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"This reader has an appropriate question given the holiday season. Please weigh in with your opinions to help her out! &amp;quot;Nice to meet you! So, about God&amp;amp;#133; She writes: &amp;quot;I was wondering, when it is appropriate to bring up religious beliefs once you start dating someone? For me, my religion is important and I want someone who can share that with me. It could be a possible deal-breaker in the long run. How do I explain that to someone?&amp;quot; Not being a particularly religious person myself (sorry, Mom!), this hasn&amp;#x27;t been a major issue for me in my dating life. However, I think the answer is equivalent to any value that&amp;#x27;s particularly important to you when it comes to the life you want to share with your future significant other, be it political or environmental or dietary or Beatles v. Stones or whatever your passion may be. (JK about that last one, I hope.) And that is that I think it depends on just how much it matters to you when it comes to someone you&amp;#x27;re dating. For instance, if there is absolutely no way you&amp;#x27;d consider dating someone, even casually, who doesn&amp;#x27;t closely share your religious beliefs, it&amp;#x27;s probably good to be up front about that from the get-go. You should probably be aware that this could be a turn-off to some guys, but frankly, those guys were not likely to be compatible with someone who takes religion quite seriously anyway. If it&amp;#x27;s that fundamental in your life, you&amp;#x27;d probably prefer the quality of matches that share your beliefs rather than a large quantity of guys you don&amp;#x27;t have a future with. On the other hand, since you mention it could be a possible deal-breaker for you, I suspect that it&amp;#x27;s important but not necessarily a black-and-white, non-negotiable point. I still think you&amp;#x27;ll want to discuss it somewhat early on, but it doesn&amp;#x27;t need to be an interrogation on personal, sometimes controversial matters on the first date. If I were you and I&amp;#x27;d met someone I clicked with on a few dates, I&amp;#x27;d eventually bring up the matter semi-casually in conversation, as in mentioning that you regularly attend church on Sundays (or whatever your religious tradition is, of course) rather than putting him on the spot by demanding to know his religious views. Seeing how he reacts to your mention of it is probably a good initial gauge: If he scoffs or seemed turned off, he&amp;#x27;s likely not going to share your beliefs any time soon. If he he lights up and says &amp;quot;Me too!,&amp;quot; he might be on the same page and you can open the discussion. If he seems confused or indifferent, you&amp;#x27;ll probably need to explore the issue further at some point, sooner rather than later. There&amp;#x27;s likely not an answer that&amp;#x27;s exactly right for everyone, and you should handle it in a a way and at a time that makes you feel comfortable. But in general, you probably don&amp;#x27;t need to agree on how you plan to raise your future kids before you&amp;#x27;ve celebrated your one-month anniversary, but it&amp;#x27;s at least good to know if you&amp;#x27;re both open to and tolerant of each other&amp;#x27;s beliefs before getting too attached. Weigh in readers: When do you think it&amp;#x27;s appropriate to start discussing your religious beliefs when dating? Right away? Only when you&amp;#x27;re getting serious? Before marriage? More on religion and love: *Would You Convert Religions for a Guy? *Could You Date Someone Who Doesn&amp;#x27;t Share Your Religious Beliefs? *Reader Dilemma: He May Break Up With Me For Religious Reasons!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2013/12/readers-dilemma-how-soon-shoul>