> how is it, being atheistic and being married to a religious person? You didn't direct the question to me, but I was an agnostic married (then and now) to a f

> how is it, being atheistic and being married to a religious person? You didn't direct the question to me, but I was an agnostic married (then and now) to a fairly-serious Christian. These days I'm sort of in the believer camp, for reasons that I think are intellectually defensible [0]. I still don't subscribe to many of the official tenets of Christianity [1]. The key to that aspect of our marriage seems to be mutual love and -admiration --- which dictate respectful behavior --- while agreeing to disagree about certain matters theological. We each recognize that for all we know, both of us could be wrong. We see the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin's approach: Concerning the divinity of Jesus, Franklin wrote, a few weeks before his death at age 84, that, "it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, ... and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble." [2]. ----------- > Isn't it difficult to work things out, when the other believes that you're destined to hell? Your premise won't always be true. I can't speak to what Muslims, Jews, etc., would believe, but most traditional Christians claim that even a deathbed conversion will be rewarded with eternal salvation. Such a Christian, married to an atheist, can thus hope that the loved one will still make it to heaven. While some Calvinist-style Christians believe in pre-destination [3], they're in the minority. As I understand it, Calvinists don't claim to know who will go to heaven or to hell. In liberal Christianity, there's a strain of universalist thought that says God would not punish finite sin with eternal damnation; therefore, everyone will make it to heaven eventually. Finally, not all religious people believe in heaven or hell; some (like me) simply don't know what happens after death. ----------- [0] Self-cite: http://www.questioningchristian.com/2005/05/why_i_call_myse.html http://www.questioningchristian.com/2005/05/why_i_call_myse.... [1] http://www.questioningchristian.com/2004/11/redacting_the_n.html http://www.questioningchristian.com/2004/11/redacting_the_n.... [2] http://www.questioningchristian.com/2004/11/benjamin_frankl.html http://www.questioningchristian.com/2004/11/benjamin_frankl.... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination