Sergeant Justin Griffith was aghast that the U.S. Army had organized and supported a Christian Rock festival for soldiers at North Carolina's Fort Bragg Army Base.  In response, he organized an event for secular soldiers and officers to give the non-Christians an event "For the rest of us."  He lined up great speakers including Richard Dawkins, Margaret Downey, Hemant Mehta, Jen McCreight and Mikey Weinstein along with performers Roy Zimmerman, Baba Brinkman and Spoonboy. The event was all scheduled and set to go, and the Command had approved the venue; but on March 4 the brass made some disheartening changes.  They changed to a much smaller venue and pulled financial support.  Due to these unacceptable changes, the Justin and his fellow organizers canceled the event.

 

The military has been slowly taken over by fundamentalist Christians.  Chaplains overstep their mission and proselytize rather than provide support to the troops.  The military has been requiring members to submit to a "Spiritual Fitness Test," sending them the message that if they don't believe then they are not full members of the services.  

 

Now, instead of surrendering to the Christianists in the military, more atheists and non-Christians are standing up to be counted among the honorable men and women who serve our country in the military.  The Military Atheists and Secular Humanists (M.A.S.H.), Operation Foxhole Atheist, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation , the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers and other groups are bravely telling command that the military is a place for all those who are willing to sacrifice.

 

Justin is reorganizing Rock Beyond Belief. Now it's on!  He will be talking to about the event, about Rock the Fort, about the move to end the unofficial policy of "Don't Pray, Don't Say."