I'm a little hazy about the rules, I've read the new statement of purpose and it seems non-married people may post questions here. I understand that this area is meant in support of unequally-yoked Christians in the context of marriage, but this seemed the only appropriate place to post my question and I think it could probably count as asking advice for a friend, though I come seeking advice for myself. If the moderators here believe that there is a more appropriate board for this thread, then please by all means move it, I apologize in advance if I cause any inconvenience.
My girlfriend of half a year now is very Catholic and I (obviously) am not. We both agreed that we were comfortable with the others religious beliefs (or lack thereof) and that we would not try to convert each other or anything of that sort. With time however it's becoming increasingly clear that she is not comfortable with my lack of faith and it's causing her a great deal of stress. Nearly all of our "arguments" have been because I am an atheist, and they are largely one sided. I generally stay quiet and let her talk, answering only direct questions and it usually ends up with her becoming upset because she asks me a question that she knows she doesn't want to know the answer to and I am forced to answer honestly. On the last disastrous occasion that I did argue, she ended up much more upset and I don't believe the issue was ever fully resolved.
Her close friends and family are also beginning to become an issue. A close older male friend of hers (who is a big father figure to her) pretty much did a spit take when she told him I was an atheist, and her best female friend flat out told her she couldn't date me and is now openly hostile to the mention of my name. Her mother (who is a kind woman who I like) nearly forbade her from seeing her previous boyfriend because at one point he expressed that he was a agnostic theist (though he is a christian now and still very close with her family). I can only imagine what she would say if she found out my religious position, an inevitability that I consider only a matter of time.
I suppose I'm asking the married couples here if they had dealt with similar experiences, though I expect most will be from the christian perspective, I am open to your advice and any question you might wish to have answered about my relationship.
My girlfriend of half a year now is very Catholic and I (obviously) am not. We both agreed that we were comfortable with the others religious beliefs (or lack thereof) and that we would not try to convert each other or anything of that sort. With time however it's becoming increasingly clear that she is not comfortable with my lack of faith and it's causing her a great deal of stress. Nearly all of our "arguments" have been because I am an atheist, and they are largely one sided. I generally stay quiet and let her talk, answering only direct questions and it usually ends up with her becoming upset because she asks me a question that she knows she doesn't want to know the answer to and I am forced to answer honestly. On the last disastrous occasion that I did argue, she ended up much more upset and I don't believe the issue was ever fully resolved.
Her close friends and family are also beginning to become an issue. A close older male friend of hers (who is a big father figure to her) pretty much did a spit take when she told him I was an atheist, and her best female friend flat out told her she couldn't date me and is now openly hostile to the mention of my name. Her mother (who is a kind woman who I like) nearly forbade her from seeing her previous boyfriend because at one point he expressed that he was a agnostic theist (though he is a christian now and still very close with her family). I can only imagine what she would say if she found out my religious position, an inevitability that I consider only a matter of time.
I suppose I'm asking the married couples here if they had dealt with similar experiences, though I expect most will be from the christian perspective, I am open to your advice and any question you might wish to have answered about my relationship.