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Expert: - 4/16/2007


Question
I have a desire to become catholic. My wife and I attend a non-denominational evangelical protestant church. She is at best negative about catholocism. She doesn't share any desire to convert as I do. Is there a good way to start the conversion process without this disrupting my family life? Could I go to an earlier mass and still attend church with her? Are there any studies or case studies of other couples who have dealt with only one convert to the faith?

Thanks
Dante

Answer
Dante, I am going to refer you to an answer (as it appears on the web) to a question similar to yours. I'm doing this because the answer is very good. Just copy and paste this url in your browser:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00AoGf

As for the portion of your question about your family life, IMHO this isn't something that should be dealt with through the internet. If you and your wife cannot reach an amiable agreement, then I respectfully suggest seeking out a good marriage counselor who will understand and respect both you and your wife's needs, and also the needs of your married relationship.

I hope this helps.

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Michael Clark, Ph.D.

Expertise

I'm a progressive Catholic--not a liberal, conservative nor a single-minded critic of Catholicism. I simply believe that adults in the 21C should use the mind God gave them and not just repeat ancient and medieval modes of thinking.

I can probably help with questions that intelligently and respectfully question those aspects of Catholicism that are not infallible. But if you're looking for someone to vigorously defend or perhaps refute Catholicism as a whole, that's not me. So please ask another expert.

Experience

I run an educational website earthpages.org and know what the web has to offer. I might suggest hyperlinks and/or book titles as I have a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and a considerable personal library.

Publications
Print Media:
My table from "Religions and Cults" at earthpages.org is reproduced with permission in L. Lindsey, S. Beach and B. Ravelli, Core Concepts in Sociology, 2nd ed., p. 157

World Wide Web:
My online article "Letter to God" coauthored with Buddhist monk, E. Raymond Rock, appears on several different spirituality-based websites, including http://tinyurl.com/db7a5o

I've interviewed, as a Christian, a self-proclaimed mystic: http://tinyurl.com/cawykr

My articles appeared at the former New View magazine nuvunow.ca and are published at earthpages.org.

Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in Religious Studies
M.A. in Comparative Religion
B.A. Hon. in Psychology/Sociology
For more info, please see my CV and letters of recommendation and my blog at michaelwclark.com.

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