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Schwartz intends his responses to provide general educational information to the readership of this website; answers should not be understood to be specific advice intended for any particular individual s. Questions submitted to this column are not guaranteed to receive responses. No correspondence takes place. No ongoing relationship of any sort including but not limited to any form of professional relationship is implied or offered by Dr. Schwartz to people submitting questions. Schwartz and Mental Help Net disclaim any and all merchantability or warranty of fitness for a particular purpose or liability in connection with the use or misuse of this service.
Always consult with your psychotherapist, physician, or psychiatrist first before changing any aspect of your treatment regimen. Do not stop your medication or change the dose of your medication without first consulting with your physician. Your question is deeply important for yourself, this girl and many other people today. The reason it is important is that in the modern world it is more common than ever for people to meet and marry across ethnic, religious and racial lines. The decision to marry or not when there are very great differences in religion should not be made easily or lightly.
The consequences for yourself and the girl you love can have reverberations that can impact the happiness of each of you. The major issues for each of you to think about: The old romantic idea that "love conquers all" does not hold true in the real world.
If it did the world rate of divorce would be a lot lower. When you weigh the fact that most of the couples who divorce come from homogeneous religious and ethnic backgrounds the entire issue of marriage and religious differences take on a whole new meaning. If people who come from backgrounds with shared values cannot save their marriages is there any hope for those who come from different backgrounds? Actually, people who come from different faiths, nationalities and races can have successful marriages if they completely explore the important issues before they make the final decision to wed.
The process of exploring these important issues has to do with what each considers to be of such great importance that they cannot compromise. For example, if you marry this girl with the expectation that the children will be raised Muslim she must completely agree or there will be major conflicts between the two of you in the future.
When I tell people that my boyfriend lives miles away in Scotland, they usually gasp, smile bewilderedly, and say, “That must be so hard!” And they're right. Here's the real scoop about what it's like to date someone from a totally different religion than you.
Generally speaking, people from different faiths can marry and succeed in staying together if they each agree on the religion they will practice or if they agree that they are not religious and do not consider themselves to be of any religious persuasion. The key words are "if they each agree.
It is much easier for couples to agree about religion if the one individual feels a lot less strongly committed to their religion of origin. A strong religious foundation can also sustain relationships through dark periods, such as the aftermath of an affair, as the Deseret News reported in September.
Couples who believe their connection is sanctified, or centered on God, seem to have more success than other pairings in overcoming these difficult situations. In general, shared religious beliefs enable couples to comfortably bring religion into their relationship, facilitating conversations that are more difficult for others. Eight in 10 U. As Pew's study showed, religious discussions are less common in religiously mixed households, which holds consequences for romantic partners and their future children.
People who feel awkward sharing their religious experiences with their spouse may struggle to stay connected to their own spirituality, Pew reported. Adults in religiously matched marriages are more likely to believe in God, say religion is important to them, attend worship services regularly and pray more frequently than their peers in religiously mixed marriages.
More than 8 in 10 Protestants 82 percent married to fellow Protestants are highly religious, compared to 58 percent of Protestants married to non-Protestant believers and 49 percent married to someone unaffiliated with a faith, according to the study. The potential temptation to disengage from religion can be passed on to children of religiously mixed parents, resulting in higher rates of departure from faith communities.
This trend is especially pronounced among Catholics, researchers noted. One-third of adults raised to embrace Catholicism by one Catholic parent and one non-Catholic parent 34 percent are religiously unaffiliated today, compared to 17 percent of people raised Catholic by two Catholic parents. Religious differences don't always spell doom for relationships, but they can lead to arguments and tensions. Religiously mixed couples should be proactive about addressing the role faith will play in their family life, according to experts on religion and romance.
If two people aren't on the same page, it can cause a crack in the foundation of the relationship," said Fran Walfish, a family psychotherapist, to the Deseret News in Deseret News Church News Subscribe. Studies support the idea that prayer enables couples to focus on shared needs, rather than individual concerns.
Create a Sacred Space or a power place to help you Questions submitted to this column are not guaranteed to receive responses. Are you attracted to someone who follows a different culture and faith? Kayleigh Roberts 4 hours ago. The key words are "if they each agree. Tips for Dating Someone of a Different Religion. Our relationship has taught me more about unconditional love than any sermon ever did.
A strong religious foundation can also sustain relationships through dark periods.