I have been very gratified to see that many, many people are taking the time to answer the open-ended questions on the survey. Here are just a few:
Survey question: If you are currently in a “mixed” relationship (one believer and one non-believer), how is this situation a factor?
- She is a non-afiliated believer, and dislikes organized religions, so it’s not so bad for me. Also, there is a lot of common ground we share, culturally, socially and politically. She decided to believe in some kind of god, and she pryas to it and all that, in a personal way; I respect that, even though I can’t share it. On that we have agreed to disagree.
- I think he is secretly an atheist, but he enjoys the cultural, social, and community aspects of his religion.
- I’m going to be ‘saved’ because of my marriage to a believer, according to my husband. Fortunately I have a sense of humor.
- My believer spouse hates atheism and anything that questions God’s existence. I hate keeping my atheism in the closet, but stay in this marriage because I fear our children would be religiously indoctrinated out of spite if we divorced.
One Comment
On the off chance that the woman who feared her husband finding out about her atheism because of the impact it may have on her children reads this:
Should you and your husband split, there are some legal protections. For example, my partner’s ex-wife is strongly religious, so he had it included in their custody agreement that any religious classes or large events (like camp) must be signed off on by the other parent. He did consent to letting her enroll the kids in catechism classes (just to avoid the huge fight) but at least when they’re at his house they’re free to talk about the problems they have with their lessons. Since mothers tend to get primary physical custody (it’s illegal to base it on gender, but it still usually goes that way in many places) there’s even a good chance you’d have more of a role in shaping the children’s beliefs than he would. And whatever the agreement, if you could show that he was using religion to make the kids think you’re a bad person courts will rescind custody or some parental rights (like the right to take them to church) on the grounds of one parent actively trying to turn the children against the other. Just some things to think about.