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Could you date a highly religious person?

I couldn't. I've never had a relationship with a woman who was very religious. I think it would be a constant source of disagreement. OTOH, Darwin was married to a religious woman for most of his life, so it does happen. What has been your experience?

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Permalink Reply by Sonny Mobley on September 23, 2009 at 1:27pm

Absolutely not. If I were capable of such I would not be single right now. I can't date anyone who is anything other than agnostic or atheist. No superstitious belief at all.

Permalink Reply by Kira on October 2, 2009 at 4:30am

I wouldn't mind dating a religious person, as long as (s)he didn't try to 'convert' me and/or show any kind of fanaticism, or try to impose his/her lifestyle on me. However, I guess our 'philosophical differences' could eventually bring some troubles over time, especially if that other person is fond of attending a lot of rituals instead of spending time with me. ;)

Permalink Reply by Leslie on October 3, 2009 at 7:22am

I could. As long as my boyfriend new I that I was all knowing and all powerful and he worshipped me in this life and in the next life as well! lol

oh hellllll naw!

I can barely tolerate highly religious people, much less date one. I remember once going out on a date with this one dude who knew I was an atheist upfront and he proceeded to tell me on our first (and only) date that the world was going to end and just had to look at the signs around me! Yeah, I never talked with that man again!
Theist are nothing if not entertaining!

Permalink Reply by Amanda Caudill on October 8, 2009 at 5:29pm

I dated a Lutheran before. He was a great person but his belief kept getting in the way. I used to go to church with him and even took bible study to try to understand his faith. I couldn't help but think it was all ridiculous. He even wanted his parents to believe he was still a virgin and he was in his late 20s. We had many issues and most of them had to do with his religion.

Permalink Reply by Kent Langsteiner on October 11, 2009 at 6:35am

My ex-wife was very catholic. Her beliefs did present a source of friction, but the one thing that I found amusing was that I knew more about the bible than she did.

Permalink Reply by B-Girl on October 12, 2009 at 9:36pm

Nope. Couldn't date someone highly religious, might be able to date someone nominally religious, but don't know, have never tried before. Last several guys I dated were non-believers, prior ones the subject never came up.

Permalink Reply by Adriana Rosas on October 15, 2009 at 12:53am

I don't think I could. The only exception I see is someone who never talks about their beliefs and respects the value of science.
I tend to lose all interest if someone even claims any sort of religious belief. I want to be able to share ideas with them and I can't do that if they just keep professing irrationality.

Permalink Reply by Maggie Akdogan on October 18, 2009 at 12:54am

Religion isn't so different than the other mind numbing addictions we humans fall prey to (drugs, alcohol, video games).
I'd prefer not to date a person with ANY of these vices, however of these four, non-fanatic theism would be my first choice.

I believe in freedom of religion and love people who have great imaginations.

Whether a highly religious person could date me, that, I doubt.

Permalink Reply by Jo Jerome on October 22, 2009 at 2:12pm

As we speak, I'm seeing this from a disturbingly different angle.

A close friend of mine, one of the biggest influences in my being brave enough to come out of the Atheistic closet and mock religion without shame, has now done a 180 and is a Catholic, chastising me for my Atheism and rudeness in voicing it out loud.

Why the change? He married a Catholic.

As I got to know him he asked me out a lot. A very dear friend but A) the chemistry 'it' just wasn't there for me and B) I got the feeling he molds himself to the likes/dislikes of whatever woman he's trying to get with.

It seems now that B is confirmed. 'Religiously Pussy Whipped' is the term I believe I'm looking for.

Sorry guys, but no matter how hot you are, no matter how much I lust after you in every other way, no matter how much we may be soul mates in every other way, I will not sacrifice my core beliefs to get laid or married.

Permalink Reply by Jason Spicer on October 22, 2009 at 9:00pm

Me neither. Well, laid maybe. No, on second thought, that's too much work.

Atheist adults who get religion are just weak-minded. I've met one or two like that. No self-respect at all.

Permalink Reply by Scott Macauley on January 30, 2010 at 7:26pm

This reminds me of something from my recent past. Growing up, my two best friends and I kind of came into the realization that we were atheists together. One of them had been brought up in a pretty religious household, and after I moved away, I found out he had gone back to god. He never had a really good reason why, but I've always suspected he did it for a girl, and when that girl was gone from his life he was too weak-minded to leave it behind again.

Permalink Reply by Eric on October 31, 2009 at 6:18pm

I remember reading what is ultimately a sad story. Mark Twain (yes, that famous American writer and humorist), an atheist, was married to a woman who just radiated positive energy and also was very religious. He clearly loved her. Throughout their marriage Mark argued with his wife about the existence of God, and one day finally convinced her that there was no God. But when that happened, his wife became depressed, because her whole life had been built around that idea. She felt her life was now empty, meaningless. Later in hindsight Mark regretted what he had done, because after he had succeeded in persuading his wife, he felt he had simultaneously lost his wife because his wife was no longer the woman he had married. He could not figure out how to bring the old positive wife back. I think his wife was depressed for the remainder of her life.