Does Your Spouse Share Your Beliefs?

[lunamoth]

This includes your significant other, regardless of whether you are married.

My husband is an atheist. Raised in the Episcopal Church as I was, but drifted away and never looked back. He does not go to church because he says it would feel hypocritical. However, he supports me completely in my faith and is positive about our girls going to church, Sunday school etc.. He was equally fine with it all when I was a Baha'i.

In spite of this, I think my husband is actually even more 'spiritual' than I am. He knows who he is, he is devoted to us, his family, and he grabs life every day. He is fully present. He is very intelligent, has the strongest integrity of anyone I've every met, and he is witty, articulate and well-liked. All around a good guy.

I personally believe that our love will live forever.

 

[Nanda]

Yes, we have the same beliefs, although he doesn't call himself an atheist. He doesn't like to think about gods or religions at all (he's not fascinated by them like I am) so he doesn't see the point in identifying himself as someone who does not believe in any gods; he feels it just goes without saying. Except when the JW's come to visit, then he just smiles and says "No, I'm sorry, we're atheists."

 

[Buttercup]

Of the choices above I'd say Rick and I have similar religious beliefs but not identical. Rick has very little interest in spirituality, religion, religious history, theology, etc and gives the subject almost no thought. He does believe in God but not hell and likes the person of Jesus but isn't sure if he's God. We don't go to church anymore.

Every time I try to engage him in some sort of religiously directed conversation he has instant eye glaze over and lapses into a vegetative state. He's very intelligent, creative, funny and a good conversationalist....we just don't talk about religion often.

 

[ChristineES]

My husband and I have similar beliefs. We both believe in Jesus and God, but we are of different denominations. I was baptized in a Baptist Church and he is a Charismatic type.
I read the bible and know it, my husband doesn't believe he needs to read it at all and gets his teaching from God Himself. He does watch Bible movies though.

 

[Zephyr]

My girlfriend and I are similar, but also pretty different. She's an agnostic, but she's also pretty folkish, so we're not too different.

 

[Hema]

Yes, my husband and I are both Hindu and we basically share the same beliefs. I think that we might be more spiritual than religious because we sometimes like to talk about God and life and although we don't focus too much on rituals, we believe that God knows what is in our hearts and sees how we live our lives.

EDIT: Although we might be more spiritual, we both love our religion a lot! :yes:

 

[Smoke]

I voted No, but since my husband is Pentecostal and I'm an atheist, it might be more accurate to say that I don't share his beliefs.

However, he has little interest in organized religion, so it kind of works out most of the time.

 

[Bishka]

We are the same. We are both members of the LDS Church and we both are in the same spot in our spiritual lives right now. It's nice that we think along the same lines and have similar views on things.

 

[Jaymes]

One does, one doesn't.

 

[Gentoo]

GC and I agree on a lot of things, but there are some thing that we don't agree on. We're both on paths that meet every now and then, but ultimately our journeys are quite different.

 

[jamaesi]

Nope. He's an agnostic/atheist, I'm a UU Muslim.

But we have lots of fun debating about religion and G-d and he's interested in coming to a UU Church with me. Hoorah!

 

[Quiddity]

We are both catholic (as is obvious of her posts in RF). Catholicism is so much of who she is that she says she will die catholic. I thought I would never be catholic so I can't say with any certainty that I will also die catholic. I went from despising organized religion, to falling in love with it.

 

[Lindsey-Loo]

My boyfriend and I have almost the exact same beliefs. We might disagree slightly on two or three issues, but on everything else, we share the same views. It's nice to be able to discuss religious things with him without arguing about it, and it's nice to know that we share the same morals and views about right and wrong.

 

[Smoke]

But we have lots of fun debating about religion and G-d

We don't debate, but I do pick on him a little. For instance, I'll tell him it's not God's will that we watch CSI.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

My wife is a theist.

 

[s2a]

lunamoth asked:

Does Your Spouse Share Your Beliefs?

This includes your significant other, regardless of whether you are married.

[Note: I chose "Similar beliefs but not identical" in your poll.]

My husband is an atheist. Raised in the Episcopal Church as I was, but drifted away and never looked back. He does not go to church because he says it would feel hypocritical. However, he supports me completely in my faith and is positive about our girls going to church, Sunday school etc.. He was equally fine with it all when I was a Baha'i.

Good for him (and you). Next time he attends a "gathering" (oops, "fellowship"?) of atheists, please gently remind him to sport his atheist credentials, and enthusiastically welcome all with the secret handshake. ;-)

In spite of this, I think my husband is actually even more 'spiritual' than I am. He knows who he is, he is devoted to us, his family, and he grabs life every day. He is fully present. He is very intelligent, has the strongest integrity of anyone I've every met, and he is witty, articulate and well-liked. All around a good guy.

Gee whiz, maybe I'm "spiritual" in that sense too...*blush*....

I personally believe that our love will live forever.

Or at least..."until death do you part...". ;-)

To answer your initial inquiry with greater specificity, I would offer that my wife and I are "irreligious" (taken as a bipartisan whole). We do not EVER (seriously) debate the predominant conclusions of science regarding theories of evolution or the Big Bang. She is no "creationist"...of any particular creed; and is not an advocate of any specific faith-based beliefs, per se.

My wife is, what some might seek to define as...a melding of a naturalist and a "spiritualist". If you have ever read "The Education of Little Tree", you might have an inkling into her own unique perspective.

In short, she likes to think that all living things abide by some amorphous "Way", which is more or less (for lack of better definition) a "cosmological imperative", of sorts.

Put another way, it's not that the cosmos acts as some "intelligent designer/agent", but that people (individuals) eventually manifest their own "fit" of "reason/purpose" within this natural existence and cosmos. She retains no subscription to Heaven and Hell this Week, nor does she believe in deities, divine entities, nor "cosmic constables/counselors". At best, one might regard her "faith" as one described/alluded in the Star Wars legacy...as an obtuse and obscure karmic "force"...if you like. "Things" either flow within the "Way", or they oppose the "Way". I don't pretend to fully understand it all as presented, and I dare say, neither does my wife...but...that's OK.

The bottom line for me is, that my wife remains altogether in touch with the latest science, and realistically grounded realities. If she is to be faulted in anything, it's in her overly gracious tolerance of/towards (otherwise) insufferable "true believers" (such is the burden and penance all decent liberals must painfully endure). I love her for that, just as I love her for her kind, gentle, and forgiving nature in enduring my own particularly untidy proclivities/failings (within those qualities, and being also reminded that she is discerning to utter evisceration, brilliant, witty, and quite dangerous in uncivil debate).

That...and the fact that she doesn't EVER insist that we attend some religious construct of worship...simply to experience/enhance our prospectively "unified" regard for differing existential views.

Thank god...;-)

 

[lunamoth]

Good for him (and you). Next time he attends a "gathering" (oops, "fellowship"?) of atheists, please gently remind him to sport his atheist credentials, and enthusiastically welcome all with the secret handshake. ;-)

I've seen his creds, but he still won't divulge the secret handshake. I'm thinking I need to ply him with too much gin some night and try to get it out of him...I've always wondered what they do at those meetings.

Gee whiz, maybe I'm "spiritual" in that sense too...*blush*....

There has never been any doubt in my mind (although I've already been taken to task for using the term 'spiritual' to refer to how we prioritize our loves).

Or at least..."until death do you part...". ;-)

I asked him about that one. He deferred the question.

To answer your initial inquiry with greater specificity, I would offer that my wife and I are "irreligious" (taken as a bipartisan whole). We do not EVER (seriously) debate the predominant conclusions of science regarding theories of evolution or the Big Bang. She is no "creationist"...of any particular creed; and is not an advocate of any specific faith-based beliefs, per se.

I know quite a bit more about the proposed mechanisms of evolution and theories of how the universe started than he, and neither of us are 'creationists.' We don't talk about it much because he does not find it all that interesting (ha! that should be a greater stress on our marriage than our differences in religion. However, I am certifiably bored out of my skull by some of the things he finds interesting, so it all evens out ).

My wife is, what some might seek to define as...a melding of a naturalist and a "spiritualist". If you have ever read "The Education of Little Tree", you might have an inkling into her own unique perspective.

In short, she likes to think that all living things abide by some amorphous "Way", which is more or less (for lack of better definition) a "cosmological imperative", of sorts.

Put another way, it's not that the cosmos acts as some "intelligent designer/agent", but that people (individuals) eventually manifest their own "fit" of "reason/purpose" within this natural existence and cosmos. She retains no subscription to Heaven and Hell this Week, nor does she believe in deities, divine entities, nor "cosmic constables/counselors". At best, one might regard her "faith" as one described/alluded in the Star Wars legacy...as an obtuse and obscure karmic "force"...if you like. "Things" either flow within the "Way", or they oppose the "Way". I don't pretend to fully understand it all as presented, and I dare say, neither does my wife...but...that's OK.

It sounds like a perfectly lovely way of looking at things...I think I'd enjoy talking to her about it and we'd find things in common.

The bottom line for me is, that my wife remains altogether in touch with the latest science, and realistically grounded realities. If she is to be faulted in anything, it's in her overly gracious tolerance of/towards (otherwise) insufferable "true believers" (such is the burden and penance all decent liberals must painfully endure). I love her for that, just as I love her for her kind, gentle, and forgiving nature in enduring my own particularly untidy proclivities/failings (within those qualities, and being also reminded that she is discerning to utter evisceration, brilliant, witty, and quite dangerous in uncivil debate).

That...and the fact that she doesn't EVER insist that we attend some religious construct of worship...simply to experience/enhance our prospectively "unified" regard for differing existential views.

Thank god...;-)

You are a lucky man Cal. And she a lucky woman. Thanks for sharing!

 

[jamaesi]

We don't debate, but I do pick on him a little. For instance, I'll tell him it's not God's will that we watch CSI.

LOL. I pick on him a lot, too. I call him kafir and mulhid and other loving names. I also just plain call him atheist to which I get a thoughtful look and pause and he goes "no, I'm... what's that word?" and I go "agnostic, honey?" And he'll go "yes, agnostic" to which I'll reply that it doesn't matter, both are going to hell. He waffles between claiming to be atheist and agnostic. Of course, this all doesn't stop me from personally blaming him for the rise of Wahabism, haha.

Of course, I'm apparently not a real Muslim and going to hell for daring to not marry a Muslim man, but alas.

 

[cardero]

Does Your Spouse Share Your Beliefs?
I voted "if she knows whats good for her."

 

[methylatedghosts]

I like to think in the future (Single right now - any offers anyone?) I'll have a partner who thinks similar things as me, but in the end it's not really doing to matter who believes what anyway