Being able to worship freely is a fundamental human right and in a just world Edith would be at liberty to exercise this right.
All I would say in defence of Edith’s DP is that her behaviour is coming from a place of weakness and desperation not strength. Whether or not you can imagine what it’s like to be in her situation, she is surely deserving of compassion – as of course is Edith, who is also suffering, and whose love and concern for her partner shine through.
My take on it all is that when people are in a close relationship, there can be a blurring of the distinction between self and non-self, and it can feel as if your identity is in some way fractured if the actions and attitudes of your other half are alien to you.
This is especially true for ‘coupley’ couples - couples that are accustomed to thinking in a similar way and who generally live in each other’s pockets.
‘Chalk and cheese’ couples with greater individual autonomy within the relationship are less likely to experience a unilateral change in religious views as a destabilising seismic event.
I’m guessing that Edith and her DP may well be – or have been - a ‘coupley’ couple. So this will have hit them particularly hard.
I’m also guessing that Edith’s DP is more of a Nietzschean atheist than a Dawkinsesque atheist.
(Dawkins sneers at religion in a controlled way. He doesn’t even break sweat in his attack since his enemy is not perceived as a threat at a visceral level. In contrast, Nietzsche did not underestimate religion. He had felt the power of the enemy from within and after making good his escape, fought against that enemy with every fibre of his being.)
For these reasons, and because I have gone through something a bit similar with a boyfriend who became a born-again Christian, the intensity of response from Edith’s DP does not surprise me at all.
But what’s to be done to improve the situation?
Strangely, perhaps, I think it could be helpful for Edith’s DP to strengthen ties with fellow atheists, so that she can feel validated in her sense of herself and her values. At the moment she probably feels like the rug has been pulled from beneath her feet. Taking a step back to work on her own independent identity might just allow her to become secure enough to establish a new modus vivendi with Edith.
There may even come a time when some aspects of the Christian experience can be shared without Edith’s DP feeling her own sense of reality is being undermined.
For example, Jesus can be appreciated, and even cherished, outside of the package deal of Christianity. There is nothing to stop Edith and her DP sharing Jesus the desert preacher. As an atheist, I can recommend the Jefferson Bible as a way of having Jesus and his precepts in your life without the supernatural elements of Christianity.
And then there is that sensation of transcendence in response to the sheer beauty of the world. That sensation is a part of common human experience, whether or not you identify it as a sign of God's presence.