When a Sedgwick County commissioner said atheists who want to deliver an invocation at commission meetings can “go to hell,” it set off a storm of criticism.
Some of the critics were atheists, many of whom met the remarks with a mixture of humor and anger.
“I heard they’re not so closed minded in hell. And there’s less Police per capita than Wichita so it can’t be all bad,” one person remarked online.
“Some one needs to tell this guy that atheists don’t believe in Hell and that’s literally the point,” commented another.
Jake Stewart, a Wichita native who now lives in Arkansas, said he and other atheists have become jaded by disparaging remarks.
The only thing to do, he said, is to laugh it off.
“I guess if I could narrow it down to one feeling it would be embarrassment,” Stewart said. “We are not holding our elected officials to any higher standard than bullies on a playground. Even if in his heart he believes that, he should still have the forethought to not say it as an elected official.”
Commissioner David Unruh made the remarks during a county staff meeting in reaction to a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that fights for separation of church and state. The foundation accused the county of violating the Constitution by denying an atheist the chance to speak during the invocation period at commission meetings.
“If you don’t believe in (God), that’s fine with me,” Unruh said. “I don’t care, go to hell. It’s fine.”
Commissioner Richard Ranzau then encouraged Unruh’s remarks.
Read the full story at The Wichita Eagle
