Voices

People answering the Times Orange County Poll and others interviewed for this series were asked to elaborate on their feelings about God, worship and spirituality. Margaret Lynn, 32, is a Costa Mesa architect.

A “born-again” Christian, she attends South Coast Community Church, a Protestant evangelical church in Irvine.

“I try to go to church every week,” Lynn said. “I was raised as a Lutheran growing up and church was part of my family upbringing.

“The last couple of weeks, we were too busy to go and I really missed it. Being a Christian is a big part of my life. . . .

“It’s not like, woo! woo! someone coming out of the sky. It’s hard to put my finger on it but it’s like a shot in the arm being around a bunch of other people who believe. . . .

“I guess I feel (that) what the Bible has to say provides principles and guidelines that I agree with and I try to fit my lifestyle to (them).

“Sometimes I just pick a book in the Bible and go through it. Other times I follow along with a little book called ‘Daily Bread.’

“I will read the verses and then spend some time meditating on what it has to say.

“There have been times in my life when I’ve felt that God was telling me something in a particular verse.”

Gerardo Lucio, 39 , is a fireplace maker from Fullerton. A Roman Catholic, he attends St. Philip Benizi Church in Fullerton.

“I try to follow what the Ten Commandments say we should be doing. Whenever something bothers me or I’m worried about something, I pray to the Lord for help.

“One time a year ago last December, when I was out of work, my wife and I didn’t have any money to pay our bills. (The telephone company was) about to cut the phone off and we didn’t know what to do.

“My wife prayed and I prayed to God. And when we went to check the mail, there was a check for $140 from my wife’s last job for her vacation days. We hadn’t been expecting any money. It was just there. I think we got the money because we prayed.”

For Lucio, his religion “helps me have faith in others and in myself that nothing is going to go wrong; that everything will be fine.”

“It makes me see that drinking and smoking are not good for me. . . . If I drank, it would make me angry and make me get angry with my wife. And then I would have problems. So it helps in my relationships with my family.

“I try to live a Catholic life as it should be. I am not perfect, but I try. And so I think that has helped me in my life.”

Michael Hayes, 45, is a cabinetmaker from Buena Park.

Reared in the Disciples of Christ in his native Tennessee, he has not attended church in 30 years.

“As a child, I was brought up a Protestant Christian and went through the rituals of the Protestant church until I was 16.

“As I got older, I found that the church did not provide answers to my questions. I studied various world religions, but they didn’t answer my questions either. Then I decided that religion wasn’t the answer--science was.

“I believe there is probably a force out there because the creation of the universe had to come from somewhere,” he said. “But the existence of a Christian God, a Buddha, Rama or any of the earthbound, manufactured gods is probably unlikely. . . .

“I read and study religious issues because religion plays a huge part in human motivation. I realize there is a community spirit that exists within organized religion, but I choose not to participate.

“I think that if you focus away from a God and focus instead on the people around you, you more than make up for the good feelings that religion gives a person.

“But you set yourself aside if you go for atheism because you are generally ostracized by our culture.”