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Can an atheist and a devout christian have a long lasting romantic relationship?

I live in a very small town in south Louisiana, so finding a female atheist in my age group (I'm 34) is virtually impossible. I am surrounded by christians, mostly catholic. I have tried to find companionship on dating sites, but there aren't very many self-proclaimed atheists in my neck of the woods. However I've been involved in a relationship with a very devout catholic woman. She knows I'm atheist, but she thinks we can still have a good long-term relationship. I'm not sure that it's possible. I am in no rush for a commitment right now, but when I am ready for it could an atheist and a catholic be in a relationship together for the long haul? Has anyone else been in this situation?

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Permalink Reply by Sam Jones on July 3, 2010 at 7:57am

Im sorry to hear that. I know just how hard it is as I am from Oklahoma and have gone thorough this many many times to the same end. It gets better. The schism created by religion is horrible.

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Permalink Reply by Cher Mason on July 6, 2010 at 11:23am

Well I agree with your friend about prayer in schools and I'm an atheist. I definitely don't think it should be conducted by school officials, but I do think it should be allowed for those who want to do it. The way I look at it is... if we are trying to take other peoples' rights away, then we don't deserve to have our own rights. You said that students who don't pray would be ostracized. Well, in a forced secular environment, the praying people would probably be ostracized and that's not fair either. I would think that if the environment was open for BOTH praying and not praying would be the best chance for nobody to feel ostracized. I think that the "moment of silence" that we have now is perfect and should work for everybody.

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Permalink Reply by Corey on July 6, 2010 at 3:57pm

Well, you can have a moment of silence anytime you want to, but to stand up and say "It's prayer time for anyone who wants to pray", at least here in the bible belt, the majority will pray because the majority are christian. I guarentee you that if someone in a public school here opted not to pray that individual would be ostracised, no doubt about it. Furthermore not allowing prayer in a public school is not taking away their rights, it is upholding everyones rights.

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Permalink Reply by Corey on July 6, 2010 at 4:07pm

watch this video.

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Permalink Reply by Corey on July 6, 2010 at 6:04pm

I do hope the best for you and your husband. I know it must be very difficult for you.

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Permalink Reply by hunter on July 3, 2010 at 9:33am

well, yeah sure, I don't see why not, but I havn't really seen this situation before. It really all depends on the couple, you might find it hard to deal with the little naive thing about her belief but this is where you have o let go, also she can't be worried about trying to save you from the wrath of some god. from reading a few replies already I don't think its going to work and if it does it won't work well.

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Permalink Reply by Errol Monaghan on July 3, 2010 at 10:18am

Not really, I managed to make a relationship with a Creationist last until we were moved out and engaged, but her religion ended up ruining the relationship before long.

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Permalink Reply by hunter on July 3, 2010 at 10:30am

maybe its just me but If my girlfriend thought that I was just being religously rebellious and always trying to save me from the wrath of some god, I wouldn't know how long I could take it, so it might work it epends on your tolerance level I guess.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Charles Hudson on July 6, 2010 at 10:17am

Someone may have mentioned this already, but a Christian who would even consider an atheist as a partner is either compromising, or ignorant of the scripture. I believe it says somewhere in there that "thou shall not be yoked with unbelievers."

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Rice on July 6, 2010 at 4:22pm

Corey,I agree with your discussion with Cher about prayer in schools. I would like to add that the believers can always pray SILENTLY. It doesn't need to be a classroom participation thing. They are there to learn academics not pray. I am surprised schools don't start having a bible class as well,but relieved they don't. Religion and school should be separate in ALL ways in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Corey on July 6, 2010 at 5:21pm

Thank you Jenifer. As an adult there was an incident after hurricanes Katrina and Rita that I was involved in personally. I went to work in a plant in New Orleans through the company I worked for at the time, and the very first day two supervisors decided they would lead a prayer and that everyone there should join in. I wasn't a full-fledged atheist by a long shot at that time, but I was beginning to have a lot of doubt. I felt that it was completely innapropriate, even though I was still going to church at the time, but I knew that if I were to object (even as an adult among other adults), that I would have been singled out and made to feel like I was the one in the wrong (I was much more assimilated then). If I would have voiced my objection to the incident at all, I don't doubt that I would have been let go soon after.