For local atheist, Southwest County no paradise

By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Monday, October 11, 2004 9:37 PM PDT ∞

LAKE ELSINORE ---- It's not easy being an outspoken infidel in Southwest County ---- just ask self-proclaimed "devout atheist" Irving Kasow.

Over the years, the 75-year-old Lake Elsinore resident has heard and seen it all, he said recently ---- harassing phone calls and motorists driving by him on the freeway waving crucifixes because of the anti-religion bumper stickers on his car.

A man even followed him home one night, after seeing the bumper sticker on his car that read "Don't pray in my school; I won't think in your church," Kasow said.

As Kasow was driving down the freeway that evening, he noticed someone changing lanes every time he did. When he got off the freeway, Kasow said, the other driver got off, too, and continued to pursue him into the mobile home park where he lives.

When Kasow pulled into his driveway, the man parked behind him, got out of his car and approached the now-frightened septuagenarian.

"I rolled up all the windows and locked the doors," Kasow said. "He was calling me a 'dirty filthy atheist.' He said he saw my bumper sticker and wanted to save me from going to hell, giving me the news that salvation was available."

After stuffing a piece of paper through the cracked window, which turned out to be a Bible tract, the man took off, Kasow said.

Kasow's role as a lightning rod, however, appears to be largely one of his own making. He puts anti-religion bumper stickers on his car and wears T-shirts proclaiming his beliefs. One reads: "I'm your friendly local Atheist."

Kasow's complaints are the main reason the Lake Elsinore City Council no longer has local religious leaders leading the council and audience in prayer at each meeting.

Kasow said he was raised in a Jewish household. However, as the time approached for his bar mitzvah ---- the Jewish ritual that marks a boy's 13th birthday and his passage into manhood and religious responsibility ---- he began reading the Old Testament, as part of his preparations for the ceremony.

He found many of the passages in that part of the Bible to be disturbing, he said, and asked the family rabbi to help him understand. His faith began to waver when he didn't get the answers he was seeking, he said. His mind was changed after a UCLA philosophy professor, who was a humanist, began explaining his beliefs to the young man.

"He made sense, and I have been a nonbeliever ever since," Kasow said.

Kasow admits that life would be easier for him if he just kept his opinions to himself as many other atheists do.

But Kasow says he feels compelled to speak out.

"If you don't stand up and defend your position, then you continue to be persecuted and ridiculed and lose your rights," he said.

He asserts himself, he said, to prevent what he sees as a further erosion of the barrier between church and state.

He fought with the city of Lake Elsinore for years to end its the long-standing practice of allowing local faith leaders to open City Council meetings with sectarian prayers.

Every time his name comes out in the newspaper, his phone starts ringing, Kasow said.

"Out of 10, three will be 'Attaboy,' and the other seven will be 'You're going to burn in hell,'" he said.

His persistence won the day in Lake Elsinore a few years ago, when he reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union to help in his fight with the city. The organization sent a letter in 2001, threatening to sue if the council didn't stop allowing the prayers. The threat resulted in the city halting the practice.

Then last month, Mayor Thomas Buckley revived the practice of invocations to open council meetings, but with a twist: They're now silent prayers.

ACLU officials said that as long as the prayers are silent and no mention is made of a specific deity, the practice would most likely pass legal muster. On Tuesday, council members are slated to vote on an ordinance that would formally approve silent prayers to start meetings.

Buckley said last week that he defends Kasow's rights.

"Standing up for what you believe in, or in this case what you don't believe in, is an incredibly important part of the strength of our country," Buckley said.

That doesn't mean that Buckley is happy about all the conflict that resulted as a result of Kasow's zealousness.

"Personally, I wish (Kasow) had picked a different topic in a different city," he said.

One of the religious leaders who occasionally offered an opening sectarian prayer at council meetings ---- before the city ended the practice ---- is the Rev. Phil Saenz, pastor of the Bread of Life Fellowship in Lake Elsinore.

He said that it's sad that Kasow went to such extremes to remove God and the Bible from public meetings.

"This nation was built on the values of the Bible," Saenz said.

Asked why he decided to live in conservative and religious Southwest County when there are other California cities more liberal in nature, Kasow said it's a mistake to think that his atheism is the be-all and end-all of his existence.

"Atheism is important to me, yes, but not the ultimate driving force in my life," he said.

"I love to play poker and there is a casino in Lake Elsinore. I like the climate. It's a nice place."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.