Can a Christian and Atheist Date Or Even Marry?
This topic came up when two of my friends got engaged and he is a Christian and she is an Atheist. Well I asked around and I found several other couples in the same situation. They sat down and told me their fears and concerns on both sides of the coin. Here are the top 3 challenges that arose with each couple.
1. Both sides had a fear of either one of them forcing their beliefs on them or if they had children together. There was one couple that the guy had no problem if the woman took the child to church but that is rare. I could see major conflict arising with this but that all depends on how on fire the people are with their beliefs. The best thing to do is respect your spouse’s beliefs.
2. The next situation was no communication about their beliefs with fear of the other feeling like they were being forceful. In a relationship you have to be able to talk no matter what the subject is. In that scenario the best thing to do is have an open communication policy even if it does pertain to beliefs. Your beliefs make up who you are and if you can not share that then they do not know you at all.
3. Friends were another major issue. When you have two people very different in beliefs a lot of the time their friends will have the same belief as they do. You will have issues bringing your significant other around your friends, only because you can’t shut Christians or Atheists up. Both sides when they know someone believes something they don’t believe a lot of them can be very mean spirited. I suggest talking to your friends up front about your spouses beliefs and ask them to respect them.
Here is a basic summary of the top 3 conflicts.
First conflict forces beliefs on one another. Tip: Respect one another
Second conflict no communication about their beliefs. Tip: Have open communication
Third conflict friends not respecting your significant other. Tip: Talk to friends
Can a Christian and Atheist date? It appears so but not without its hardships but every relationship has its problems. Everyone must realize you can not make anyone believe anything. If you are a Christian you know God will enable that person and it is still up to the person to except it or not. An Atheist knows they can not make a Christian stop believing. When you start dating someone and move to the next level you should not be thinking about changing that person because that is who you fell in love with and if you think about changing that person than they are not for you and you are not in love.
Best advice I can give anyone be with someone for who they are and not for what you think you can make them.
By: Jennifer Haskett of http://www.eQpid.com
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A similar article from a non-Christian perspective:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/man-woman/Love-me-love-my-belief-/articleshow/6014461.cms
3 tips, which say no more than to respect one another and to communicate, transcends the what-faith-you-are “problem”. If you don’t already have those two things then that’s not much of a basis for a relationship.