I understand and accept that religion can and does play an important role in many people's lives. However, I refuse to accept the degree to which many people force it to play a role. Lets face the truth, religion is completely subjective and based on nothing more than opinion. When people see problems being caused by religion it is generally because at least a handful of people have made it a problem. The same is true in a (religiously) pluralistic marriage.
Jim Burklo's "Pluralistic Marriage" is interesting and does bring up some important points. It never seems to tackle what I find to be one of the most important points. Conflicts within such mixed marriages are completely unnecessary. As I've already stated, religion is completely opinion based. Marriage is not (not that there aren't differnces of opinion in them). You go to bed and wake up every day with the person you married. Even if you sometimes take things for granted, there are any number of examples of how real your relationship is. Shouldn't the love for your partner trump some theoretical ideas no matter how important those ideas are? You may never "know" that God exists, that there is an after life, or that your chosen faith has any merit. You can know that you have a loving relationship, otherwise why'd you get married in the first place.
Ultimately, I think if religion is what divides you then you have some serious questions to ask yourself. Was your relationship ever that well founded? If faith can divide people who love each other why should it be seen as good in any way? If religion is the wonderful thing that many want to believe it to be shouldn't it encourage love and relationships regardless of socio-cultural differences?
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