outside my bubble: interview with my Atheist friend

This is the first post from a series that I’ve named Outside My Bubble. It consists of interviews that I’m conducting with friends of mine who are not Christian or who are Christian but do not necessarily practice their Christianity. All my friends in Zimbabwe are Christian but coming to the US has allowed me to interact and even become friends with people who don’t share my beliefs. Outside My Bubble is a way for me to step outside my comfortable “Christian Bubble” and to intentionally see Christianity from the perspective of non-Christian people as well as to directly share my faith with them. For my first post, I interviewed my friend Marc.

Marc (American name) is a 20-year old from YunNan, China and just like me, he’s a first-year international student at Goucher College. We met during international student orientation but it was only after taking a photography class together that we became friends. He’s a talented photographer who loves New York City and aspires to be an entrepreneur. He is caring, kind and charming and although he likes to make fun of the way I speak (lol), I am so grateful to have him as a friend.

Mandile: Tell me about your childhood.

Marc: I lived with my aunt, uncle, grandparents on my mother’s side, and my parents. I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of kids that were my age. We all went to the same kindergarten but after four years we ended up not seeing each other because we [went] to different schools. The most interesting thing about my childhood was playing [hide-and-seek].

Mandile: Are your parents religious or spiritual?

Marc: My dad is atheist and my mum is kind of spiritual. She’s Buddhist.

Mandile: I remember during orientation when we did that exercise about our identity and one of the things on your list was that you were an Atheist. I found that interesting because usually people only talk about what they believe rather than what they don’t believe. Do you think that defining your atheism is essential to your identity?

Marc: In my opinion, being atheist doesn’t mean we don’t believe in a god. We do believe that there might be a god somewhere but we just don’t have that [religiousness] or spirituality in us. I just don’t want to participate in a religion because I feel like there’s so much involved in being religious. I think that all the religions are connected – they all just teach you to be a “real” human being. You can learn that on your own. You don’t have to be part of some religion to be a good human being. As an atheist, I still could define myself as a good human being.

Mandile: Are you atheist because your dad is atheist and your mum didn’t instill Buddhist beliefs in you?

Marc: My family really gave me the freedom to choose how I wanted to live. This is my own choice. It’s not because of the non-religiousness of my parents. I don’t think I have the time to be a religious person.

Mandile: Before coming to the USA, were you ever exposed to any sort of Christianity?

Marc: Yes, I was. My grandparents bought another house that they rented out for a short period of time. Our tenants one time were all Christian – the whole family, including the grandparents. They were Chinese. Before I came to America, I remember they were eating dinner and before they ate, they closed their eyes and prayed. I was like, what is going on? And that’s when I found out that that’s what Christians or Catholics do every day before they eat. They pray to appreciate how God provides food for them. They do that every single day! In my family, we don’t do that. My grandparents are religious, especially my grandma. She’s a very religious Buddhist and that’s why every time after dinner she will burn incense, bow three times and pray that our future will be great and that nothing bad will happen.

Mandile: Have you ever considered that there might be a God or gods?

Marc: Well, some of my friends have told me about how they’ve experienced angels and things like that. I do believe that there is a spiritual existence in the world. I just don’t want to be part of that world. I don’t want to have spirituality in me.

Mandile: Do you think not believing in a God or in gods makes your experience of the world different from mine since I believe in God?

Marc: To be honest, I don’t think it makes [that] big of a difference because I just think that we are all the same, basically. For example, some people are Christian but they do bad things but I’m atheist and I don’t do those bad things.

Mandile: Do you remember that time before class when we were talking about what music we listen to and you had a song on your playlist that was Christian? Is there a reason why you listen or listened to that song?

Marc: Well I think it’s because I went to a Catholic high school and I’m taking a religion class. Also, the lyrics in that song are great and I do respect other religions. It’s a great song in general. It’s so different from pop music and rap music.

Mandile: Do you know anything about the Bible?

Marc: Yeah, I do. Our teacher does tell us about the Bible. I have read it before since I’m in that religion class. I’ve read about Adam and Eve and the Virgin Mary. Stories like that.

Mandile: If you don’t mind, I would like to read you a very short Bible verse. It’s a description of a certain type of love – an unending love like no other.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

-1 Corinthians 13:4-8

What do you think of that?

Marc: It’s great. As an Atheist, I think it’s a good definition of what love is and of the power that love has.

Mandile: I just want you to know that I respect your beliefs and I thank you for respecting mine. If you ever have any questions about God or the Bible, I would be happy to answer them. Merci, beaucoup.

Marc: Je t’en prie.

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God truly loves you.

With love,

Mandile.