First of all, I'd like to start off by saying that I have nothing but the utmost respect for religious individuals. I was raised in a Christian family and I live in a town that is mostly Jewish. I've gone to church, I pray on occasion, and I celebrate Christian holidays.

With that said, I am not a very religious individual. I would consider my approach to religion to be that of a Deist. A Deist is a person that believes in the existence of a higher power and hopes for a place after death, but knows that it is not guaranteed and believes that they create their own destiny through their choices rather than by predestination.

Now, I apologize. I know that what I am about to say is going to be wildly unpopular, but hey that's why I love our first amendment.

I don't care if my future husband is a church-going, God-loving, or Jesus-loving man.

Lately, my newsfeed has been clogged up with articles about the importance of faith in your relationships, and more specifically, the Christian faith. Yes, I'm talking about the "Dating Someone Who Loves Jesus More Than You", "Christian Boys Vs. Godly Men", and "Remember, Ladies, Thomas Rhett & Lauren Akins Found God Before They Found Love" articles.

Now, if your religion is an important part of your life than that is amazing for you, but there's more to life and a man than his religious beliefs, or lack thereof.

To begin, I don't agree with the statement that your husband should love God more than you. What does that even mean-- to love God more than you? Sorry if I'm sinning here by being selfish, but I want to be my husbands number one priority (behind our kids of course).

To go along with that, just because you and your husband or wife are religious, does not mean that you wont get divorced. Marriage survives on communication, commitment, and lots of hard work. Simply going to church will not guarantee that your marriage will survive in the face of life's many challenges. We all hope that our marriage will succeed, but religion is sadly not a deciding factor (if it were the divorce rate would be much much MUCH lower).

In addition, I'm sorry to burst your bubble here, but Christian men do not have the monopoly on respecting women. Just because I'm not looking for a God-fearing man does not mean that I don't have respect for myself or that I'm taking guys home from the bars nightly.

In addition, simply because your boyfriend, fiancé, or husband, is religious; does not mean that he is automatically a good man. There are plenty of religious rapists, murderers, and kidnappers in the world. There are many religious individuals that don't believe in or respect gay rights, trans rights, and opposing faiths.

To me, there are more important things in life than his religion.

I care way more about his beliefs on women's rights, inclusion, and acceptance. I believe it is more important that we share similar opinions on the way we want to raise our children, where we want to live, and our core values than which church, temple, or synagogue we should go to.

That does not go to say that I wouldn't marry a religious man. I find religion fascinating and often times comforting. I have a lot of respect for women and men that have strong faiths and I, too, advocate for my faith whenever necessary.

All I'm trying to say is that you need more than a religious man to guarantee a healthy relationship. There are so many other factors to consider when choosing a life partner and I'd like to consider all of them. It is eye opening and even life changing to learn about other religions and faiths, I don't want to limit the potential of meeting my future husband by requiring that he believe in God.