It is a travesty of epic proportions and a mockery of the Constitution.
Rock Beyond Belief has been canceled. This event would been a phenomenal opportunity for the organization of future events, and an awesome show of our strength, resilience and resolve.
To give you some background about what this event was all about, we have to go back to September of last year. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association held a concert on the Fort Bragg Main Parade Field that was billed as "Rock the Fort." The Graham event was specifically and unashamedly evangelical. It was actively promoted via letters sent to the community by the Senior Fort Bragg Chaplain and was billed as a "Family Fun Event," clearly having been marketed toward children and youth. This was a serious breach in the authority of the Chaplaincy, which is supposed to exist as a support function only. Chaplains are not supposed to be promoting, in any way, government-sponsored marketing of a one particular faith message. The Billy Graham people hailed it as an event to add new members to the local churches and it was fully and completely supported and endorsed by the United States Army. The result was a government sponsored church service that the Department of Defense paid for.
When the event organizer, Sgt. Justin Griffith, brought the fact that US Army support, endorsement and financial backing of the Billy Graham event was blatantly in violation of the First Amendment and that he was organizing Rock Beyond Belief, the military leaders said they would support similar events by non-Christian groups. In fact, this promise was put in writing by the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Bragg to the Freedom From Religion Foundation .
An incredible amount of work went into this event, including the scheduling of speakers that included Dan Barker, Ed Brayton, Richard Dawkins, Margaret Downey, Jen McCreight, Dale McGowan, Hemant Mehta, Al Stefanelli, Mikey Weinstein, Michael Werner and others, as well as musical performances by Baba Brinkman, Jeffrey Lewis, Spoonboy and others. To say the least, the resistance to this event was significant. In fact, it was just last week that the events founder and coordinator, Justin Griffith, made it past what was thought to have been the last obstacle to make this event a reality when the powers that be at Fort Bragg, NC, gave their approval for the date.
A Little About Sgt. Justin Griffith
If you remember, it was Sgt. Griffith who initiated action on another blatant violation of the First Amendment by the US Army regarding the highly controversial Soldier Fitness Tracker, which is a mandatory survey to measure an individual soldier’s competency in four areas; emotional, social, family and spiritual. Justin, being an atheist, was deemed “unfit” to serve specifically because he is a non-believer. The US Army has taken the position that a soldier who lacks belief will somehow compromise their principles and values. The media coverage on this issue was epic. Action was immediately taken by the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers(MAAF), Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), American Atheists (AA), the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), the Foundation Beyond Belief, the United Atheist Front, Inc(UAF) and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU). It drew the ire of several high-profile individuals that have since also become personally involved, such as Hement Mehta, Ed Brayton, Mikey Weinstein (MRFF), Annie Laurie Gaylor (FFRF), Chris Rodda, Todd Stiefel, David Silverman and Kathleen Johnson (AA), and myself. Justin has subsequently been interviewed and featured on MSNBC, The Humanist Hour, Frostcall and other venues.
Back On Point
Everything was pretty much set and done for this event to proceed on April 2nd. Then came the salvos that have all but confirmed that atheists are not welcome in the US Armed Services. Period.
- Salvo number one: The US Army changed the venue from the outdoor main parade field, which would easily accommodate the thousands of people who were expected, plus vendors and equipment, to one of two indoor theaters, and the largest one only being able to fit roughly 700 people.
- Salvo number two: Sgt. Griffith was told to include a disclaimer that states explicitly that this event is not endorsed by US Army, specifically Fort Bragg. However, the Billy Graham event was endorsed by Fort Bragg, as evidenced by the letters sent out to area pastors by the Chaplaincy, on Army stationary, asking for help with the evangelical event.
- Salvo number three: Fort Bragg decided renege on their promise to cover any of the costs for Rock Beyond Belief, in spite of the fact that it paid out over fifty thousand dollars for the evangelical “Rock the Fort”
Here is a PDF of the letter of support sent by Lt. Col. Nelson Van Eck, dated February 17th, 2011, promising continued support for Rock Beyond Belief,
Here is a PDF of the actual letter that Sgt. Griffith received from Colonel Sicinski, breaking those promises, dated March 1st, 2011.
Apparently the US Army is either not familiar with our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Richard Dawkins, and the fact that at almost every event he has appeared at has required people to be turned away for lack of room. Putting "Rock Beyond Belief "in room that is smaller than the auditorium at many high schools is not only an affront to Dr. Dawkins, but an indoor auditorium is a completely inadequate venue for an eight-hour event with vendors, food, equipment and other amenities. If they are familiar with the above, then it is a gross example of negligence on the part of those who had to research the event. The speakers, musicians and other participants ability to fill a venue that holds, in this case, a mere seven-thousand people is a no-brainer.
Needless to say, Justin Griffith is heartbroken. He is personally invested in both time and money in this event and others are, as well. This last minute maneuver has left him with no options to pursue this without litigation.
Enter Mikey Weinstein, the founder and President of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation , an ardent supporter of Sgt. Griffith and the legal arm of the alliance. He said,
“We're not going to negotiate our constitutional rights. We're going to federal court."
I interviewed Mikey Weinstein this morning, and he said,
“The constitutional perversion that is happening at Fort Bragg is nothing short of spiritual rape being perpetrated by fundamentalist Christian religious predators.”
Weinstein also said that,
“There is a DoD Directive which says that the Department of Defense may never provide a selective benefit for one entity and not provide the same benefit for another, and the Billy Graham Evangelical Society received a benefit that was not afforded to Rock Beyond Belief. They have treated us horribly”
Weinstein added,
“This is taking North Carolina back to the Jim Crow laws of the 1950’s where white people were told they can drink water from the nicest, cleanest and shiniest water fountains, can enjoy the best seating in restaurants and can sit at the front of the bus, but black people were told they had to sit in the back of the bus, at restaurant tables by the kitchen and drink from old, rusty water fountains around the back. This is the worst example of violating the oath that everyone in US Armed Services take to protect, serve and defend the Constitution of US, which is the first and only governing document in history that does not evoke the name of a deity. This action enrages our Islamic allies, emboldens our Islamic enemies and deeply demoralizes the order and discipline within the ranks of the US Armed Services. The only thing the US Army cares about is looking bad in the media and having their butts dragged into Federal Court. To whatever response the US may have, we have a five word reply: ‘Tell it to the judge’”
Furthermore, Weinstein pointed out that they are going to be filing their suit for failure to comply with a number of DoD Directives, but the main Directive is 5410.18. In the most recent version it states:
“4.2.9. Selective Benefit and Preferential Treatment. Community relations activities shall not support, or appear to support, any event that provides a selective benefit to any individual, group, or organization, including any religious or sectarian organization, ideological movement, political campaign or organization, or commercial enterprise, to include a shopping mall or motion picture promotion. When DoD support is provided to one non-Federal entity, the DoD Component commands or organizations providing such support must be able and willing to provide similar support to comparable events sponsored by similar non-Federal entities.”
Regarding use of facilities:
“4.2.4.1.5. The DoD Component command or organization is able and willing to provide similar support to comparable events... “
Suffice to say; the US Army should have known that the alliance of the above organizations, along with thousands of individual supporters and Sgt. Griffith, himself, were not kidding around when we said we would not stand for discrimination against anyone. We thought we had made that point clear. Sgt. Griffith has our support and encouragement and we all will continue support the cause of civil rights for every American, no matter what their religious affiliation is, even and especially if they have none…
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is now at bat, and they’ve got a pretty big bat.
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The Military Religous Freedom Foundation is a grassroots campaign to ensure that religious freedoms are upheld in the United States Armed Forces. This takes considerable financing. Funding is required to educate and inform the public and media, to pursue legal remedies in the courts, and for normal operating expenses. The generous support of individuals and businesses enables MRFF to accomplish our critical goals.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE MRFF
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit entity. Their Federal Nonprofit ID # is 20-3967302
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