Where I live we had this godless atheist character on the radio called 'Tom Leykis' that called himself the single man's 'Professor of dating' and taught men NEVER to date a single mother. He was wildly popular. Among the 81 radio stations in Southern California the show was #9 overall, #6 in English stations, and #1 for time spent listening. But among men ages 18+, adults ages 18–34, and ages 25–54, the show was #1 in time spent listening with an average of over 4 hours per week, in addition to being #1 for men in share aged 18+.
Crazy no? That's the world for you though.
As a Christian, I think it breaks down like this: date only committed, mature, Christian people of the opposite sex. If in the course of dating from this pool, you realize you made a mistake in your first impressions of them, God is leading you in a different direction, you discover you need to mature first, etc... ; break it off and start over when ready. That's it!
Follow the rules in scripture for relationships and I think it's hard to go wrong with this.