Belief and religious identification are individual matters. Respecting him as a person means giving him space to figure things out for himself and understanding if he doesn't take quite the same path as you or even wind up at the same destination as you.

So if he's receptive to the subject, by all means continue the question-and-answer sessions. The Problem of Evil is a thorny one that experienced apologists have trouble addressing in intellectually satisfying ways, and it's unlikely that your boyfriend is an experienced apologist. (Clearly his mom isn't.) If he starts to seem uncomfortable about the subject, I suggest you back off, tell him it's OK with you if you talk about something else, and it's also OK with you if he wants some time to figure these religious things out for himself.

In other words, just be the best girlfriend to him you can be when you're with him, the best person you can be at all times, and enjoy your time with him.

My "boy"friend is Mormon and I am a die-hard atheist. We have been together since 2010. The glue that keeps us together is the fact that we both have the same disability (severe head injuries - me from a car crash in '87 and him from a nearly fatal mixture of medications in '94). Oh, we are also old farts - me 64 and him 70. The best way to keep a relationship going in spite of religious differences is to respect each other and never to talk about it. I don't know if young people can pull it off but it is worth a try.

You’ve given him a safe harbor ~

He's waking up. He is opening the blinds and letting the light in. LOL.

I love a feel-good story. Good job. Just a matter of time now.

Awesome...I have had this be the case with my girlfriends. Helping someone break through to reality. This to me, is the perfect example of how it's going to work, if it's to work at all. You can debate and discuss to your heart's content, but it typically only serves to reinforce the other person's denial of the facts. They tend to cling to what they were told was the 'truth.' And form a wall making it even more difficult to get through to them. Anecdotally, the most effective religious to reason stories I've heard start with a seed. If you can successfully plant that seed of doubt/skepticism, the rest has to take place as that person's own journey. If you've gotten through even to plant that seed, reason should naturally follow. (of course, the length of time this takes differs per case).

Good to see it working the opposite way of what I have seen in my life. I can think of two very reasonable mates who became all religious once they got married. It goes to show us men can be like little puppy dogs. "She pretty. I like her, so I just give her my brain" I'm talking of my friends, not your situation. You have reason on your side.

Be patient. Losing religion is a process. Introduce one challenge for him at a time so he can digest it. He will eventually see all his reasons for believing slip away. Be supportive too, because this can be a painful process.

There are lots of questions that science can't answer too. The difference is that science is willing to be challenged and will adapt based on evidence, whereas any religion will carry on spouting its nonsense.

You may be a Serious Antidote... Can we Clone You? For a good cause.

Most of the atheists I know were brought up in Christian households, I know I was.

It seems you may be healing your boyfriend from his severe case of religious infection. Perhaps you should be re-named 'EmeraldTheMentalAntibiotic'.

If you manage to complete the process that gentleman may have a great deal to thank you for - but beware, relapses are common when fighting religious infection ... and even when cured he might be delicate for a while.

Yay!

Keep up the great work, he may yet end up good enough to keep.

good luck with your boyfriend maybe he will come around seeing do things the proper way, maybe I should say the logical way. Just give them time to think about all he's learning, if he sees it your way and can understand where you're coming from that will be great for you. Good luck

keep that rubbing going beautiful! Gently gently though