I have been thinking about this so much lately.<P>When H and I were married I knew my H was not really a devout Christian. I was raised strict Catholic yet consider myself a non-demoninational Christian and very Spiritual. My H and I had talks about God and he really had no firm Spiritual beliefs, as a matter of fact, I'm not sure he even believed in God or a Higher Being.<P>I'm wondering if fundamentally he and I should have had at least our Spiritual beliefs in common. If I had it to do over again, I'm pretty certain I would only marry a man who shared the same beliefs.<P>I'd like to know how many couples on here share the same Spiritual beliefs, and for the ones that don't, has it created issues in your marriage. <P>My intention is NOT to open up a religious can of worms or controversy here, I simply would like to know if you and your spouse share common Spiritual beliefs.<P>Lv,<BR>Jo<P>------------------<BR>"Remain flexible like a reed, as opposed to an oak which can snap in the wind"<p>[This message has been edited by Resilient (edited August 26, 2001).]

Hi Jo,<P>Probably here to break the mold but H & I were of the same religous belief. H is no longer a member of my religion by his choice (his conduct and lack of repentance/remorse). <P>OW has totally different beliefs and took this man who once had strong personal spiritual morals and convictions and torn him to pieces. He has not denied God's existance nor the truths he once believed, just the ability to live in accordance with his beliefs. <P>You know, like say one thing but do another. I believe the word is hypocritical. I say this because, H is against anyone else doing what he has done. Even himself but can't seem to stop or get out completely. So this may spawn another question, do those who practice fogese have their own religion? That would be scary.....<P>L.<BR><p>[This message has been edited by Orchid (edited August 26, 2001).]

Jo,<P>MY STBX & I were both raised in the same believes, that is no divorce except for adultry. You should hear him trying to justify his actions by how I was such a bad wife that I broke our marriage contact first.<P>I never thought that our spritiual connection could be broken, now I have all but lost my faith. I don't know what he believes any more, even though he does take YS to church, the type we were both raised in, when he has YS on Sundays.

At first, yes, we both believed in God and his beliefs, but we did not go to church (the way it was in both our upbringings - no change). Didn't really affect our marriage too much because we both felt the same way.<P>Over the years, my husband became an athiest due to his study in the Archaeology field (damn, scientists), and recently I started attending Church (not regularly, but at least sometimes) and reading the bible. I am not a devout Christian, but more so than ever before in these past 10 years...<P>I suppose this will be a bit of a problem if we ever get back together, huh? At least we both still agree that the children should be raised to believe in God and he does not impose his beliefs onto them (we had this dicussion many years ago when his "new" belief system emerged)...<P>HbH

This is a good topic, Jo, and one that is real important to me. In my first marriage we were worlds apart spiritually; he had no belief in God and I came to beleive in God long after we were married. The difference was one of the things that created a huge gulf between us because our world views became so different. I think it annoyed my husband terribly when I even talked about my religious beliefs because, even though I wasn't preaching to him, he took it that way alot. So I just learned to shut up about it around him, further widening the gulf. <P>I am now onto my second marriage and that is one of the first things I fleshed out with him BEFORE I would pursue a relationship with him. We are pretty much on the same page spiritually and because of that, have similar worldviews and can relate to each other.