**Dating a Non-Members**Ck in Herre!

[Guest SavingQueenDren]

Yer opinions! Keep appropiate*sp! go ---------------->

[NeuroTypical]

You marry who you date. If you don't want to marry a nonmember, don't date one.

[Guest SavingQueenDren]

You marry who you date. If you don't want to marry a nonmember, don't date one.

Wahahahahhahahahahahaha

[Hemidakota]

I concur with LM. This is what my wife presents to our children - You date to marry. Going out with someone and having fun, is something different. President Kimball was big on this idea also.

[Lloyd]

I feel now the same way as LM and Hemi, but to be honest, 40+ years ago I didn't. Little did I realize what an impact they would have on my life. I wandered far from the church until 1968. I married a non member, Methodist/Catholic, but this I found out. I think because her love of Jesus Christ was so strong, and because she felt the Holy Ghost, I was being helped to find my way back to the Church and brought her with me, or maybe it was she brought me back with her. Any way, I think it is important that you stick with beliefs that will nurture yours in the way Jesus Christ intended, and you can nurture your mate or future mate. Without the same beliefs and commitments, a marriage is on edge constantly, and is not a place conducive to an eternal relationship. Does that help? Maybe, in short, Convert him, wait a couple years, and if he stays active then marry! Too hard? Naw. Lloyd

[Guest SavingQueenDren]

LOL wasnt necessarily talkin about myself but just wanted general opinions on this... Sanks tho

[Canuck Mormon]

I started dating a non-member in High School. Slowly but surely I went astray. I ended up marrying the woman and 7 years later divorced her. I came back to the the Church and was recently sealed to a wonderful woman. It can be done, but it is very hard to stay faithful to the Church if you do not have the support of your loved one.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Dating leads to love. Love leads to marriage. If you don't want to marry a non-member, be friends by all means but don't date one. My first husband was LDS and I am sealed to him. After his death I married a non-member. A non-member can be a wonderful person, a good person, a loving person, but a non-member husband does not have the priesthood. A non-member cannot go to the temple with you. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Hemidakota]

I use to council the youth in not 'swapping spit'. There is a reason behind this since male hormones will interact with the other given saliva and cause one to create the moment. LOL

[VisionOfLehi]

I am fully for dating non-members, but not really marrying non-members.

Why dating?

If a member gal hadn't dated me, and her and her family influenced me, I would not be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. It's that simple.

And to be blunt, if she hadn't, and I hadn't found the Church, I'd be dead.

[puf_the_majic_dragon]

You marry who you date. If you don't want to marry a nonmember, don't date one.

Exactly. Date me instead!

I am fully for dating non-members, but not really marrying non-members.

Why dating?

If a member gal hadn't dated me, and her and her family influenced me, I would not be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today. It's that simple.

And to be blunt, if she hadn't, and I hadn't found the Church, I'd be dead.

And then where would I be? I wouldn't have such a wonderful online buddy! What's that girl's address so I can send her a thank you card?

Haha seriously though, there's 2 sides to every coin. Keeping our associations and relationships within the covenant can keep us pure and on the path, but how can we share the Gospel if we don't spend time with non-members? I believe there's a balance where we can socialize and even date those who aren't members of the church, but who have high standards, without compromising our own standards or putting our own salvation at risk.

[prisonchaplain]

As a non-member myself, I'd encourage you not to date non-members. After all, would a LDS/Non-LDS union be an "equal yoking" by any definition?

[puf_the_majic_dragon]

As a non-member myself, I'd encourage you not to date non-members. After all, would a LDS/Non-LDS union be an "equal yoking" by any definition?

Hey PC. You're right there, but actually I wanted to comment on your signature... I don't think power corrupts so much as it attracts the corruptable... Just a thought :)

[prisonchaplain]

Hey PC. You're right there, but actually I wanted to comment on your signature... I don't think power corrupts so much as it attracts the corruptable... Just a thought :)

We can resist temptation, and God will help us, but only Christ was/is uncorruptable. So, while you are right, in the end, our results are likely the same.

[puf_the_majic_dragon]

We can resist temptation, and God will help us, but only Christ was/is uncorruptable. So, while you are right, in the end, our results are likely the same.

True!

But what happens if we apply that to deity? As in - if absolute power corrupts absolutely, and God has absolute power, therefore......? I should probably stop distracting from the original purpose of this thread...

Date members, marry in the covenant! I'm free Friday night!

[prisonchaplain]

I'm guessing that Lord Acton would be the first to suggest that God is, by his nature, incorruptible. He was addressing human politics, not divine nature. :-)

[Guest Leeanntheone]

So who is Lehi?

Are you single or married? just wondering.

I also believe in marrying members of the church only.

P.S. You look a lot older then the pic when you took down my women's only issues post.

Leeann;)

[skalenfehl]

When I was young, I lived in a predominantly Catholic community. I always intended on marrying in the temple so that limited my dating to homecomings, proms, movies/dinners, etc. because I am not nor ever was one to go to clubs, bars, and places where there was drinking, smoking, and other influences that took away from my sensitivity to the Spirit.

I had girlfriends and dated gals of other faiths and I got to understand other personalities and qualities. Dating is typically a tradition for finding your future spouse, your "eternal companion" if I may, and dating a wide variety of people teaches you who you are compatible with. As long as you know ultimately that you want to marry in the temple with someone who shares the save values, you'll be better off. As mentioned above, "equal yoking" is essential and will play a huge part of your successful marriage.

[VisionOfLehi]

So who is Lehi?

Are you single or married? just wondering.

I also believe in marrying members of the church only.

P.S. You look a lot older then the pic when you took down my women's only issues post.

Leeann;)

I'm single, but proudly LDS now with a goal to marry in the temple that nothing, bar the will of the Lord, will prevent.

---

I'd say date non-members, but don't slack on your standards. That's the only reason my ex-gf dated me. I cleaned up my language around her, and I never even had an inkling of a desire to drink, smoke, or do drugs. I didn't "hang with the wrong crowd."

Actually... I guess I wouldn't say "date non-members." lol

I'd say "Don't exclude upright non-members from your dating options."

You don't HAVE to marry a person if you date them. Especially when you're younger.

I guess, for youth, I'd leave the non-member aspect a little more open than YSAs. By YSA age you ARE kinda getting ready to get married, so your dates are a little more purposeful.

[skalenfehl]

I remember one of my high school sweethearts turned out to be agnostic/atheist. Looking back I realized how naive I was about it. She derided me for my decision to serve a mission, calling it a waste of time. I also chuckle because I completely missed all the hints that she dropped about wanting to become serious and get married. Marriage was never even a consideration for me at the time. Apparently she felt scorned at my decision and got back with her old boyfriend to spite me. I still remember the day my parents dropped me off at the airport and seeing her and her brother there, lol. She pretended I didn't exist while her brother and I chatted. He was also agnostic and he and we discussed his idea of "God doesn't exist because I can't see Him", etc. We were always good friends and he seemed decent about seeing me leave for Germany that day. Seems so long ago.

[FairChild]

At 51, it is hard to find single LDS men my age. I don't blame a memeber that looks outside the fold for companionship.

[Redbeard]

I don't really have much to add... lol, but I do date LDS girls on occasion

I'd agree with what everyone is saying here though, dating someone of another faith (or non-faith) is fun, but if it gets too serious it can lead to a lot of problems, so I always keep it light in those relationships.

[prisonchaplain]

At 51, it is hard to find single LDS men my age. I don't blame a memeber that looks outside the fold for companionship.

LDS teaching, with its emphasis on eternal marriage, and the obvious merit of providing bodies for spirits to inhabit may lend itself to more flexibility in this area. Growing up, the message to us evangelical kids was loud and clear: better to be single and devote your whole life to God (like Paul), unencumbered by family concerns, than to give your life over to an unbeliever, and become unequally yoked.

[KayaLove00]

Some of the nicest people I know are non members, and there are those who are not. I myself dated a non member once when I was innactive and he actually wanted to be baptised after learning about it and now we're married. If the non member is interested in the church that's great, if not than they need to be careful and look at the whole situation and where they want to go with it..the pros and cons :)

[VisionOfLehi]

When I started dating my ex-girlfriend I was anti-theist agnostic and was determined that the Church was a cult and she was brainwashed. I was antagonistic and showed no sign of changing that.

However, as I studied more on my own, and watched how the LDS life went (pretty typical American life, here), I became less stand-offish.

From the first couple months you'd have never guessed I'd turn around. But here I am today. More stubbornly LDS than I was stubbornly agnostic.

You can't know.