By JUSTIN GRIFFITH - ROCK BEYOND BELIEF
Added: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 03:12:58 UTC

I am SGT Justin Griffith, the Foxhole Atheist stationed at Fort Bragg who is spear-heading the hot-button Rock Beyond Belief secular festival. As you are probably aware, we have just been given last-minute crippling restrictions by the Garrison Commander, Colonel Stephen Sicinski. He was the very last stop on our extremely lengthy approval process, and he decided to go against the advice of his own legal staff. Our event is/was %99.999 approved, with all of the major review processes giving us the green light and assuring us that we were getting everything we asked for. All the commander had to do was sign a letter. Instead he chose to implement a 100% reduction in funding (forcing us to cancel), an unexplained venue change to a tiny theater (Richard Dawkins in a room the size of a grade school gymnasium? Really?) It gets worse, he placed all of these restrictions so late in the game that we are completely unable to do much about it on our own.

However, I do not intend to go down without a fight. I have compiled a list of things that anyone can help us with (link: http://rockbeyondbelief.com/2011/03/07/demand-equal-treatment-for-the-armys-non-religious-soldiers/ ). I am calling on each of you to please put out an alert, raid your user database, post whatever sort of blog/newsletter/news release/FaceBook update/or whatever you can to help us put public pressure on the situation. Please make whatever phone call you are willing and able to make, and / or forward this to your ‘communications director’ if applicable. The more media, government, and overall visibility this discrimination gets, the better our chances at making it. I have worked closely with many of you for advice and support in the past. Many of you I haven’t worked with, and I apologize for barging in like this. I wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t extremely important. It is the only option left for the foxhole atheists at Fort Bragg.

I’m going to be re-posting some of the pertinent content from the website below. I’m getting swamped with emails, so the phone number is the best way to get a hold of me if you need more information, or want to contact me for whatever other reason. And once again, I apologize for this mass experiment in cat-herding, and for not properly introducing myself to many of you. Please help if you can. We need it!

SGT Justin Griffith Fort Bragg, NC (239) 537 9237

Rock Beyond Belief Military Atheists & Secular Humanists (MAS*H) MAS*H: Fort Bragg

TAGGED: ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE, SECULARISM