Have you ever wondered what your parents felt on a certain topic that may be a little personal? If you do, I feel the same way. Now that I have the opportunity to do so, I decided to do an interview on my father about his religious history, experiences, and beliefs. My father is a young, 40 year old, father of four, and is one of the funniest, hardworking, and outgoing people I know.  I chose to interview my father because I feel that it would allow me to get his perspective on religion since I never really see him express his religious views in religious environments. By doing this, I feel that I will get to learn more about my father’s religious views and how he takes religion.

Q: Why is it important to spread your religion?
A: “Because, there are so many people that have lost their way. So the best way to get that back is to preach it--to live your life by the way of The Book [The Bible]. Living life by God’s will and his Word, you will be more at peace. We have to get people back to living their lives by The Book.”

Q: Is your religion true? Why?
A: “I really don’t know if it’s true...that’s just my opinion because those are just teachings that have been passed down from generation to generation so, I don’t know if it’s true, but I have faith that it is.

Q: What do you think of other beliefs/religions?
A: “I don’t...downplay them or anything because God was known by many names and if you break all of those religions down, the root basis of them is to have a good life in the eyes of the Lord, so I don’t discredit any other religions, you know? Other religions know god by a different name. I just know that the base roots of them all is that they all have the same basis of how you treat others.”

Q: How has family affected your religion?
A: “Well, having a family and knowing that if I live by the Bible and some of His teachings and lead by example, then my children will one day seek...I wouldn’t say seek Christianity, but seek religion as a way of guiding them and leading them.”

Q: Who introduced you to this religion and how?
A: “I would say my parents, my grandmother, and great grandmother...and how? (laughs) Well that’s funny, I don’t know..you had to go to church and you had to go to Sunday school and Bible school so there wasn’t a choice…(laughs). That’s how it was back in the day, you would go three to four times out of the week.

Q: Tell me about a time you questioned God or doubted God.
A: “Never...never…”

Q: How does God influence your family on a day to day basis?
A: “Well, by putting religion first, it allows you to walk around with a certain confidence, knowing that you are protected, you’re one of His children, and he looks over you and covers you.”

Q: Why do you believe in God?
A: “I believe in God because I know that there is a higher power, that there had to be a beginning. Just having faith in Him is why I believe in Him.”

Q: Talk about a time where you felt close to God.
A: “I would say, everyday because for me, I seek his guidance in everything I do and in my decisions that I make. So I feel close to Him everyday.”

Q: Describe God as you understand Him.
A: “Well for one, he’s a zealous God. He’s a righteous God. So he’s also fair and compassionate. What I mean by that is you’re not supposed to put anything or anyone before Him. He will punish you in some way, shape or form for your sins but at the same time, you shall call upon Him and ask Him to take over your life and He will.”

Q: Have you been introduced to other religions? How did it go?
A: “Yes I have. And some of the teachings were the similar. Like I know some of the religions take passages of the Bible and make their own teachings. So I didn’t have any judgement upon those religions. They just weren’t for me.”

Q: What qualifies you to be a Christian?
A: “The qualifications to be a Christian is how you live your life. Living your life according to what the Bible says is what qualifies you to be a Christian and that is a hard walk to live.”

Q: What is something you like/dislike/puzzles you in another religion?
A: “There’s no likes or dislikes but the puzzling thing is: How all of the religions tie in together, because in some way, shape, or form they all come together. They all come from different teachings of a book or from the Bible so to speak such as with the Episcopalians and the Catholics. My question is how do they all tie in together?

Q: How would life be different without Christianity?
A: “Don’t know. Because I don’t have faith in everybody’s practices. If anything, it would
probably be the same that it is now because if we had true people practicing Christianity, a lot of the things going on in the world would be happening.”

After finishing this interview, I really learned a lot about my father’s religious identity and his thoughts on the whole idea of religion. Based of his responses, the theme of this interview is about how a lot of religions come together in some way that speaks on how to live life. I feel like I’ve gotten to know my father a little more than what I already do. Now that I’ve gotten his perspective on religion I have a better understanding of what he thinks about religion.