Is it ok to have differnt religious beliefs?

[Jatelo2]

This might sound a little awkward to some. However, in most marriages I've seen break, it has been mainly due to different religious beliefs. An instance is where the Father wants everyone to go with him to his church while the mother wants freedom of worship and vice versa. What about you, does faith really has a role in th happiness of your marriage or relationship, for that matter?

Please feel free to share personal experience!

 

[Lorenzo]

Yes, I believe it's okay for the parents to have different religious beliefs. My dad for one is Catholic, while my mom is Protestant. This wasn't an issue at all because even before they got married, they already decided how they would want us kids raised. We were exposed both to the Catholic and Protestant faiths. Later on, when we could decide for ourselves, we chose which belief we wanted to pursue.

 

[R. Paradon]

I am not sure of the validity of this report (I don't believe many reports as they can be swayed to the feelings of the author or client) but it says that religious differences are #10 or of 10 for divorce.

As Lorenzo my parents were also Catholic and Protestant. My father converted to the Protestant faith and I was raised as such. Eventually I withdrew from religion as I got older and now follow a Buddhist path.

But back to your question I don't think in this day and age, at least in America, it is not that important of an issue. The raising of the children should be discussed prior to the wedding.

 

[youngone]

I am an atheist and my partner is an atheist so we don't have any quarrels over religious differences. We do have different political beliefs, she doesn't really agree with my political beliefs even though she is not very political. I imagine it would cause friction if one wants to go to church and the other doesn't.

 

[tommymac]

I don't know that I'm aware of any American marriages that have broken up due to religious issues. I figure that sort of thing would get hammered out BEFORE you got married.

 

[Victor]

I figure that sort of thing would get hammered out BEFORE you got married.

That's fine, until someone has a change of heart. I didn't find my path until a couple years ago.

I think it's perfectly fine to have different religious beliefs, as long as both parents are respectful. My partner and I have somewhat similar beliefs but there are differences (she is atheist and I am pantheist).

 

[mollew3]

I think this needs to be discussed before both parties get married. I would not wait until I got married to sort these kinds of things through. Me and my wife have different religious beliefs but we both agreed to a plan on how we were going to handle it before we got married.

 

[youngone]

I think this needs to be discussed before both parties get married. I would not wait until I got married to sort these kinds of things through. Me and my wife have different religious beliefs but we both agreed to a plan on how we were going to handle it before we got married.

Do you mind me asking what your respective religious beliefs are and how you handle it in your marriage? I think it depends on the individuals, it can cause problems for some couples and it can be fine for others. But marrying someone who is intolerant towards other religions would be stupid.

 

[Don]

We are the same religion, so it wasn't an issue here. My cousin and her husband are different religions though. They agreed before they got married that if they had a boy, it would follow the husband's religion and if it was a girl, it would follow hers. At the moment, they have a male dog. I guess he is Lutheran.

 

[ghanashyam]

These interfaith or inter-religion marriages are not common in India, and I agree this may be the major cause of divorce. Should not these things be somewhat agreed between the man and woman before the marriage?
Got some interesting though old story here:
Interfaith marriages are rising fast, but they're failing fast too

 

[Andersson]

My parents had different religious beliefs and they ended up splitting after knowing one another for 30+ years and married for about half of that. Both my wife and myself have different religious beliefs and we have been together forever now, not every case is the same.

 

[RianMerino]

I don't think that religion should drive a wedge between people the way that it does. My spouse and I have different beliefs. She is an agnostic and I am a Methodist. The way we see it is as long as we both respect the others beliefs (religious and non-religious) we don't have to agree with them.