Nonbelievers ask Sedgwick County to drop meeting prayers after 'go to hell' comment

A group of nonbelievers is asking the Sedgwick County Commission to either drop its weekly religious invocation entirely or replace it with a moment of silent reflection, a week after a commissioner said in a public meeting that atheists could “go to hell.”

Peggy Knudtson, a leader of the group Oasis, said she appreciated Commissioner David Unruh’s apology at last week’s commission meeting for a comment made a day earlier at the county staff meeting.

But she said she still found it concerning that Unruh characterized those seeking a secular invocation as trying to convince people not to believe in God.

“It logically follows that Commissioner Unruh’s belief is that the purpose of the invocation is to proselytize,” she said. “This should not be tolerated in any invocation given at these meetings.

A week ago, Unruh expressed frustration with a national group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is advocating on behalf of a local atheist who had requested the opportunity to deliver an invocation at a commission meeting.

During the discussion of that complaint, Unruh said: "If you don't believe in (God), that's fine with me. I don't care, go to hell. It's fine."

At last week’s commission meeting, Unruh apologized and said he had meant the comment to be humorous and sarcastic. He declined to comment Wednesday for this report.

“I will accept that his intention regarding his comments about atheists was not to offend,” Knudtson said. “However I do wonder if he would find it easy to be so flippant or sarcastic regarding other of his constituents who have belief systems other than his own.”

Commission Chairman David Dennis said the county has hired outside counsel to advise the commission in making its response to the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Dennis said the commission would have to change county policy to allow anyone other than a representative from a religious organization to deliver an invocation at a meeting.

He said the policy will probably have to be revisited anyway. It specifies that invitations be sent to the religious organizations listed in the Yellow Pages directory and the outside counsel has told county officials those directories might not be printed in the future, he said.

The opening prayer has been a staple of county meetings for decades and was uncontroversial until late last year, when activists opposing a proposed chicken processing plant started attending the meetings regularly and some found the prayers to be lengthy and offputting.

Knudtson’s comments Wednesday came during the public-comments portion of the meeting, moments after the official invocation, a 30-second prayer by the Rev. Daniel Syrcle of First Salem Church.

“Grant us wisdom, grant them (commissioners) patience with each other, grant them ability to do the things that are the best for the county and not self-serving to their personal agendas,” Syrcle prayed. “In your heavenly name, Amen.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Nonbelievers ask Sedgwick County to drop meeting prayers after 'go to hell' comment."