If an Orthodox Chrisitan married a Buddhist...

[Ava]

What if the Buddhist is both Christian and Buddhist?

Is that possible?

I would not be the priest marrying such a couple, that's all I'm sayin'....

So the options are:

1 - marry the couple and allow the Christian to continue life as a practicing Christian.  There is certainly a decent chance the Buddhist will come around eventually. 

2 - refuse to marry the couple.  There is a decent chance the lady will just say * it and never step foot in a Christian church again.   If the Buddhist decides to "convert" just for the marriage rather than personal reasons, there is a very low chance he'll actually live any sort of Christian life. 

Which is preferable? 

Even if a marriage in the Church is impossible, cutting the Christian off - even if we say it's their own fault for not finding an Orthodox mate - from the Church hardly seems logical, when usually because the spouse is lost to the Church, any children are lost, too.  And so the pool of Orthodox Christian partners for our young people continues to diminish, especially in areas where potential Orthodox partners are like hens' teeth; making this a kind of Catch 22 situation.

At the very least, it seems a self-destructive action on the part of the Church; more a punishment for loving the wrong person rather than encouragement for the non-Christian to enter through our doors.

I agree with your comment Reddikulus. 
Obviously it's not my place to argue against the rules of the church, but from my perspective coming as a former non-Christian, and still married to a non-Christian for 10 years (still the love of my life  ) Orthodoxy itself has a natural appeal especially to those who never heard of it (and there is a lot in here in America).  I believe patience is best for my spouse, so I don't push him into anything.  He may come around someday.  He loves me and all my quirky endeavors.  From an outsider point of view.  I can see how the situation can be a delicate one and possibly lose more people from the truth faith than gain some.
I wonder if "back in the day" that there must have been some times where those who bravely spread the true Christian faith and came about situations between a man and woman that weren't exactly by the book, and asked God for guidance and received an answer that helped the joining of the two.

[mabsoota]

in the 'old' days, Christian parents may have been pushed into giving their daughters in marriage to powerful pagan men (as in the story of the Christian who became the princess), and in these situations, the marriage would not have been in church. the powerful simply did as they pleased, and the alternative to agreeing with them was usually very unpleasant to all concerned. maybe they should have resisted and been killed, but we usually don't know enough of the history to judge on their behalf how they should have behaved. however, God did not abandon these women, married against their will in a society where women had very little freedom to choose for themselves. so, of course, people pushed into marriage in this situation are still considered members of the church in every way.

however, if a Christian willingly sets out to embrace the real spiritual pain of abandoning the ideal of a Christian family, learning and loving together and growing together spiritually, then i really pity that person in their misguided rush into sin.
i pray the God will strengthen and guide those who are in that situation now, either through conversion from another religion / atheism, or through sin which they have now repented of.
i really appreciate quietmorning's openness in revealing some of her pain that she hopes we all avoid. may God give her great peace as she seeks to be the good Christian wife spoken of by saint paul, who brings the life of Christ to her husband through her Godly life.

but i would never, never do anything to suggest to someone who declares that he / she follows Jesus Christ but decides to ignore His teaching and be a partner to someone who is running a different race. how could i possibly face him / her in the future when he / she comes weeping, recognising the error of her / his ways and unable to see any way forward in the difficult situation that usually follows these unions?
it happened to a childhood friend of mine. contrary to all nice fairytales, they are still spiritually miles apart after more than 15 years of marriage. it happened to others i know. and it's confusing to the children to find out that faith in God is sort of optional and not a really big deal. 

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