30 Day Blogging Challenge: Day 17

Today's blogging challenge: What are your spiritual beliefs, and how do they impact your relationships / relationship status?

Well... Technically, I guess I'm non-denominational Christian. At least, those are the services I attend each week. Trooper actually introduced me to the church. Prior to meeting him, I never attended church, and considered myself a Recovering Catholic.

But I don't necessarily believe everything my church believes. For example, they don't perform weddings, but if they did I suspect they would not perform same-sex ceremonies. I don't believe marriage should be restricted that way. I also don't believe that sex is just for procreation, that abortion is a sin, or that women should take a lesser role.

I'd have to say those beliefs impact my relationships far more than my church.

I really don't care if a date is Christian, nor would I care if he ever attended service with me. But I won't date a man who is not in favor of same-sex marriage. Which I know puzzles a lot of people. Why should it matter to me, right? I'm not looking to marry a woman.

But I don't look at equality and freedom as something that only matters if it affects me personally. I see threats to the freedom of others as a potential threat to my own freedoms. I believe freedom only exists when we're equal.

This is particularly true because I often date outside my race. Fifty years ago, no one discussed same-sex marriage - but there were protests everywhere against interracial marriage. If I want one freedom for myself, how can I not defend a similar freedom for someone else?

It may not sound like a deal-breaker to some, but I have found this to be an issue on which I don't want to compromise. So I have trouble dating others who don't agree. I find they either they don't respect my position, spend way too much time trying to convince my I'm wrong, or I find that they have short-sighted views of equality elsewhere, as well.

It just doesn't work.