I can say one other definite thing: If it's against your beliefs, then you shouldn't do it. No good will come of having one person abandoning his/her morals for another person.
Indeed--that is VERY important.
A person's beliefs are so important to how they will lead their lives that I think in the majority of relationships, a fundamental belief change to be with that person is simply one bridge too far.
I've had that work both ways for me, as a Christian...in one case, I was considering asking one of my friends out.
As a little foreshadowing, I as a woman am much more comfortable when I am in the position to initiate the relationship than when a man does it. I do not like feeling pushed into things by men...now, if the right man asked, that MIGHT be a different scenario, provided they had allowed time for a good friendship to build and they were extremely respectful in how they asked. But overall, I will be honest and say that the way it plays out in my head, I do imagine being the one to "formally" initiate the relationship that leads to marriage.
Another peculiarity in my case is that I feel it is a VERY strong possibility that at some point in my life I will be called to become a minister. Whether I am married when that happens, or whether the ministry will be my only calling--I do not know. But that is definitely something that WOULD affect a relationship should I get into one.
So anyway, I was considering asking this guy out on a date, that I'd been spending a lot of time talking to and getting into some very good, deep general and theological conversations. I was really enjoying his conversation and personality AND finding him extremely attractive...so, I started thinking about it.
Then the topic of women in the church, in marriage, and so on came up. And oh boy did an ugly theory come out of this guy's mouth. Smart man, studying to be a doctor--but OH BOY that was the wrong button to push. And I knew right then and there that not only was dating not viable, but even the friendship wasn't going to last beyond that.
I did something then that some of you might find cruel, but I think that if you had been there you would have hopefully seen that I was not trying to really hurt this guy. I flat-out told him. I not only told him that I disagreed (and backed him into a pretty tight corner, logic-wise, that he was really starting to have problems getting out of), but I DID say I had been considering asking him out and that this would not work in light of his inability to accept me as an equal. I said the trust for that--and even for the continuance of a friendship--was gone if I could not know that I would not automatically be judged inferior on basis of gender.
I don't feel badly about this because like I said, I was not trying to hurt him. I delivered this in the same "logical conversation" tone that I had all of our other discussions. It is my hope that someday, if he hasn't already, he WILL find someone he can be happy with...but I hope that the experience is something that would convince him to rethink the way he was behaving and the way it came off to people so that he and his future wife could be more successful without one person having to dominate the other.
(Oh...and though this guy seemed to think he was better than me because he was male, my suspicion is that at that particular point, I intimidated the living hell out of him with what I did. In all seriousness I did NOT enjoy doing that, but I suspect that's how it would've been received immediately. Thinking on it would probably have come much later, in reflection.)
Now, completely in the reverse...another friend that I considered dating was someone whose company and sense of humor I really enjoyed--but what broke the deal for me was some of the rather contemptuous remarks he made about religious beliefs (I don't believe he realized I was a believer, at the time). Now, in his case I did not break the friendship, because he was not looking down on me the same way the other guy I mentioned was--he didn't see me as inherently inferior, just as someone with whom he disagreed (and after he eventually figured out that I did believe, he didn't make those remarks again, realizing it would be rude), but I did ditch the idea of asking him out.
But it does make me wonder, though...one reason I have not done a lot of dating is because I do tend to really take things in a logical manner as far as long-term relationships are concerned, and even when I am VERY attracted to someone, I give a lot of thought to how realistic the possibility of a relationship really is, whether we would be compatible in terms of beliefs and goals...and I don't even go through to the dating stage if I don't see sufficient reason that the relationship would last. I know that's a very rigorous scrutiny. But I know that however quiet I am, I AM a rather intense person and if the relationship would not withstand that intensity, there's no point in deluding anybody.
This is so typical of a certain mind-set that it's hilarious. Good luck! 
) is that how successful it is depends a lot on the effort you put into it - into how seriously both people take this step.
