My wife is a shi'ite muslim, I'm a 'lapsed catholic' (read: agnostic on a good day, entirely irreligious - not atheist - on most days). Compromise and understanding the differences in our beliefs is where it's at.

Despite the fact I left the church some time ago, much of my morals and world view are still rooted in what I learned in church and the bible. Granted, I think that's because they're common sense and perfectly reasonable/rational ways to live, but I still found them through that process. I still have a degree of overall respect for what religion means to people on an individual level, and how - despite all the bad that has been done in the name of religion - much good has and continues to be done in the name of it too. I have a particular respect for the 'door's always open' policy of your average roman catholic church, and how a member of the church is available at just about any hour to act as counsel to people who turn to them in times of need. In a long winded way, I'm saying that despite the fact I find no faith or belief in a religion in my life, I respect faith and belief as a concept and that for many, it means something to them I do not fully comprehend the magnitude of.

My wife grew up in a dual religion household herself - her mother and father are two different religions. So she has a lot of experience already with that lifestyle, and easily accomodates and understands that we don't see eye to eye on matters of faith. However, we are currently starting to try and have a family, so matters of faith (and cultural differences too) are becoming more important as we do this. It has been a matter for compromise on both our parts. We have to explain what the logic/belief/history/cultural influence/etc of something we want for the kids is to each other, weigh them against each other, and settle on the 'give and take'. We're trying to make a point of giving and taking equally too, though we're still in a confused state when it comes to 'do we raise the kids religious, non-religious, or some weird in between?'. We have already agreed that no matter how we raise them, when they question other religions and show interest in them - or being non-religious - we'll openly accept and support whatever choice they might make in that regard.

Fundamentally, when we often take the time to discuss the differences and put to voice the chain of logic that reaches a particular conclusion, we have thankfully found ourselves coming from the same places, and simply reaching different means for those ends. Figuring that out allows us to make much easier decisions that land somewhere between both our means, but still reach the end we both desire.