Marrying Someone With a different belief

@Stephanie, I think for the most part people posting here are in a similar situation as you at least the first pages were mostly that.

About the thread, if you really want it gone, threads aren't deleted but you can "hide" it, there should be a button or a link above or below the text of the thread or near the title. But If it keeps going, I'm pretty sure nobody was offended or hurt by you. And hopefully not by anything else on this thread either.

My fiance and I are both Catholic but we are currently attending a non denominational christian church. I could not imagine not being able to share my religion with my FH or the bringing two religions/spiritual beliefs into our household. I admire you all who have been able to make it work! Great job!

VC, I just wanted to say you're absolutely right about being religious culturally. Any Lebanese person will tell you their religion very quickly after meeting just because it defines them more culturally than anything, also, in Lebanon specifically, it tells you which part of the country they are from. In general, it would be very difficult for anyone to speak Arabic and not mention the word god, at all.

Lots to say, responding to multiple comments.

@Spazzytazi – Thank you for the kind offer; I probably will chat with you about your perspective of agnostic Orthodoxy. I know what I’m getting into and it was scary until I found a “safe” haven and acceptance. I’m fortunately in good hands between my fiancé, his family, and my future Nouna. Also found a fantastic church with a very kind priest and a diverse community.

@MrsA – I mean no disrespect, but my faith isn’t empty. It’s just different; that’s what makes me agnostic. I’m in no position to say what is the one truth, so I keep my heart (spiritually) open and behave as a good, moral, and ethical humanist.

I didn’t say conversion was a problem; it’s a complication. Converting is not something I take lightly, AT ALL. The priest and I have had many conversations about where I’m coming from, and he’s happy to lead me forward knowing that I contribute to the community, attend services, and continue to learn and grow my faith over time.

The most important aspect is that my fiancé and I share the same moral compass, and we do. Our conversations about religion are always interesting; we have such different perspectives and we’re happy to learn from each other.

@Stephanie – Sounds like you and your FH have a solid base, and that’s wonderful to hear. Good, open and honest communication rules all.

An Orthodox marriage ceremony does require that both parties be baptized as Eastern Orthodox. Even a different sect of Christian would have to convert specifically to Orthodoxy. The priest that baptized my fiancé will perform the ceremony. I will be baptized in Texas.

My fiancé is not adamant about anything; when we first got engaged, he was perfectly accepting of us having a non-secular ceremony. Over time, I began to see the importance of faith in his family, even though none of them are particularly religious on a daily basis.

As such, this was a decision I made on my own, fully and happily. I knew the challenges going in, and it hasn’t been easy, but I’m open.

We’ve been talking about this for six years with very open communication. He doesn’t need any assurance that I won’t derail his faith; I go to church more than he does, and he definitely knows where I come from. He’s met the wolves that raised me, and we’re all happy. His parents are ecstatic of course that I’m embracing their religion, but there was never a time where it wasn’t okay or contentious. Our relationship has been strong from day one, and honestly, religion is the last thing we have to worry about in our lives.

I have a new church that I go to regularly. The most stress has been from my shyness and not being great at talking to new people. I’ve had to go alone due to my fiancé’s work schedule, so that was an intimidating period of time.

But I appreciate all that you’ve said and I think it might be helpful for others going through similar situations. To me, faith is always evolving and my beliefs are not the same as they were when I was 20, and I’m sure they will be different when I’m 60.

Wow there are a lot of comments on here and I admit I didn't read most of them. Just wanted to say that my DH and I have different spiritual beliefs and it has never been an issue for us.

I identify as Christian in that I believe the main Christian beliefs (That Jesus came for us and died for our sins so that we may have eternal life in Heaven. Love is basically the answer to everything....Etc). My DH doesn't necessarily believe in that, but he believes there is a God and DH is a very logical person so it's hard to get much further than that without very specific proof. However, we have prayed together, he has come to church with me on Christmas (I don't really go to church as much as I used to but he never held me back from going), and our wedding ceremony had a few readings from the Bible and prayers. He was 100% on board with having a wedding in a church but we didn't find a church we liked (especially since our wedding wasn't where we live or in either of our home towns).

I think the biggest thing is that we have the same morals and beliefs of how our family should be, what we want in life, how we want to treat others, and how we would like to raise our kids some day. We are both understanding that there may be things that we don't agree upon but we're really easy going so in five years we haven't encountered any problems.

The only thing that kinda bums me out is that bible studies are a great way to meet other young married couples but DH has no interest in participating in something like that. It would be fun to get to know others at the same stage in life.

I mean, moral of the story, whatever you call yourself just don't be a dick.

Ring for the win!

I'm a Wiccan and he is Buddhist but so far it has not been in issue.