We’ve already agreed upon any children we have will be allowed to make their own decisions when it comes to any form of Religion or Non-Religious beliefs.

Her beliefs allow her to feel she has a higher outward Locus of Control over the world, which is fine, it means she feels she has more control over things that happen to her, the fact she does this through her own paganistic practices, is the same way many Major Leauge Baseball Players count the Stripes on a Baseball before Pitching it. Human beings have an inherent need to put Order on Chaos.

The Danger becomes of course when they end up as Fundamentalists, when it comes to embody every aspect of their existence.

If I was with a Fundamentalist who tried to force her religious beliefs onto every aspect of her being, I’d be with you completly in terms of how her beliefs would be a bigger difference then say our Moral or Political leanings. But as those are only a minor part of herself, our similarities balance it out.

I’m just saying, be careful about how you lump people. Personally I do one day hope everyone in the world can leave behind supersticious and religious beliefs, but being a Scientist who studies the mind, I can say… it’s not very likely to happen easily, or any time soon. Unfortunetly.

Of course, atheism isn’t a belief. But there is a potential clash – she believes things about the world that are not true. That’s a bigger difference than most couples face in terms of say politics or moral attitudes. I couldn’t take someone seriously who believed in a soul.

But, that’s just one man’s opinion. I’m not sure I could take seriously someone with far-right politics either. Or someone who liked soccer. Or snored. Or wore clothes that clashed with mine. Or opened their egg at the big end, rather than the little end…

Being that Atheism is not any sort of “Faith” itself, their is litterally nothing to clash over. Their is more to the totality of existence of an individual when it comes to whether or not they have a religious belief. For myself and her, our similarities and compatability far outway our differences in whether or not we believe in the existence of a soul.

But how could an atheist respect a believer enough to consider having kids with them? And why, for example, would a Xtian want to raise a family with someone who, from their point of view, is doomed to hell?

I mean, I’m not a militant, campaigning, evangelical atheist. But if someone tells me they believe in fairies, I’m not likely think ‘great, you can be the mother of my children’.

1) if they’re strong in their faith, they are inherently incompatible on those points which conflict in their differing faiths (or lack thereof).

2) if they’re not strong in their faith, then they’re giving lipservice to their faith, in which case, what’s the point of having that faith if it’s not doing anything for you? It loses its meaning to say one is a Christian (or pagan or muslim, or whatever) but one doesn’t really think much about Christianity, doesn’t attend services, doesn’t know the history, doesn’t know the texts, etc. Then really, how much of a [fill in the blank with your faith here] are you and how meaningful is it to say you are?

Partners with differing world views should be considered carefully. After all, no one standing at the alter really thought that they would end up in a court battle 10 years from then. No one proposed to their fiance by saying “I know that we’re inherently incompatible and you’ll eventually turn on me and take my kids away and clean out my bank account, but I love you, so will you marry me?”

It’s still no guarantee that you’ll remain compatible for life, but one can minimize the chances by choosing partners who have similar values and worldviews at the start. Marriages don’t usually end in custody cases because that slurping noise you thought was cute way back when is now annoying, but they *do* end up in court over things like religion, finances, parenting duties, and the type of relationship the participants want, even when those things didn’t seem like a problem in the beginning when all the addictive happy brain chemicals are convincing you that it’s not a problem.