· What are your goals in life?
· What are the values you hold most important?
· What aspects of your partner's character do you cherish most, and why?
· What is important to you about your religion?
· Describe your image of God?
· Do you and your family agree on your religious beliefs?
· What do you know about your partner's religion? Are there elements of his/her religious beliefs that you disagree with or find unacceptable?
· What do you see as the cultural differences between the two of you? (might include money, tastes, family, and in laws, child rearing, food sexuality, among others.
· How do you envision the family that you and your partner will create?
· What does your extended family mean to you? How do you feel when you visit your partner's family?
· Have you talked about children? How will you raise them? What religious training, if any, will you give them?
· What are some of the issues on which you have already discovered disagreement? How will you negotiate these? Are there any which cannot be resolved?
· What made you decide to marry?
· What does marriage mean to you?
· What does it mean to be someone's life partner?
"Think Again" Checklist
You should seriously think again about marrying out of your faith if:
· You secretly hope maybe someday your partner will convert.
· You feel an affectionate (or not) comtempt for anyone who could really believe that guff (otherwise known as your partner's religion.
· You tell yourself your partner's not as bad as most of them.
· You figure that how you raise your kids will work itself out, and besides, maybe you won't have any.
· You think that what your parents think doesn't matter.
· You think what society thinks doesn't matter.
· You think religion doesn't matter to you, and never will.
· Talk about religion makes you nervous, bored, embarrassed, or angry.