So, one of our readers and his girlfriend are getting married. The problem is that both of them come from different religious backgrounds. He's Agnostic but she's a Christian.

Here's what he says: "Our belief of the source of our morals differs, yet we share the same life goals and ideals. "

He goes on to ask if a marriage can really work when both of them believe in different things or whether they should call an end to their relationship before anyone gets hurt down the line.
We thought we'd put this question out there for our readers. Do you have any advice for him? And do you think a marriage can work when two people come from two different religious backgrounds?

God does not force us to marry someone, however the bible very clearly states that we should marry other believers. The reason for this command is simply because that when big decisions need to be made(like raising children), a christian will look at what the bible says about it.

There will be a lot of conflict in your marraige and from my own experience, i can tell you that it's really hard to make it work. especially if she will truly seek the Will of God in situations.

Well there is a key question here, are they from religious backgrounds as stated, or are they religious? these are not necessarily the same thing.
I have some experience with this
My advice... Never ever go into a marriage believing you can change someone, never try to 'convert' your partner, that will cause problems, they may well convert of their own choice, that is great, just don't push it.

If, as stated, you find your selves with the same aims in life, that is a good start, I don't personally believe the sources of those aims matter unless you let them, most of the major religions are essentially similar (no offense intended)

If you are not particularly religious, the biggest challenge will be your families, they stand a very real risk of tearing you apart over religious differences, people don't try to be understanding about religious differences. Be straight with them and they will get used to the idea, and with time they will hopefully not judge you for it.

But it can work, there is hope here, but you do need to find common ground, any marriage requires work, even if you practice the same religion, this is no different, keep working at it, and it will reward you.

Note: decide early, on common ground for how to raise children, its often a tricky thing to discuss pre-marriage, but can it be done without scaring the partner. When you raise a child you need to be unified on many things, you need to decide to raise the children as as one religion, or the other, or neither, or give them a healthy exposure to both. it will be very bad for them if you are at odds with each other over religion.

I personally wish you the best of luck.
and you can make it work... if you really want to.

I believe it can work.

As long as you are both dedicated to making it work. Marriage is a major symbol of Love and every religion preaches about the importance of Love in your life and heart. I dont understand why getting married to someone from a different religion should be such a big problem.
At the end of the day if you guys love each other and want to make it work ...it WILL work. Of course it might not be as easy as marrying someone of your own religion, but still why should that stop you? When has life ever been easy?

Do what's in your heart... finding someone you love enough to marry doesnt happen every single time you meet someone so why waste it because you're scared of difficulty