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Atheists, could you seriously date a religious person (and vice versa)?

I wasn't sure whether to put this under society, religion or relationships so sorry if it's in the wrong place.

So the title basically. If you don't believe in God would you be able to have a serious relationship with someone who does believe in God? And if you do believe in God could you have a serious relationship with somebody who doesn't? Even if one or both of you plans to have children?

I ask because my Christian cousin has just announced that she plans to one day have a baby with her atheist boyfriend, and I just don't see how they would compromise on something as big as what religion their child should be raised as seeing as they both hold such opposing views.

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yes

See im a quite a strong atheist and have always been attracted to atheists just by coincidence as in i dont go looking for one in particular.

I think it would depend, if i was completely bessotted with a christian i think i could cope with it, there were some things i would draw the line at such as baptising our children, but on the whole i could cope with it. It would depend how strong a christian he was too, as a few of my best friends are gay and if he didnt accept them then it would be over. For example to me a church is just a building so i could get married in one, or go with him on a sunday if he wanted me too, it just wouldnt mean anything to me at all.

(edited 12 years ago)

yeah I think so

Sure, as long as no one was forced to change their belief system or lack of. Raising a child? They should be exposed to both arguments and once they are at a maturer age they can make their own decisions.

You can't force belief, not true belief, you can make some one pray, chant, obey a lifestyle, but the whole point of a belief is accepting it yourself. If a vow means nothing to you it carries no weight. I could vow to 'accept Jesus as the one true saviour', announce 'Buddha is the Enlightened teacher', That 'Mohammad was the last prophet of God' and 'God is a flying spaghetti monster' all one after the other and it means nothing because i don't care.

Reply 5

jackmb

I could seriously date a religious person. Not so sure I could date a seriously religious person however!

Reply 6

adamrules247

Original post by aliasunknown

Why would you draw the line at baptising your children? By your own logic all it is is splashing a bit of water on them (I'm genuinely curious so don't have a go).

Reply 7

k3ro

Depending on how 'serious' they are about it. :s-smilie:

Like, I doubt I'd be able to date a catholic because I'd just end up disagreeing with him/her about everything. :s-smilie:

Reply 8

member327593

I'd be fine, but I don't think he'd want our kids to be growing up as muslims....

Reply 9

Manitude

Young earth creationist who denies science? Probably not.

Moderate believer who doesn't let their faith get in the way of other people's lives? Yes, no problems with that.

Reply 10

aliasunknown

Original post by adamrules247

Why would you draw the line at baptising your children? By your own logic all it is is splashing a bit of water on them (I'm genuinely curious so don't have a go).

yeah i guess it is! I personally just see it as "choosing" a religion for them as you are supposedly promising to raise them christian and i believe it should be the childs own choice and i wouldnt have a problem with them choosing to baptisted themselves at age 16 or whatever.

Reply 11

Smilingsam

Meh wouldn't mind it's up to them what they believe in reguarding children that hurdle would be sorted when we got to it

Reply 12

username133326

My best mate's dad is an atheist whilst his mum is a relatively devout catholic. They've both held their respective views since before they met and have been married about 25 years, so it can work.

Reply 13

Cornish student

I'm not going to beat about the bush, I wouldn't. As an atheist and a homosexual, dating someone whos "religious" is an unbearable thought. Particularly in regards to a religious man, there are all sorts of pressures from his family and internal conflicts for me to feel like he would be happy. I could, however, date someone who has a small amount of "faith" as it is still possible there is a deity in some form. We dont know. However, gnostic theists who ignore half of their scripture and still claim to be religious are a bit of a joke to me. The bible is fairly explicit in saying homosexual sex is immoral and that gays should be stoned and that is impure to wear two types of thread.

Personally, I think its ludicrous how some people can pick and choose parts of the scripture and use it as justification for their actions. It infuriates me to such an extent that I wouldn't be able to take their "moral values" seriously. I like a sharp wit and someone who is secure enough to make their own moral code.

Sorry if this offends any religious TSR-ians (especially is they are homosexual christians/mulims), that is not my intention but merely a product of my thoughts. I just wanted to add my P.O.V to the discussion :smile:

Reply 14

U.S Lecce

Depends how religious they are.

Reply 15

Dominicque

More like, could a (really) religious person date an Atheist.

Reply 16

Lewis :D

Original post by Cornish student

This

Reply 17

polanski

I am quite open minded about things, I'm not an atheist but nor am I devoted to any one religion. My partner is a practicing catholic and I go to mass myself some times ( I was raised catholic) and I enjoy it. I think I would find a strident atheist more of a drag than a religious person but ultimately I like people who keep and open mind and who aren't too judgemental.

I would say our children would be raised as open minded and questioning catholics as I was.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 18

OmicronPersei8

It just depends on the level of their faith. If they have a personal belief in God and do not want to enforce their viewpoints on others, then sure. I don't see a problem - although I don't think I'd date a hardcore believer :colondollar: