[jfk]

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One thing that was a huge culture clash for her was his strong Catholic faith. She was brought up atheist and just couldn't relate. Also, his parents were his whole world and he wanted to please them and visit them frequently. She, like me, had moved far away from her family years before and only saw her parents once a year. She believed in saving their money and watching their spendings closely, he wanted to take out loans for everything and was very bad at money management. His parents are quite poor and live on a tiny farm near the Mexican border. Their focus is on their religion and survival. Her parents were academics who I remember vividly as intellectuals sitting around the kitchen arguing about politics and art and music. Just a huge culture clash.

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Why this is seen as a culture clash more than a case of incompatible people who made a bad choice to marry?

He was:

from a poor background,
poorly educated,
religious,
had strong ties to his family,
rural,
and unconcerned with financial stability.

She was:

from an educated background with somewhat refined tastes,
not religious,
not particularly close to her family,
and mindful of financial considerations.

It is unclear how culture is the major culprit in this divorce. Had the two both been raised in Ohio (where similar differences between the two people described could be found) it sounds like they were both just very different people who seem not to be a good fit.