Work it out: Dating someone of a different religion

Even the best relationships have stuff to work out. Here are a few tips on how to handle it if you and your partner don’t follow the same religion.

• Accept your differences. This requires keeping an open mind and supporting your partner’s faith and practices instead of trying to convince or convert them otherwise.
  
• Be respectful of your differences. It’s okay to disagree. Not okay to judge or dismiss someone’s spiritual practice. Some say it helps to explore your shared values. There may be a lot of similarity in your values even if you’re from different religions, and that can foster mutual respect.
• Embrace each other’s traditions. Learning about another faith and adopting new traditions can lead to wisdom, fun, peace, a wider range of spiritual fulfillment, or better understanding between two people. See what feels right to share and join in some religious traditions together.
• Set boundaries with closed off parents. Here’s a helpful article full of tips from psychologists in case your parents disapprove of your partner. You might not be able to change their minds or even win them over, but you can create healthy expectations for how you’ll all treat each other when you interact.

Bringing different spiritual perspectives to a relationship can be tough, but enlightening. Try not to give up as you work through it. And as always, if you’re having sex, don’t forget the birth control.

XOXO,
Bedsider

P.S. Hey, if you ever want to hear what real women and men think about the birth control methods they use, we can make that happen.