... should i convert to my partner's religion? ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)

gladys reyes of abs-cbn's umagang kay ganda posed to me the question "should i convert to my partner's religion?"

i answered her that it all depends on a number of factors.  one factor to consider is religious conviction.  if you don't espouse any strong affiliation towards your religion, then religious conversion will apparently not be such a big deal for you.  

interfaith marriages do exist in the animal kingdom!

another factor to consider is whether your partner strongly wants you to convert but you don't want to.  this conflict is best dealt with in premarital counseling.  three possibilities here:  (1) you convert, or (2) your partner accepts the fact that you won't, or (3) both of you end up at loggerheads and the relationship fizzles out.  

Selvakumar of Southern India married Selvi, his pet dog. 

I'm guessing that Selvi converted to Selvakumar's religion 

since they got married in a Hindu temple.  

By the way, Selvi is the one wearing the orange Sari.  

The black putty tat has fallen in love 

with a stone-hearted white cat, 

so I guess it's the soft-hearted black putty tat that converts.  

nadine schweigert will certainly not get into 

a religious conflict with her partner 

because she happily got married to herself.  

yes, we need to co-exist!

a third factor i'd like to discuss is when both you and your partner really don't care too much about each other's religions, but your in-laws do.  in this case, you can convert (and go through the motions, so to speak) just for the purpose of appeasing your in-laws.  the other option is, of course, not to convert and suffer from your in-law's religious discrimination.  if you can tolerate that, then don't change your religion.