California Catholic Daily reporter, Mary Rose, visits a California college each week and asks students about God, good, and evil. Interview with Trevor, who is studying electrical engineering, outside the South Science building at Fullerton College on March 4, 2020.

Do you consider yourself religious?

Trevor: Yes and no. I believe in a God, but at the same time, I’m not really sure if there is, because my household, my mom’s side is Catholic, I believe. And then my dad’s side, they just don’t go to church. So they would never talk about it. I’ve only been to church one time. Once in a while, I believe there’s a God, because sometimes I do stuff and I’m like, “gee, there has to be someone looking over me if I survived that.” And then sometimes I’m like, “I’m not really sure if it’s just luck or if it’s actually someone looking over me.” Once in a while, I pray like, “please help me do this,” or, “give this person the help that if I can’t do it, just help them,” and so forth. My mom was raised in, I think it was, a Catholic church. She was raised by nuns and all that stuff. And my mom’s side, they’re Filipino, so they’re like super church. 

Do you believe in an afterlife?

Trevor: Yeah, I believe there is a heaven and a hell, but at the same time I’m also in that stage where I believe it, but I’m not really sure if it’s there. I believe that it’s there, because I think if you die happy and you did good in life, I believe should go somewhere good. And then if you did wrong, I believe you should go to hell. But it depends on what people define as bad. If it’s bad where you murder someone on purpose with no good intentions, then I believe you should go to hell. But if you kill someone, and you were never planning on – like it just happened, for a cause. I believe you should go to heaven if you did your best to try to forgive yourself and give that family, or whoever’s the loved one to that person, your help with all that stuff. 

What do you think about abortion? 

Trevor: I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I think it goes both ways. If a girl were to get raped, and becomes pregnant, and she never planned on getting pregnant, that’s where I think abortion is good. But if they planned to have a kid and the man leaves and then they don’t want the kid anymore, I think it’s wrong. I would say it was a hard thing to do because one of my friends had to have the abortion and I went with them to the clinic, and said like, “you sure you want to do this,” and all this stuff. And then they said yes. Because the guy she was going to have the kid with left her and she didn’t have the money and support. I also said, “okay, if you’re going to have a kid, I would expect you to be able to support the kid no matter what.” But she didn’t. And I knew she didn’t. So I told her, “If you want to do this, do it. But the next time you have a kid or are trying to have a kid, make sure before you have the kid and before you plan to do all this, make sure you have the money to be able to support it.” So that’s where I fall. Of course always be safe and use a condom and all that and plan before so that you’re prepared. I would say abortion would probably be like the last resource I would think of. Where I fall is I’m in the middle of yes, it’s good. But yes, it’s bad. 

What if a girl thinks she has all the resources and then, after the baby is born, she realizes she doesn’t have it together. I’m sure you would say she shouldn’t kill the newborn, but why not? What’s the difference? 

Trevor: I mean adoption is one way to go, but let’s say you have a kid and you’re doing well, but then all of a sudden everything gets lost. That’s when I would start reaching out, I would talk to my parents of course, because they’re basically your person to go to as a child and all that stuff. Or just finding someone else that you know can help support you. Like one of my friends, she had a kid and her parents were totally against it, but my friends and I tried to help her. We take care of the kid while she goes to work or she drops it off at grandma’s once in a while. Once in a while, she’ll stay over at some of our houses. 

But why do not what you just said to support the baby instead of having an abortion? When would abortion be the necessary last resort you’re talking about? 

Trevor: Let’s say the person didn’t know about the Plan B pill and they took it later on and they didn’t take it in time. They thought they were done with everything. And then later on they find out. I would say, of course, go be checked again. Make sure you are pregnant. So that’s where I would go to have an abortion. Or if you didn’t take the pill, the guy that you thought was going to stay, didn’t stay. So you don’t have the support, but your family’s against it, but say they’ll support you to have it. That’s when I would think the girl should have the decision. Like, “do I want to put my family through this? I want to keep the baby, but do I want to put my family through this?” To me it sucks because that could grow up to be something extraordinary. I know that it’s a wrong thing, but at the same time, that’s where God can come in and it’s like, God is telling you abortion is the wrong thing, but if you can’t support this child, do not put him through living through hell. 

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