Solicitor with 'There is No God' Shirt Booted from Pavilions

A Mission Viejo atheist collecting money Tuesday for the Pat Tillman Foundation was issued a trespassing notice at Pavilions, 26022 Marguerite Pkwy.

Yoshihisa Kuwabara said he got permission before collecting the money, but never told store managers he planned to wear a red, custom t-shirt with the phrase 'There is No God' written across the chest.

He got the idea observing a man with a Santa hat and Jesus shirt collecting money outside the store about two months ago, he said. After Kuwabara complained, he said a manager told him the store could not stop the man from expressing his personal beliefs.

Kuwabara put those words to the test. Starting around 2 p.m., the atheist spent about three hours collecting donations for the foundation that gives scholarships to military veterans.

A message Patch left with Pavilions management was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Along with the trespassing notice, Kuwabara said he collected $42.21.

He said he avoided talking about his t-shirt and was not disruptive, and he said he got a lot of "verbal abuse and heckling."

"People do not like atheists," he said. "A lady put money in my jar, then reading my shirt, demanded her money back. I obliged."

He said many shoppers prayed for him, a few yelled at him as they drove by, but mostly they avoided eye contact.

A minority were supportive, and one shopper told him it took courage to wear the shirt. He said a 75-year-old woman said both he and Tillman were heroes and donated $10.

When an employee gave Kuwabara the trespassing notice, he was told there had been several complaints. The notice cited a state supreme court ruling from 2012 that concluded the state constitution does not provide any right to solicit donation or signatures outside large grocery stores.

Tillman, who gave up an NFL contract to enlist in the United States Army following the 9/11 attacks, was an atheist before losing his life to friendly fire in Afghanistan. In a memoir, his wife Marie described being approached by a chaplain following her husband's death: "The chaplain pressed forward and took my hand. He started to pray but I cut him off. I needed to think, not pray."