Religion & relationships

By Alisha Bentley
Sherman High School

Height, age, maturity - these are all things we think about when it comes to dating. But what about religion? Does it play a part in who you do or don’t date?

Religion can be a major issue or just a minor bump in the road. Some people may think that having the same beliefs helps strengthen the relationship, while others may believe that if they truly love each other, they’ll care enough to respect the other person’s beliefs.

“I’ve never dated anyone who had different religious beliefs as me, but I figure that if I did, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem. We’d just have to know where the other stood,” said Sherman freshman Josh Nelson, a non-denominational Christian.

“But even though I haven’t, I would consider dating someone with different religious beliefs,” he continued. “Everyone is entitled to their beliefs. And I don’t think that’s going to govern how you feel about someone. I think that you’d just have to reach an understanding.”

“Religion doesn’t have an effect on me,” said senior Erica Huffman. “If you really like someone, then you shouldn’t dislike them for what religion they have. Plus, dating someone with a different religion would be neat because you could experience all the things they do.”

Even though most teens seem to have an open mind about dating someone of a different religion, how do they think their parents would react?

“I think my parents would accept them. Why wouldn’t they?” said sophomore Ashley Hudson, who is Pentecostal. “Just because they have different beliefs doesn’t mean they are strange.”

However, Nelson thinks that his family would not be as accepting.

“My family is pretty strict and not really so tolerant,” he said. “They might accept it eventually - it really just depends. If I were Baptist and they were Methodist, I doubt my parents would really care. But if I were Baptist and they were Wiccan or something of that nature, then my parents would freak. Eventually they’d just have to accept it though. Live and let live.”

The bottom line in any relationship is caring for each other. Whether you have the same religion or not, if you’ve got love, then you can work on building the relationship from there.