Conversion reason (marriage)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Darryl_B
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Darryl_B

Guest
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
 
Never heard of anything like that.

Always been the female converting if there was a problem as the male is the head of the house, scripturally.

Even in Islam, a Muslim male can marry a Christian woman, but a Muslim female may not marry a Christian man unless he is converting to Islam.
 
Darryl_B said:
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
Click to expand...
This is actually pretty common, in my experience.
 
Darryl_B said:
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
Click to expand...
I don’t know what the statistics are but it makes sense. The man is more likely to have a job therefore all his social needs are met without church, therefore, the woman would be more invested into whatever church she belonged to then he merely sits in the car and read the newspaper while the wife attends church.
 
With folks in RCIA I see it going both ways. Sometimes the husband converts and sometimes the wife. I think it depends on which one is stronger in their faith. If the husband is a strong Catholic, the wife may follow his example. And if the wife is a strong Catholic, the husband may follow along. My guess is if one spouse is a strong Protestant and the other a weak Catholic, the Catholic may follow the Protestant spouse.
 
Never seen that actually. If anything I’ve seen a pair of wives convert for their husbands, but that’s about it.
 
Women tend to be more religious than men on average, so it would not surprise me if men are more likely to convert to their wife’s religion than the converse.
 
In my case I was Southern Baptist who rarely went to church. I married a Catholic lady going on 35 years now. When we got married she said that I did not have to convert, however, her being a Catholic was very important to her and that she would be attending Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation and as her husband I would be going to church with her “period”. She said that I did not have to believe as a Catholic would or pray as a Catholic would but as her husband I will be there in the pew with her to support her. So I did as I was told to do :D. The great thing is that it was while being at her side that I learned about Catholicism to which I eventually converted too. That has been 33 years now. I cant imagine being any other religion now.
 
Darryl_B said:
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
Click to expand...
In my experience it’s more likely that the woman would convert than the man. And that honestly is how it should be. The man is the head of the household. How could we realistically expect a Southern Baptist man as an example to head a household where everyone else is Catholic? There was a very good reason interfaith marriage was forbidden for almost 2 millennium.
 
Dmitri77 said:
In my experience it’s more likely that the woman would convert than the man. And honestly that is how it should be. The man is the head of the household. How could we realistically expect a Southern Baptist man, as an example, to head a household where everyone else is Catholic? There was a very good reason interfaith marriage was forbidden for almost 2 millennia.
Click to expand...
 
In my Faith there is no requirement to convert for marriage but there must be a statement made that 'We will all verily abide by the Will of God" in front of witnesses.

The other issue that comes up is in what religion will the children be raised in…

Among Baha’is we feel strongly that children should be raised with Baha’i principles… At the age fifteen years however a child in a Baha’i home can choose to be a Baha’i or another religion.

We also believe that our children should appreciate other religions and know about them so I used to take my children along and visit Mosques, Temples and Churches.

All my children are still at least nominally Baha’i.
 
In my RCIA class I was one of only two women, the rest were all men and at least a couple have Catholic wives. Heard afterwards that it was so disproportionate that my class was referred to as the class with all the guys.
 
I was born into & raised LDS. When I met my husband I was pretty much LDS in name only as my mental shelf of LDS issues collapsed in my late teens. He wasn’t a fully practicing Catholic either so only went to mass occasionally. We were married in the Catholic Church & had our babies christened Catholic. By then, I started inquiring into RCIA (through no pressure or prompting from anyone) as I had no belief in the LDS but was very interested to learn of the Catholic faith. In my RCIA class, we were all women, most were converting for their husbands or to get married in the Catholic Church. For myself, I converted for my own beliefs & relationship with God, no one asked me or expected me to convert & I could have easily continued as a non practicing LDS. I was Baptised & received into the Maronite Rite over 2 years ago now. So as a wife & mother, I encourage my husband to attend mass, pray together as a family & to actively raise our children in our faith.
 
Darryl_B said:
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
Click to expand...
My husband was attending Mass with me, but not yet sure if he was going to become a Catholic when we were engaged. He was raised Anglican and planned to return to his church.

Our priest, myself, and my family, ensured when he decided to convert that it was NOT just for the sake of getting married…it was to be his own decision for his own reasons, and it was.

The Catholic Church does not require that either person converts to the Church to be married…one party has to be a practicing Catholic and they have to agree to raise any children of the marriage Catholic, among other things.

I think there are certainly men AND women that convert because they love someone, and maybe this will sow the seeds for a great faith, but it is not the right reason to join a religion.
 
I believe one of the greatest roles that Catholic women do is bring men back to the Church and God. In my case I lived in a spiritual wasteland for many years as a young man. Even though is was raised Southern Baptist, it was never that strong and when I left home at 17 and joined the Navy religion was basically non existent. It took a great Catholic Lady that saw something good in me and saved my life by returning me to God.
 
Darryl_B said:
I know this might sound like an unusual question, but it is an observation I have made and I am wondering about it’s validity.

I grew up in a borderline christian religion where new converts were primarily males who had converted to this particular religion for the sake of their intended wife. Marriage was only an option if they converted, and they therefore did. It was an outward expression of their love and commitment to the woman they were deeply infatuated with. My wife’s father is one such example. On the opposite side of the coin, female converts in this manner were very very rare indeed.

Is this common-place? In our society do men convert to the religion of their intended spouses at an alarmingly higher rate compared to vice-versa?
Click to expand...
Normally if one church requires at least saying one converted in order to allow continued family relationships it would be the person who has the lessor family tie or the more moderate church doing the converting.

This specific scenario is one I have only heard from the Inglesia ni Cristo in the last few years. While woman don’t actually do missionary dating more than once I have heard stories of the post engagement or daddy will “kill” or disown me as the non INC, probably non Filipino has gone through all the legal and immigration steps necessary to marry. That last minute obstacle comes up then saying I convert by the man with every expectation of dropping the new religion after the wedding ceremony takes place.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top