Army Agrees To Host Concert For Atheists At Fort Bragg

By Kimberly Winston
c. 2011 Religion News Service

(RNS) A group of military atheists have won the backing of U.S. Army officials to hold a "Rock Beyond Belief" concert for nonbelievers at North Carolina's Fort Bragg next year.

The victory came after several church-state separation watchdog groups complained last month to the Secretary of the Army that a Christian-themed concert held at the fort last September gave "selective benefits" to religious groups.

That concert, staged by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, received more than $50,000 in financial support from the base, according to records obtained by local atheists through the Freedom of Information Act. The nonreligious concert will receive the same funds and will be held at a similar venue at the base.

Military atheists are hailing the decisions as a major victory, and say they are on the "cusp of a major breakthrough."

"This just might be the turning point in the foxhole atheist community's struggle for acceptance, tolerance and respect," Sgt. Justin Griffith, a member of Military Atheists and Secular Humanists (MASH), a Fort Bragg-based group that complained about the Christian concert, wrote Tuesday (Aug. 2) on the "Rock Beyond Belief" website.

"Rock Beyond Belief" was originally slated to be held last April after Fort Bragg officials agreed to MASH's original appeal for an alternative concert. But it was canceled in April when the garrison commander refused to sign off on it.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and several atheist groups complained to Army officials.

The "Rock Beyond Belief" concert will be held March 31, 2012 and will be free to all members of the military, their families and the public. It is slated to feature musical groups and speakers, including Richard Dawkins, a best-selling author and prominent atheist.

Comments

[sweetlilthing]

04:46 AM on 09/27/2011

Strict lines between religion and military must be maintained so our armed forces are not seen as Christian forces. Make no mistake, Military regulation­s and the Constituti­on, make it perfectly clear that religion has no place in the official functions of the US government. This is in direct violation of the Establishm­ent Clause of the First Amendment prohibitin­g government officials, including military personnel, from using the machinery of the state to promote any form of religion. These proselytizing transgress­ions are violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. General Order 1A, Part 2, Section J issued by General Tommy Franks on behalf of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM­) back in December of 2000. It strictly prohibits "proselytizing of any religion, faith or practice".
The Military should not be giving out religious material in Muslim countries, have bible verses on Rifles, or promoting religious functions including The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association or Atheists Concerts. The fact that they gave $50,000 to The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association goes against everything this Country was founded on.

[logicanada]

09:45 PM on 08/09/2011

Many will stay away out of fear.

[sweetlilthing]

04:47 AM on 09/27/2011

Fear of what?

[Ted Bouklos]

03:41 PM on 08/09/2011

Good job Justin!

[Jim NLN]

04:25 PM on 08/08/2011

Is Lt. Dan going to be there?

[LeahFaith]

05:36 PM on 08/07/2011

I'm happy to see that the soldiers of Fort Bragg didn't back down and were able to get this issue out into the open. I hope it sends a message to all military leaders out their that shoving religion down everyone's throat is bad for moral and unit cohesion.

[eddy joe]

05:17 PM on 08/07/2011

The army "agreed" after legal action. Obviously they are 100% behind it.

[MmeFlutterbye]

05:15 PM on 08/07/2011

"The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and several atheist groups complained to Army officials."

I'm always glad when I see that my monthly contributions to the ACLU are being used for just causes. Without the above organiztions we would be much further down the black hole of fascism.

[eddy joe]

06:17 AM on 08/07/2011

Just because the army agreed at the point of legal action, in no way represents the feelings or attitudes of those serving in the military. As was once said, There are no atheists in foxholes.

[JoandeV]

06:31 AM on 08/07/2011

Nice sound byte but it isn't true.

[catt624]

08:30 AM on 08/07/2011

It clearly DOES represent the feelings and attitudes of people serving in the military, considering who the people are IN THE MILITARY organizing the event: the Military Atheists and Secular Humanists (MASH) organization! You can also visit militaryatheists.org, the website for the MAAF--Military Association for Atheists and Freethinkers--for another eye-opener! You can also do a search on the monument the Freedom from Religion Foundation erected, which honors those atheists in foxholes that you don't believe exist.

Did you even read the article, or did you see the headline and have an immediate knee jerk reaction, as so many believers do when it comes to anything that they feel threatens their fragile beliefs?

Christians do not even remotely have a monopoly on defending their country! And atheists do it without the belief in an afterlife. No reward, yet they risk and often lose their lives in defense of YOUR freedoms, making their sacrifice even more than Jesus'--who 100% knew that his suffering would quickly end and that for all of eternity, he'd be sitting next to God in eternal bliss! Not much of a sacrifice, really!

[eddy joe]

10:24 AM on 08/07/2011

Let me ammend that. It in no way reoresents the MAJORITY . Other than that, i stand by my statement. Homosexuals are becoming like the tea party. Five to ten percent of the population, that think their opinions should rule the whole country. As for attacking my belief, that is what always happens. When you can't find fault with a man's ideas, attack the man. Atheists do it by rote.

[YourNewNeighbor]

05:04 AM on 08/07/2011

I hear they're going to be performing an adaptation of a Led Zepplin classic: "Stairway to Decomposition."

[Madbunny]

03:02 AM on 08/07/2011

(facepalm)

So the answer to not having religious concerts is not to have 'atheist' concerts as a balance. It defeats the whole purpose of pulling religious doctrine out of the military. Technically all the concerts should be non-biased.

[Abnormal Wrench]

03:46 AM on 08/07/2011

That is exactly the message of the atheist concert, silly. It is a demonstration of why the government shouldn't endorse any of it....something the higher ups couldn't grasp until they were forced to endorse atheism. It is a lesson they will likely not forget any time soon

[Madbunny]

12:16 PM on 08/07/2011

Ah, I see.

[seachange525]

01:12 AM on 08/07/2011

In a strange way, I find this comforting. Freedom of religion (or none) is one of the privileges our soldiers, sailors and airmen fight for...It's nice to see them upholding this freedom on their own turf!

[MmeFlutterbye]

05:17 PM on 08/07/2011

Fanned & faved

[WARHUKKER]

09:41 PM on 08/06/2011

I am sure at least 10 people will show up.

[Madbunny]

02:59 AM on 08/07/2011

Depends on the bands, or how much the local churches cry and whine about it.

[MmeFlutterbye]

05:19 PM on 08/07/2011

I can just hear the Compassionate Christian Sunday sermons filled with hate and threats of damnation for anyone who attends.

[Abnormal Wrench]

03:47 AM on 08/07/2011

Dawkins will be there. If there's less than 5000 people, I'll be surprised.

[deezus]

06:11 PM on 08/06/2011

Subgroups of atheists behave just like subgroups of any other religions. They don't tolerate anything that doesn't conform to their beliefs. I'm not at all religious, but would not consider myself an atheist either, since I consider them just another religion.

[Nate35]

08:24 PM on 08/06/2011

You consider a lack of faith to be a religion? You must be working off a truly novel definition of "religion".

[deezus]

08:45 PM on 08/06/2011

Atheists have faith that there isn't a deity. The reason I can claim that is because the existence of a deity has neither been proven or disproved. Therefore believing that a deity doesn't exist requires faith just as much as believing that it does.

The definition of atheism is: a disbelief in the existence of deity.

I think Webster's 4th definition of religion fits atheism pretty well: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.

[Andres64]

11:54 PM on 08/06/2011

--Subgroups of atheists

"Subgroups"?

--behave just like subgroups of any other religions.

Atheism is not a religion.

--They don't tolerate anything that doesn't conform to their beliefs.

Wrong. We don't believe anything that does not conform to logic, science and evidence.

-- I'm not at all religious, but would not consider myself an atheist either,

So you're a theist.

--since I consider them just another religion.

Wrong. Atheism is a lack of belief in god(s).

[me the z]

02:57 PM on 08/16/2011

It seems that those words will never be said enough. No matter how many times it is explained, some people refuse to accept the proper definition of what an atheist is. Straw men make for easier "victories".

[Aubrey Jones]

05:36 PM on 08/06/2011

This is awesome! Small victories are better than none at all. Atheists are usually left out at every turn in our country of "free" religion. Simple pleasures such as joining the Boyscouts or taking the stand in court are usually denied to an atheist. Even George H.W. Bush said he didn't know of atheists ought to be considered citizens. Glad to see that the double standard is omitted here :)

http://rantsofamoteldeskclerk.blogspot.com/

[MmeFlutterbye]

05:21 PM on 08/07/2011

fanned & faved

[ZenSufi]

05:07 PM on 08/06/2011

"atheist", that is.