Important Or Unimportant For Spouses To Share A Common Religion?

Tweet

I've encountered a lot of situations where upon marriage, one spouse will convert to the religion of the other. In a lot of cases I've seen the woman do this, but in other cases the man has also converted. When I asked one woman, she argued that if she was going to take his name, she might as well take his religion. Um, really? In my opinion, one's religion, or lack of religion, is a very important part of who they are. I can think of a personal example from my family where woman and man met, man was having an issue with the strict religion in which he was raised, man went to church with woman, man joined woman's liberal church, they later married in that church. This was the man's decision, because the religion genuinely appealed to him and made sense, and had nothing to do with the actual marriage. It just happend to work out that way. Those who know me know that I am Presbyterian, and my husband is Mormon. We are perfectly OK with this, although I can't say the same for a couple of Missionaries, in the beginning of our relationship, and some issues from my former Presbyterian minister. The one who preaches at my church today probably wouldn't have an issue, nor would my Aunt and Uncle, who are married Presbyterian ministers. No one in my family or his, has an issue with our religious differences either. He is the only Mormon in his family. I've heard from many religious authorities, belonging to many different religions, state that changing religions for the sake of a union with another person is not the right reason to convert. Religious conversion should be because of something within the individual, not because they want to be more united with their partner. In a good marriage, different religions really won't matter. If my huband and I had decided to have children, we'd have raised them with both sets of beliefs, taught them both religions, and when they were old enough to make their own decidions, they'd decide. It could be mine, it could be his, it could be another, or it could be no religion at all. Who are we, and who is anyone, to say what goes on within someone else's spirit? Last week at a conference in Kitchener a Muslim Imam said exactly the same thing. We should choose a religion because it's within us to choose that religion, not because we are "marrying into it." That's not to say it never happens. I mentioned the case before of my relatives where one met his partner, and genuinely felt a connection to her church. Is it important to you that you and your partner share the same religion, or in the greater scheme of things, does a union beyond two people go beyond religion, or actually unite two different religions on one union?