Sins are Forgiven for those who repent and accept the Lord Our Savior. Atheists do not accept the Lord Our Savior so I'm sorry they burn in hell. This is the most literal difference between believers and non-believers - granted many others in ministry and laity will go in greater detail and depth on the subject - by and large it boils down to these two points. Granted both of you may respect each other's beliefs now. However when the snow starts covering the roof and one becomes very aware that they are closer to the end of life than the beginning matters of faith take on a whole new importance - and most often the 'condition' of the soul of our loved ones becomes a pressing matter where we feel it is best to 'save' our loved ones from hell. Altoough such a state of affairs is usually not triggered until later in life, any near death or clear reminded of how fragile human beings are takes place can push the subject to the forefront. You as an atheist may not feel compelled to 'save' her from whatever atheist think takes place after death - she on the other hand is a product of her belief in God and the mythologies of the faith so she most likely will come to love you with the sort of love that sees a need for your personal salvation. If both of you are able to accept and live with this small 'factoid' that will hang over your relationship and we can assume marriage, then yes your relationship will work at least for the duration of life because, one is going one way and the other is going the other way. To be frank the problems between two adults of two separate brands of faith (or nonfaith) are low when we are just dealing with the two adults. It is when the children are growing up and matters of faith and the concern for the immortal souls of the children press the faithful parent to take the child kicking and screaming to Sunday school in order to 'save their soul' from eternal fire and damnation. Unfortunately even different denominational parents will have huge arguments that tax the marriage (or their relationship if living in sin (LOL)). Children bring a whole new set of worries and concerns - our childhood faith can remind us about our 'duties' as parents in Christ to teach our children all about the bible, God and of course to secretly repent for our wild days before kids. So I can only hope that you are willing and able to concede the argument about Sunday School when the wife looks at your darling child and suddenly gets a vision of their cherub face burning in hell for all eternity. Or what ever vision it is that pushes parents to send children off to Sunday school.

thanks for the answer. Well put.

My husband is Catholic, I'm Agnostic. It has never caused any problems between us as we both respect one another. I wouldn't worry about it being a problem in your relationship.

Any two people can make it work reguardless of religious belief, I am Buddhist and my husband is an athiest but he respects me enough to accept my beliefs as valid, for me.

It depends on the individuals involved. I have good friends - one is active Christian, other is atheist - they love and respect each other and for them it works. However, while you're counting her sins there is no respect and no chance at all.