LDS and marrying non-LDS

A friend of mine asked me a question about Mormons recently, and that's not uncommon. Being in a very small minority religion not many people know active, open Latter Day Saints. Since active Saints tend to be very busy and hang around with other active Saints, it's rare when people in the outside world feel close enough to talk to one and ask them questions because of the entire "don't talk about religion and politics" thing. I do not pass myself off as the oracle of all things LDS nor do I claim to know everything about the LDS church either.

The question he asked was if his Catholic son could marry a practicing LDS girl. Wow, that is such a tough question. The first answer is yes, she can. She can do whatever she wants. When people ask "Can LDS drink alcohol?" the answer really is "Yes, they can, but the church forbids it so most LDS do not drink." The word can just means "are able to". 

I am not saying the LDS church allows it members to drink alcohol. What I am saying is that the church can't physically stop you from drinking alcohol. 

But it'll be complicated. Since LDS place a high value on being married in an LDS temple and non members can't enter the temple, she wouldn't be able to have a temple marriage. So that's strike one. Strike two is that their kids would have to be raised either Catholic or LDS but either way it would be the opposite of one parents faith. So it'll be difficult. If one person advances in their own faith they might want a spouse who shares it. So that's strike three. Luckily marriage isn't baseball so it isn't three strikes you are out. It's three strikes and it'll be very difficult.

It'll also probably cause issues within your family, and to be totally honest I've never understood that. Religion should be a personal thing. You should join a church because you think it's true, not because your parents forced you to join as a kid. Obviously your parents have every right to raise you in the faith they want to raise you in. As an adult though, you should be able to choose whatever faith makes the most sense to you or no faith at all. Yes, I know it's not that simple.