<p>It would work out, we'd just have to never talk about religion. I'm extremely atheist, and have no more respect for religion than whatever other ridiculous delusional ideas people have - just because lots of people happen to have a particular one doesn't make it any more worth believing.</p>
<p>On a somewhat related note, just saw Jesus Camp tonight, and was completely appalled (though not surprised, as I've seen lots of this before) - anyone else have thoughts on the movie?</p>
<p>yea its complete brainwashing</p>
<p>I would date a non christian, but my children are going to be raised by two christian parents. So, if it got serious enough for marriage, if she wasnt willing to convert, I would have to find someone else.</p>
<p>Brown Bomber, you should just not even date non-Christians then. Expecting someone to completely change their belief system for you is selfish and wrong. Would you want them to try and convert you to atheism or Islam or whatever their religion (or lack thereof) might be? NO. So don't be a douchebag and just stick with Christians to date.</p>
<p>Religion is what you take it as. In relationships or friendships with people of varying religions, as long as you dont impose your own religion on their beliefs or their way of life, there will never be a problem. I'm Christian but my friends gay. We're fine. Why? Because I dont try to make him straight or make him find God because he doesnt want that and as a result, we're great friends even though we see religion differently.</p>
<p>Dont call me a douchebag if you dont know me. Ive never dated a non-Christian, and probably won't. However, if a situation arose where I happened to date one, I wouldnt decieve her or trick her in any way.</p>
<p>I convert my women, to catholic.</p>
<p>Most of the boys I have known throughout my life are some shade of Christian: some were just raised Christians, some were devout, and I’ve known a broad variety of opinions about how one should interpret Christianity.</p>
<p>I myself am what a lot of people would consider a fairly liberal Christian in interpretation, although I do consider myself evangelical in areas of spreading Christian love. Remember that fundamentalist and evangelical are not synonymous: one means literal interpretation, the other means spreading. Also, it’s easy to consider “liberal” Christians as not as devout, which I don’t agree with. However, I am not one to judge how devout someone is based on what they believe. We’re not supposed to judge others anyway.</p>
<p>Now I am with an atheist. There’s no real difference. People are people. That’s often forgotten when we picture a group of people we’re fighting in a war, who are in the elite of society, or who live smack dab in the middle of nowhere. We all have a common bond. Of course, my boy and I have our little disagreements about our belief systems, but so have I and every Christian boy I have ever known. And I love the boy I’m with now much more than the other boy who I have dated, a semi-Christian (he was somewhat undecided about Christianity). In a world that we’re so used to stereotyping and generalizing, we also forget that each individual is diverse.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say my boy and I are in the running for respecting each other’s beliefs, either. Believe me, he knows how to push my buttons with anti-Christian comments, but I love him anyway. It’s amazing how love can cross divides in many aspects of life.
If you have religious divides that bother you in a relationship, confront them. If the relationship is not strong enough to overcome them, then the relationship will not work out. I know in real life it’s more complicated than that, but that’s the simple truth in two sentences.</p>
<p>However, I can see the reasoning behind people who want to date/marry/etc. within their own faith. I respect that. Churches teach that you should create nurturing Christian households and for many Christians, the only point in dating is that find a mate that will create such a household for them. It makes sense. I honestly want to send my children to church one day in the distant future. I wouldn’t want to force religion on them, because that’s no sure way that they’ll grow up religious or moral anyway, but I would want them to be exposed to church. As an evangelical Christian, I believe the imperfect example that Christians live, the love that a church shares, is a much more compelling argument for conversion than rules and Bible-banging.</p>
<p>I’m a political conservative, but definitely not what you would consider part of the Christian Right. Dating someone with drastically different politics than me would probably be harder for me than dating someone with any other religious belief. This is mostly because divides in politics tick me off, but I don’t believe dividing religion any more helps. One of the first things you learn in Sunday school is that God has a plan for everyone. And that you can’t control everything, you can only learn to be faithful. If you’re taught that in church, why would you limit yourself from dating someone whose plan, perhaps, is not complete?</p>
<p>We’re also not supposed to judge others’ fates. No one really knows who has a better chance of getting into Heaven: a moral Muslim or a hypocritical Christian. No one knows who is going to be a follower of God in the long wrong. It is, in fact, sin to judge others.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that Paul writes that it’s okay to marry non-believers in his letters. In fact, he says it’s good—it spreads the Christian word.</p>
<p>I’m going to guess that a lot of people’s views on this are based on what kind of household they were raised in. So yeah, like the answer to every question on this forum, it depends.</p>
<p>Can I just say...young people who claim staunch Atheism sound kinda retarded. It's not that you aren't allowed to be an Atheist, but there's a reason why some of the most religious people are older and/or poor. I'm just saying. Be an adult for awhile before saying the jury's out on your belief on religion.</p>
<p>^ That's such a weird post. What makes you think just because I'm 17 I don't know exactly why I'm atheist?</p>
<p>now, when you are young religion is not that big a deal, but believe me when you get older and start a familiy, that can suddenly change, and can cause a lot of friction from family, some people suddenly get "relgious" again when they have those babies</p>
<p>and this is with many religions, also, sometimes that faith if not embraced by the other party can create some big problems- really big problems</p>
<p>for many it is still no big deal, but for some.....</p>
<p>"Can I just say...young people who claim staunch Atheism sound kinda retarded. It's not that you aren't allowed to be an Atheist, but there's a reason why some of the most religious people are older and/or poor. I'm just saying. Be an adult for awhile before saying the jury's out on your belief on religion."</p>
<p>Thats not very nice, so your saying that when people get older and/or poorer they lose their ability to reason and think?</p>
<p>^ Haha, nice one.</p>
<p>
[quote]
^ That's such a weird post. What makes you think just because I'm 17 I don't know exactly why I'm atheist?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Because you're seventeen.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Thats not very nice, so your saying that when people get older and/or poorer they lose their ability to reason and think?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'd say it's without reason to assume religion is the absence of logic.</p>
<p>Could you please explain religion logically to me, then?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd say it's without reason to assume religion is the absence of logic.
[/quote]
I can think of a number of well respected philosphers who would disagree with you. (OTOH, the philosphers I'm thinking of generally love religion and expound on the power of faith/belief...something I agree with, even if I'm not religious myself).</p>
<p>I'm Catholic and I have no problems dating outside my religion. Actually, I find that I practically only date non-Catholics. </p>
<p>It would become a problem if we were contemplating marriage/kids, but that's not something that's on my mind when I ask a girl out.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Don’t forget that Paul writes that it’s okay to marry non-believers in his letters. In fact, he says it’s good—it spreads the Christian word.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>He does? o_0</p>
<p>Anyhow, I'm an odd sort of Christian - I pray and read the Bible, but haven't been to church in years. I just don't see the point, although I can see why others might benefit from it.</p>
<p>I don't intend on dating a non-Christian; my father is an agnostic and my mother is a fundamentalist, and they quarrel like hell - though not just over religion but over everything.</p>
<p>The closest I ever came to dating outside my faith was when I dated a Catholic girl. (Actually, she's the only girl I've ever dated...haha.) In the end we broke up because she wanted me to convert to Catholicism and I preferred the opposite route (especially because she was actually just a Catholic in name...on almost everything else she was probably closer to mainline Protestantism; she would probably have best fit in in Anglican/Episcopalian church).</p>
<p>Religion is a messy matter. I think it would only work if both partners are very liberal and tolerant. If you believe that all religions are different paths to the same God (something I don't personally subscribe to), then interfaith dating probably shouldn't be an issue for you.</p>
<p>post #29 is funny...people who think like that really turn me off religion</p>
<p>jaso9n2:</p>
<p>That's the single worst argument I've heard against atheism. I am very atheist, and I will continue to be atheist for my entire life. You know why? Because I'm too focused on living my life in a way that is consistent with logical thought, and cohesive intellectual investigation.</p>
<p>If I can't look at my beliefs and explain why they are the way they are without referring to some book or person that told me so (command beliefs), then I don't think I should believe them. Ergo, I am and always will be an atheist.</p>
<p>That is not to say that religion isn't a great draw. This is why I think so many older people begin to become more religious. The sense of community, of brotherhood, and of comforting righteousness in a religion is unparalleled. You're almost always missing that as an atheist - no doubt it's a colder, less celebratory existence.</p>
<p>But just because it feels good and feels right doesn't mean that it is right.</p>