About 40 members of the local and national atheist communities gathered outside the doors of La Vista City Hall Monday evening to send a message to the city’s mayor and the larger population.
“Atheists matter,” said Amanda Knief, managing director of American Atheists, who came to La Vista from her New Jersey office to help the Omaha Atheists in the wake of what the local body is decrying as an attack by La Vista Mayor Doug Kindig after comments he made last month.
“Everyone should matter,” Knief continued. “I’m working really closely with local groups to help them facilitate community relations when we come up against a situation like we had here where the mayor doesn’t quite understand what atheists are all about. I’m telling them that it would be a mistake not to go to a city council meeting and make this stand.”
At a “Faith and Freedom Day” on May 25 connected with the city’s La Vista Daze celebration, Kindig was approached by a board member of the Omaha Atheists, Robert Fuller of La Vista.
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Fuller said he wanted to speak with Kindig about a potential conflict of church and state involved in the event — which honored fallen service members from the area — as it was being presided over by a local church and appeared to be nominally sponsored by the city government. Fuller said Kindig cursed at him and told him to file a lawsuit “because I don’t care.” The mayor went on to say, “Minorities are not going to run my city.”
Kindig subsequently apologized for the remarks in a statement issued on May 26, saying: “I am truly sorry that my response to this representative caused backlash against the City. I was
coming out of a very emotional event at which local veterans who were killed in action were recognized, and my reaction was certainly emotional in nature. It is my hope all sides can move forward together.”
Meagan Wilson, president of the Omaha Atheists, said her organization wanted to hold its event on Monday to do just that: move forward together and bring attention to the atheists who live in La Vista, Papillion, Bellevue and greater Omaha, generally.
“We’re here to open some communication,” Wilson said. “We have support here from all over the country. One of our organization’s main goals is to help people who are concerned about the backlash that comes with coming out as an atheist and it’s important we have something like this to show them they are not alone.”
Though the organization has marched in area parades — even the La Vista Days Parade this year — Wilson said this was the first time the Omaha Atheists had had an event like the one Monday.
Along with Knief and Jill Fitzgerald, another Omaha Atheists member, Wilson spoke briefly to a crowd of about 30 people, mostly media, law enforcement and several members of area churches who had also gathered at city hall. No officials from the city were present.
Fitzgerald and Fuller were expected to have a meeting with Kindig Tuesday. The Omaha Atheists also planned to attend Tuesday evening’s La Vista City Council meeting.
Reached for comment Tuesday morning, La Vista Community Relations Coordinator Mitch Beaumont said Kindig and the city had no additional statement following the gathering except a reiteration of the statement the mayor’s office issued last week.
“I know the mayor will meet with Mr. Fuller and another representative of the group today,” Beaumont said. “Like the statement said, we want to move forward together.”
After the remarks from the representatives from the national and local atheist groups, Fitzgerald and Wilson were approached by Roger Criser, pastor of Harrison Street Baptist Church in La Vista, the church which led the service on “Faith and Freedom Day.”
The three, along with several other members from the atheist community spoke frankly but politely about the religious service and Kindig’s remarks.
“I think this went fine,” Criser said after the discussion. “Everyone gathered together, both sides are open to a dialogue on creating unity and understanding in our community. This happens all the time in a community. There are differences of opinion. I think the city understands that and knows it needs to respect the views of all its residents.”
Criser said he wants to help ensure future gatherings do not impinge on anyone’s rights or cross any boundaries.
Following the event, the atheists invited the community to a “Meet an Atheist” picnic in Central Park. Criser said he was looking forward to breaking bread with the group.
“This is where understanding is made,” he said. “We want to open the conversation. That is the central thing here.”
Fuller said that’s all he was expecting from Kindig in the first place and he said he sees more dialogue coming.
“I wanted to talk to him because I was feeling very marginalized,” he said. “I think we all were. I’m not alone. I was speaking up not just for myself, but for everyone here.”