Is it necessary? How does it affect your life? To answer the 2nd question, I only ask because I'm dating an Arabic woman who's Christian, and me being Agnostic but leaning towards Buddhism/Taoism may be the end of us....... There's still a possibility we can continue, but........ Idk. So. Is it necessary? How has your choice of religion affected you, positively or negatively? Imagine if religion had never existed (if you're religious: imagine nobody had discovered it; if you're atheist/agnostic; imagine nobody had thought of it): how would your life be different?? My current girlfriend and I might be happier. But I have also questioned religion a lot in the past, so I may not even be where I'm at now, but in a completely different spot. It's hard to say...
Well I imagine my life would be quite different considering I had a Christian up-bringing and, whether I like it or not, a lot of it has rubbed off on me and has affected my personality probably more than anything else. But I dont see how your girl being Christian should bother you. As long as you like who she is--and since youre already going out with her, I'm going to guess you already decided that you do--then there shouldnt me much of a problem. Religion is a private thing, not something to really be argued over.
My family religion is Hasidic Judaism, particularly the Chabad sect. How has it affected me? It colored my entire worldview growing up, and still does. Kabbalah, that is to say Hasidic philosophy and mysticism, is still a huge part of my being and spiritual practice. I no longer consider myself a Hasidic Jew. I think it is a very damaging religion, and I thank God daily that my parents were the type of Hasidim who emphasized the great aspects of the religion over some of the more stringent, guilt-laden aspects. It taught me the value of work, and taught me that the highest ideal one can subscribe to is selflessness over selfishness. I'm not sure I would be so inclined toward helping the needy and other humanitarian acts were it not for Hasidism. Sure, such things are important in all religions, but they're not important like they are in Hasidism. Humanitarian work is literally "tikkun olam," the healing of the world, and is something that is necessary for the reformation of your soul. I do it with joy, rather than begrudgingly. It definitely shaped me into the man I am today, and I'll always look to my past upbringing as a strict orthodox Jew with love and reverence. I can see myself being a real shithead without it.
I think we must remember that as evolving primates, religion has and will continue to influence our lives. It will be a while in our own ascent as a species before we throw away all labels such as 'religion' or 'spirituality' etc.
The problem lies with her family requiring her to marry a Christian. Luckily though, we talked about it and she talked to her mom who said it was okay (early talk for such a vast subject, but better to find out now rather than later). The main thing is that my morals correlate with theirs; they're almost exactly the same, so I'm in the clear I need to stop making threads when I'm shitfaced, it's always about girls or religion