Originally Posted by
Armenian Bishop
Just to clear things up, he's not my brother, he's my stepbrother instead, and he's my stepbrother by adoption not by bloodlines. My dad divorced my mom when I was 12, then married my stepmother who already had a son and daughter. They didn't have more children when he remarried. I have 3 siblings from his first marriage with my mom, and my mom never remarried after he divorced her.
It's an important distinction, because there's no ancestral connection between me and my stepbrother, and I have nothing to do with my stepbrother's birthfather who was a scam artist and jerk. Also, my dad's decision to divorce my mom was devastating, and the relationship with my stepfamily always bore a stigma of betrayal.
Anyway, to answer the question: My stepbrother wasn't terribly religious, but he was no pushover when it came to his introspective viewpoints. He drifted into Buddhism, and drifted away from the Unitarians. His future wife's family was the driving force that brought about his conversion to Catholicism, but she didn't personally have an interest in converting him. So yea, he did it out of necessity, because he didn't want to lose her.
But, I flat-out don't agree that it's the man who primarily determines the religious pathway after a marriage -- it can go either way.
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