopes.

But he may also realize that it's all crap and come to your way of thinking. I've seen that happen too, so we can't discount anything.

He's told me he believes god made atheists to be an example for believers. That even without the reward and punishment we are still good people and will be judged accordingly. I hope he doesn't think I'll come to believe one day because I've tried to believe many times before and it just isn't ganna happen. I also doubt he'll ever stop believing. The church has always been there for him when family and friends weren't.

0
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