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Nearly half of the population doesn't want an atheist-in-law

According to a new Pew Research Center survey, atheists are not nearly as welcome into families as are born-again Christians.

People whom took the survey were asked, "How would you feel if an immediate family member of yours was going to marry someone who does not believe in God? Happy, unhappy, or it wouldn't matter?"

While just 4% said they'd be happy, 49% said they'd be unhappy (net -45%), and 46% said it wouldn't matter. Among Christians, approximately 2.8% said they'd be happy, 61.8% said they'd be unhappy (net -59%), and 35.4% said it wouldn't matter.

When people were asked that same question, but with regard to born again Christians, here's how the numbers looked:

Overall, 32% of the respondents said they'd be happy if someone in their immediate family married a born-again Christian, 9% said they'd be unhappy (net +23%),and 57% said it wouldn't matter. Among those whom are not affiliated with any religion, approximately 9% said they'd be happy, 18.3% said they'd be unhappy (net -9.3%), and 72.7% said it wouldn't matter.

Being an agnostic, this poll shows that, if I ever get married, approximately one out of every two people in my wife's family will have a problem with me based on my lack of religious beliefs, whereas if I became a born-again Christian, only one in every ten of these in-laws would have a problem with me based on these beliefs.

For me personally, I wouldn't care who an immediate family member of mine married, as far as their religious beliefs went. Shouldn't I be more concerned with my family member's overall level of happiness while here on earth than about where his or her standing is in an after-life I can't either prove nor deny? I wouldn't even ask about the person's religious affiliation. I'd simply ask two questions: 1) Do you love him/her?, and 2) Does he/she make you happy? If the person answered in the affirmative to both, then that would be good enough for me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/15/atheist-in-laws-survey_n_5492864.html

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/16/so-you-married-an-atheist/
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