wildernesse

Zeda,

I'm a Christian and my husband is an atheist. We don't usually have problems relating to our worldviews, so we don't have a lot of differences in that regard to work out.

Zeda

Thanks for answering Wildernesse Are you a Christian of the fundamentalist stripe? I hate to assume either way. If so you both must be extemely tolerant individuals.

If I was still a Christian, I would have a terrible time being married to and loving someone who was a non-believer. Mainly because loving them I would be terribly worried about the fate of thier eternal soul. Even if they didnt want me to preach to them, I am afraid that something that affected my worldview that much would slip into conversation.

I also would have a hard time with the unequally yoked thing. Being that the church I was raised in felt that you could not acheive God's will for your life or walk in the spirit if you were married to a unbeliver.

And on his part just wow Since I have gone from being a non-practicing Christian to agnostic, my husband who is really nothing but a vague Theist, is already having problems with my unbelief. I will read something great in a book by Joseph Campbell or Carl Sagan and go. "wow, listen to this!"
He turns away and goes, "No, I dont want to hear that." and he has no real belief other then that there is a God who listens to him. He's not even sure who that God is. Of course he also thinks we have proabably been visited by space aliens, and he doesnt want to hear the negatives to that view either.

I commend you both I being so open-minded.

Yahzi

A not inconsiderable number of them come because they were banned by Christian boards.

IIDB tolerates heresy, and lots of denominations these days define dissent as heresy.

wildernesse

I'm not a fundamentalist now, although I was for most of my life. Going off to college gave me a lot of new experiences, most of which ended up tilting me more towards the liberal end of things in both religion and politics.

Since I make no claims about what a soul is or where/if it continues after our physical bodies die, I don't really have lots of problems with it. Souls and afterlife are part of that whole "no way to know" thing, so a person can either believe it or not--and there's not an objective standard to show which is the "right" answer, so why judge? I believe that souls, afterlife, God (with xyz qualities) exist, and RufusAtticus doesn't. In any event, preaching has to be one of the least effective ways to teach any message--guaranteed zoning out time for most people, including myself.

Edited to add: Actually, I do make claims about souls, etc--I just don't make claims that I'm right about them.

Yes, I used to get that a lot from my parents and some from my friends. (Although my mother has lived up to her promise that once we were married, there would never be a conversation about it again.) I don't think that it is necessarily wise for people with different takes on religion to get married, but if people walk into the relationship with their eyes wide open (or as wide as lovelorn people can get them) then who's to stop them? The entire question of what fellowship does light have with darkness is null if you don't accept the idea that non-believers are the equivalent of darkness or wickedness. And to the question of what does a believer have in common with a nonbeliever would have to be answered with an entire book of commonalities.

That must be difficult! I used to be very defensive about views that challenged my belief--until I realized that other people don't have to agree with me for my ideas to be valid (at least for myself). Once I realized that, I was a lot more free to listen to new ideas as well as change my old ideas. My husband and I talk about everything--there aren't really any off-limits areas that I can think of. Plus, he's been an atheist since he was a kid, so the excitement of learning about new ways to look at the world (and wanting to share that) really isn't present, like it may be for you.

Thanks, although I'm sure that we don't actually meet the standard for open-mindedness! We end up being a lot more alike than different.

jdlongmire

...which is why blind belief has caused so much misery...but be cautioned that even well reasoned intentions can cause the same misery...

...and so your quest led you away, rather than to, Christ?

agreed...what you value, you invest in...

Zeda

Aye, the blind belief is equivalent to me with my parents saying, "because I said so." Not really an answer.

And no my quest didnt lead me away. I walked away because of what I was seeing in the Christians I knew. I lived my life as if Religion wasnt a question for some twenty some years, but recently have come to believe that it is in fact one of the Most Important Questions. However, I find myself unable to accept the Christian belief system as I was taught it, and read about it now. I have read alot of books and am still busy reading try to find the right answer. I have also visited lots of internet sites and forums in my search which is how I ended up here. I am presently agnostic, not believing in anything for sure, and not sure that you can ever know the answers.

And yes what you value you invest in. I am investing like 60% of my waking hours right now in my search. I place a high value on the answers.

jdlongmire

...good deal...want to make sure you saw my posting for the www.monergism.com site...lots of content...I will pray for your search...sorry that the love of Christ through the fellowship did not strengthen you...I am struggling with a fellowship of folk like that, now...it really amazes me, but convicts me of my doctrine even more...

Zeda

Thanks jdlongmire, I bookmarked the site and there is indeed alot of content there. I will try to give it some attention and give you some of my thoughts on what I read, if you are interested.

As for the my earlier experiences with Christianity not working out, all I can say is it's past history now. I try to not convict all Christians because of what I experienced, but sometimes emotions interfere with reason, and I can get hostile at times. I am now trying to look at the Christian faith as well as other worldviews out of the eyes of reason, instead of with my pre-conceived biases.

Evoken

That is nice Zeda..A friend of mine is an Agnostic like you..he found Taoism to suit well with his personal view of the world. I am not sure what is yours but maybe you could take a look at it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

jdlongmire

...always...

...all one could ask...