Should Atheists be allowed to marry in Christian churches?

When my husband and I were planning our wedding we had a lot of trouble finding a church that would marry us with him being an atheist, I had totally given up and knew my parents would be infuriated if I were marrying an Atheist outside of a Christian church. We were at the last church in town, we told the minister John was Atheist and he immediately said no, "I cannot marry an Atheist in a Christian church! I could never do that" I think I was actually crying at that point because I knew my father, a very strict unemotional man, would never attend the wedding if it was not in a church.. My husband continued speaking with the priest finally he agreed on one condition... If we were to have children they were to be raised in that church as Christian's, this was not only completely ridiculous to my husband, it was out of the question, in the back of my mind I knew that if I had children with John they were to be Christian but John, however did not know that which made the deal with the minister easy for me. John continued to refuse... blah blah blah.. we got married and here we are baby in the oven... Getting to the point.


Should Atheists and Christians be allowed to marry in Christian churches?


Of course I think they should be allowed, I really don't see why some churches don't allow it. I guess they could feel threatened that the Atheists will convert the Christians but you don't really need to marry an Atheist for them to convert you. It could be a good thing, the Christian could convert the Atheist. I was using my BFF (Google) today and found this chart, I don't know why it made me giggle but it did :

	64 Christians who married a Christian	72 Christians who married non-Christians
Remained a faithful Christian	92% (59)	27% (22)
Left the Church	8% (5)	72% (57)
Divorced	3% (2)	32% (25)
Converted Their Mates	----	17% (14)

 And I'll share a few funny "facts" I also found on this, ridiculous website.

When two Christians marry, it is a guarantee their relationship will be more satisfying than if two unbelievers married one another. (Many non-Christian couples are more mature than Christian Couples. 2 Timothy 3:5)

The vices a person has before marriage will be removed once they are married. (The only way vices are removed is when we are converted and repent)


I think Christians should be able to marry Atheists, Jews , Buddhists and every other religion in Christian churches. What do you think?

• Should Christians marry outside of their religion?
• Should Christians be able to marry other religions in Christian churches?
• Do you think a two-part Christian marriage is more successful than a couple of two separate religions?  

Plans.

I've been asked a lot about how I plan on  raising this baby with my husband being Atheist and I being a strong Christian..
Religion is very important to my family so after a long long long discussion my husband and I decided that the baby will be raised as a Christian, my husband however will have no part in that part. I'm not sure how successful this will be but its worth it in my book. I'll take care of going to church, religious holidays, communions and so on. Many people have told me that I am crazy for marrying my husband and that its going to make my life very difficult but so far its been neither, I love my husband very much and I cannot wait to have this baby and raise it as a Christian.  


Also this makes me giggle everytime i hear it, my last name is not pronounced 'Pardiss' its 'Pardee'. Hehe!

Ashley Madison

I was watching the Tyra Banks show and I they were talking about a website called Ashley Madison and I was appalled by what i heard so i thought i would check it out. 


Anyone who knows me will tell you that i am a huge marriage advocate, I love marriage, I love being married and I love seeing people get married. So I get to the website and on the homepage it says "Affairs guaranteed" I don't understand. This website is an attached and married affair network. Am I missing something? Please explain if I am.. Here's how I see it:


If you are not happy in a marriage GET OUT.  Why would you stay in an unhappy marriage? For the kids? You're making an extremely unhealthy relationship for your kids if you are in an unhappy marriage, kids can tell when their parents are not happy. Why would you stay in that marriage be unfaithful and potentially hurt your spouse. Its not fair. I don't understand. Infidelity has grown enormously in the past ten years, Tiger Woods stands as a perfect example how many girls did he cheat with? Like five? I don't know I don't pay attention to that but, his wife.. My heart actually breaks for that poor woman and her children, they are going to grow up and hear about how their father hurt their mom. My heart aches for Elin. Infidelity has become sort of acceptable in society and it is not okay.

Infidelity

I was just reading a post on theblogfrog.com and it actually bothered me.


Marriage is a sacred thing, I love marriage. But so many people in the world are 
a) Doing it for the wrong reason b) rushing into it c) disrespecting it.


Lets start with 'A' doing it for the wrong reason.
Why do you get married? Because you are in love. Because you want to commit yourself to that person and you want to be with that person for the rest of your life. You don't get married because you feel rushed and like you need to do it. It is so so so important to be sure, if you settle and don't wait for the right person you will never be completely happy.. It is so important that you find that one person who makes everything okay, who makes you feel amazing and the person you can't imagine living without. 




Now for 'B' rushing into marriage. Bad decision. You need to wait. You need to wait for the right person and the right time. If you rush into marriage you can miss out on that one real love that makes everything, every moment of waiting worthwhile. Some people will say "Rachel what are you talking about, you rushed in" Yes, I got married when I was 21. I did NOT rush. I am so completely in love with my husband its really not fair. My husband respects me and he loves me, we share the same beliefs (for the most part) I have 'sinned' according to the bible for marrying outside of my religion but I have chosen to make that decision for him. Sure I'll try and try and try to show him how I think and change his mind but truthfully I don't think John will ever be Christian. I'm okay with that. I'll keep trying. Rushing into marriage is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. You can't just walk away from a marriage, it will always be there in your past.


'C' is a huge problem in North America these days.
Infidelity is so common now and in a way its acceptable. Ever heard of a little site called Ashley Madison? (I'll give it its own post). Infidelity is such an ugly thing and frankly I don't understand why people do it. If you are unhappy with your marriage get out of it. In my opinion infidelity is a form of abuse, you are disrespecting the person you are committed to and its not fair. Its and ugly name for an ugly thing. Disrespecting a marriage isn't just about infidelity there are so many ways to disrespect a marriage. In a heterosexual marriage a husband's job is to lovingly lead his family the wife's job is to respect and follow the leadership of her husband and the children are to respect and obey their father and mother.


Where do you stand in this great marriage debate. Feel free to share.

Hmm..

I've been married to my husband for almost four years now and the whole non-Christian thing slipped under the mat until... My parents arranged a huge family reunion (I grew up in South Carolina, my family still lives there) So hubs and I flew up to SC, most of my family know my husband and were at the wedding and so on but a lot of my cousins live out of state too. So my husband and I were sitting at a table with my parents at the hotel where the reunion was and who walks over? My favorite cousin Lisa... (It was her job in life to make me miserable). Lisa is married and she has four kids, her husband works for an accounting company in Wisconsin, I didn't invite Lisa to the wedding.
She walks up to us with her son on her hip "Rachel, how are you. I haven't seen you in forever!" I fight back rolling my eyes, I can't stand this girl. "Lisa, hi i'm wonderful how are you?" I put on my best phony smile. "Ugh, you know raising kids keeping up with the housework.. My husband just works so much! I see you're still looking for the right guy... How old are you? 25? You know women over 30 who have kids have a higher risk of Down Syndrome.. poor angel" I suck in a deep breath. "Lisa, this is my husband John" I swear I seen her flinch, she stood there for a moment looking at me then my husband. "You're  married?" she said looking at me. "Yes. For three years" I said holding up my hand showing her my rings. My parents and husband stayed completely silent during this whole exchange. "Nice to meet you" she said looking at John, then walking over to my mother and sitting down. I sighed, sure that she heard me. "So.. Rach, tell me everything"...


After what seemed like 3 days Lisa finally said. "So what church do you attend in Texas?" I stopped and looked at John, I'm not ashamed of my husband but i'm always hesitant to tell my family he's not Christian ONLY because I know how amazing rude some of them can be. My mom smiled when Lisa asked this, I panicked slightly but finally worked it up to tell her. "We don't go to church..very much.." Her jaw dropped it was like I told her I joined forces with Jack the ripper. "What!" "John's not Christian.." I said staring her in the eyes...


And that is how I was outed to my family.
More later..

Firsties.

Hello my ladies,


My name is Rachel and I married a non-Christian.


I grew up in a strict Christian household I am the youngest of four, my father worked and provided for us while my mother was in charge of running the house. We all attended Christian schools and went to church every Sunday. I would have never dreamed my life would end up the way it did. 


I love my life. I have an amazing husband and our first baby on the way, we live in Texas in a beautiful home, one I've always dreamed of. Sounds like an average life for a Christian woman except for one minor detail... I married a non-Christian!