---
title: "So, you married an atheist…"
description: "Most Christians would be unhappy if a family member married an atheist."
date: "2014-06-16"
authors:
  - name: "Michael Lipka"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-lipka/"
  - name: "Jessica Martínez"
    job_title: "Former Senior Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jessica-martinez/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/06/16/so-you-married-an-atheist/"
categories:
  - "Atheism & Agnosticism"
  - "Religion"
---

# So, you married an atheist…

![FT_14.06.16_marryAnAtheist](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/06/FT_14.06.16_marryAnAtheist.png)

How would you react if a family member were to marry a born-again Christian – or an atheist?

A [new Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/) found that despite high levels of political polarization overall, most Americans in each major political party said “it wouldn’t matter” if an immediate family member [married someone who identifies with the opposite party](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/section-3-political-polarization-and-personal-life/#marrying-across-party-lines). But fewer U.S. adults – especially Christians – are neutral toward the idea of welcoming someone who doesn’t believe in God into their family through marriage.

About three-quarters of white evangelicals (77%) and two-thirds of black Protestants (67%) in the survey said they would be unhappy if a family member were to marry an atheist, as did 55% of Catholics and 46% of white mainline Protestants.

By comparison, Americans who are religiously unaffiliated are much more comfortable with the prospect of a family member marrying a born-again Christian. Most [religious “nones”](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/) (73%) said that such a union would not matter to them, while one-in-ten (9%) even said they would be *happy* to see such a marriage. About one-in-six (17%) said they would be unhappy.

Even among people who specifically identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, two-thirds (67%) said it wouldn’t matter if a family member married a born-again Christian, while just a quarter (26%) said they’d be unhappy.