Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Leslie Lemus, 19, of Simi Valley admires hand carvings by Michael Kuzala, 33, right, who is originally from Malawi. Kuzala also was selling some authentic African tribal masks.

An atheist, two Christians, a religion buff and an undecided sat in a circle discussing their belief systems from heaven and Scripture to facts and peace.

They were among dozens of students in the classroom Wednesday for Facts vs. Truth: Balancing Science and Faith, a workshop that was part of the 16th annual Multicultural Day at Moorpark College.

They circled six words on a list given out by sociologist Lisa Ransdell, who led the interactive workshop.

Krista Pollay, 19, goes to church every Sunday and is involved with her youth group. Pollay said two important words for her were peace and prayer; Iain Graham, a political science major, is not religious but doesn't have a problem with other people practicing religion.

"I've been getting by 19 years without it. I don't see the need," Graham said. "I'm probably just too lazy."

Kim King, 19, is an art major and doesn't believe in God. King circled peace and random as her two most relevant words.

"I chose peace because everybody should be treated with respect," King said. "And random because I identify with this word more than anything else on the list."

Matt Podron, a business law major, said he didn't think those two words made sense together.

"How do you define random and peace? Basically, random is anarchy," Podron, 26, asked. King said she doesn't believe in destiny, and if that's the case, then randomness is the only thing that makes sense for her.

"There is no destiny; everything I've chosen is my own," King said.

Dave Lenford, 23, a social sciences major, chose freedom and policy as two words that characterize his belief system.

"I'm interested in how people take religion or lack of religion and then follow those choices," Lenford said.

Outside of the standing-room-only classroom, dozens of other similar workshops were being held to highlight this year's theme, Science and Religion, the Fabric of Diversity.

Workshops and lectures on the Chumash culture, atheism, transgender issues, Irish folk music and ethnomathematics the teaching of mathematics from a cultural and global perspective were taking place in other rooms.

And in the quad, there were vendors offering cross-cultural items. A booth offered information on how to sign up for Japanese classes, and there was an African clothing and Egyptian figurines booth. One booth even offered to put "Your Name on Rice."

"It's nice to not only have the vendors and food, but to do something you can truly learn from," said Ransdell, watching over the science and religion workshop, "I think it's great."