If an atheist and a Christian....?

Question

If an atheist and a Christian were in a relationship, what would be some specific conflicts they might have? (just looking for ideas to incorporate into my novel) Thanks, and yes, I know what the obvious conflicts would be, but what would be more specific conflicts? Thank you so much for any help,

Kiara

thank you weemary..and i do get into the heads of my characters, and i like doing that..im just looking outside my own head for ideas this time...;)

that's beautiful deckape..yes, one needs to truly accept their partner

thanks lookn2cjc...interesting thought....i don't think the two main characters are going to be married, but they could be in a committed relationship....yes, that would be an intersting angle. thank you

Answer 1

If you haven't already, you should see the movie (or read the book) Contact. The romantic interest in that story is between an atheist scientist and a Christan priest. The book was written by Carl Sagan.

If you can pull it off, you should try to have some dialog in which the atheist explains that he (she?) is not so much against the idea of a god, but that he thinks that the Bible is just myth, and came up with a very unlikely god. That Jesus Christ was probably a wise man and a great teacher but just a man. The Christian can respond about feeling God's presense and feeling that the Bible is true. The atheist can question how she knows her feelings aren't must misinterpretations and wishful thinking.

It would be interesting If you could pull off that dialog in a believable but sensitive way and really explore the boundaries of that conflict.

Answer 2

the very nature of Christianity is to convert other people. For a while maybe the Christian half of the relationship could remain silent but after a while, "conviction" would kick in and the nagging would begin. The Christian's main objective would be to convert and "lovingly" convince the athiest of the error of their ways.

The Athiest would try in vain to reason with faith and that is a dead end road...faith knows and wants no reason. If the athiest half of the relationship wants intellectual stimulation they would have to talk to other people and the Christian half could get jealous.

I think it would all depend on how flexible these two people are...how conservative and fundamental is the Christian and how in need of intellectual stimulation is the athiest? It would be a difficult relationship in the long haul but would be fun for a few months or so. What kind of relationship are you wanting? A fling may be okay but a marriage may be too stressful.

It really could make a good sitcom couldn't it? Like Dharma and Greg ...the democrat and the republican relationship. This could make an interesting and amusing story.

Answer 3

wow... every event that occured in these 2 people's lives would be a battle ground for conversion of one or the other. say the atheist got a promotion, would the christian mention that she was praying for him? if the christian gets sick, would the atheist rub it in her face that her prayers arent working? some of these issues would erupt into arguments, but there would be a lot more going on beneath the surface, the internal struggles of each, which a book would handle really well

i would imagine at the end of the book neither one is convinced to conform to the other's views. yet neither one would leave it alone. the questions would always haunt each of them would be "how could he/she be so wrong and not see the truth?".

Answer 4

In all honesty, I am an atheist involved with a Christian. He respects my beliefs, I respect his. We simply don't talk about it, and everything is fine. He doesn't try to convert me, although his mother does, and I don't point out the problems with his faith. We fell in love before we really knew about each others religious beliefs, so it really doesn't make that much of a difference to us. It certainly doesn't affect how I love him. I should add he's not at all like the "christians" here on this board - he's a lot more liberal then they seem to be. He's not as judgemental, because he doesn't think Jesus was, and he's okay with gays and is pro-choice. We celebrate Christmas - the only difference is he uses it as a day to celebrate Jesus, while I celebrate having him, my health, and my family and friends in my life.
Hope this helps you - it's just my life!

Answer 5

If you're writing a novel, you need to get into the heads of your characters. Once you understand where they're coming from, you'll know how they'll react to any situation (e.g., an election campaign or a visit from the in-laws or a pregnancy) and then you'll have your answer. And I think this is something you need to work out for yourself -- after all, it's YOUR book.

Good luck.

Answer 6

The thing about that is, your getting this relationship knowing your beliefs, So each would have to accept each other to have a relationship. It's the same as you fall in love with a women and she has a kid, if you truly love here you will accept and love the kid, same thing if the man has children. You must respect your partner

Answer 7

I am a non-believer and I was married to a christian for 21 years, until they passed. We virtually had no conflicts. We laughed alot, raised our children to decide for themselves, gave the gift of our company to each other regardless of the location.

For your book... most people who enter into this know exactly what they are doing. It might be more real to make it a comedy, rather than conflict oriented. That was my experience.

Answer 8

Speaking as a Christian woman who's married to an unbeliever, (I got saved after we were married), I think in all honesty, that sometimes some men that are single in the church see you alone all the time and forget you have a husband....that would be an interesting angle to run with in a novel....perhaps? (That's not my case, lol, but use you imagination....) Good luck to you ;-)

Answer 9

That really depends on who is the Christian, the woman or the man. Both variations of the relationship would be very different. If the woman were the Christian and the man was the Atheist, he'd feel like he was being bullied into having to do things with her and would start to examine his commitment with her and his own happiness. I can't really imagine how things would be the other way.

I will ring your doorbell and run away!!!

Answer 10

Cool question, well there would always be the dilemma of "we will never be eternally together".

The church issue, the conflicting commitments for the sabbath day

The poking holes in each others philosophy

The Christians possibly making the Christian feel like an outsider for getting unequally yoked.

Curious how did they get together.

would the Christian pray before meals and how will that be taken?

What about telling the children, would you give them balanced views.

Generally these two are both very dogmatic, it would be a very intense relationship, I don't think it will last unless one of them gives in.