How a Christian Fighter Pilot and FOX News Tried to Stop Fort Bragg Atheist Festival (And Failed)

[Hissyspit]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/chris-rodda/how-a-christian-fighter-p_b_1348764.html

How a Christian Fighter Pilot and FOX News Tried to Stop Fort Bragg Atheist Festival (And Failed)

Chris Rodda

- snip -

For those who don't know what Rock Beyond Belief is, it's the secular answer to all the big evangelical and fundamentalist Christian concerts and festivals regularly held on bases throughout the military. One of these events, a Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Rock the Fort festival, held at Fort Bragg in September 2010, despite complaints that the military officially sponsoring such an event was an unconstitutional promotion of religion, and showed a government preference for Christianity. The response from the commander of Fort Bragg was that any other group could also hold a similar event. So, SGT Justin Griffith, an atheist soldier at Fort Bragg, decided to take Fort Bragg up un this offer, and began planning a secular festival, which would feature atheist and secularist speakers and musicians.

Over the past year and a half, I've watched SGT Griffith transform from a soldier who had an idea to one of the leading voices for atheists in the military, standing his ground in the face of every obstacle thrown in his path. This soldier has managed to put together an event to rival the largest events put on by large, well funded organizations like the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association -- all while serving as an active duty soldier, which included being deployed, becoming a father for the first time, and not being permitted to work on the event during duty hours (despite the fact that Fort Bragg had had a whole team of military personnel and DoD employees working for months on the Billy Graham.event). If our military is looking for leaders who can get things done, they certainly have one in SGT Griffith!

- snip -

About a month and a half ago, Major Dowty's alarmist blog posts, full of misrepresentations and lies about SGT Griffith and Rock Beyond Belief, caught the eye of FOX News columnist Todd Starnes, who then wrote an article titled "Church-Burning Video Used to Promote Atheist Event at Ft. Bragg." Starnes's article linked to a blog post by Major Dowty titled, "Fort Bragg to Host Anti-Religion Band at Atheist Rock Beyond Belief," in which Dowty misrepresented the lyrics of a song by one of the bands in the Rock Beyond Belief lineup, claiming that this band advocated burning down churches. The attention of FOX News led to unwarranted last minute scrutiny by officials at Fort Bragg of the the Rock Beyond Belief lineup, and an attempt to place further restrictions on the event. But, once again, SGT Griffith stood his ground and prevailed.

Because SGT Griffith is an active duty soldier, he cannot respond to the attacks of Major Dowty without the fear of being considered insubordinate towards a superior officer, so I've been responding to these attacks on my blog at FreethoughtBlogs.com. But now that Rock Beyond Belief is getting more media attention, from sources such as the Religion News Service, and is likely to get more attention as the event date gets closer, I want to post these posts here so that a wider audience can see a part of this story that they won't get from other sources -- how one zealous Christian Air Force officer and FOX News attempted to cause last minute problems for Rock Beyond Belief, and how their plan backfired.

MORE[p]

[GopperStopper2680]

1. It's a pity to see...

our large institutions such as the Military holding events like these when our nation was founded on God. The first thing that George Washington did following his victory at the Battle of Saratoga was to pray in thanks to God. Well, not all soldiers and fighting men and women are atheist.

[FLAprogressive]

2. troll?

[hifiguy]

7. Take a wild guess. nt

[JoeyT]

35. Doesn't look like it.

I had a long troll rating post all ready to give it a 7.5 (Good troll. Would be trolled again. Room for improvement.) and just happened to click the profile button.

Nope, not a troll, just sadly misinformed and spouting right wing theocratic talking points.

[Aerows]

3. Whose version of God?

Your version? Someone else's version? We have freedom of religion in this country because not everyone's version of "God" is identical. How many different sects of Christianity are there? If Christians can't even agree on whose version of "God" is the right one, what about people of different faiths other than Christianity?

I don't think it's a pity at all to have a festival of atheists. It wouldn't be a pity to have a festival for Jewish soldiers. It wouldn't be a pity to have a festival for any group of soldiers that wanted to have one.

What I do think is a pity is people who judge the men and women defending our nation and protect our rights to worship as we choose or not worship as we choose because some of those very men and women disagree with their idea of what "God" is.

[Mumble]

4. The military has no business sponsoring these religious events.

Religious organizations could do this off base. And America wasn't founded on god.

[Initech]

23. +1000000

I agree - our military has no business sponsoring events that favor one religion over the other - or any religion for that matter.

[hifiguy]

6. They're not all evangelical Xtians either.

So why SHOULDN'T the atheists, agnostics and freethinkers be able to publicly state their views. The military is secular and defends the Constitution (or at least that is what the Founders thought it should do) and not the bible.

[bongbong]

10. HUH????

> these when our nation was founded on God.

You're delusional. Get help, fast.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Hmmm really

That first Ammendment had to be a British imposition. Let's not start on that furiegner who removed all miracles from the Bible no less. I think his name was Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps you've heard of him

Enjoy your stay.

I applaud the Sergeant, he did read that foreign imposed Ammendment I think.

[Ineeda]

14. And not all of them are theists.

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. LOL!

[underpants]

17. The Founding Fathers were Deists - look it up. "God" yes but not the Trinity

Jefferson -writer of the Declaration
Madison - father of the Constitution
Hamilton - father of capitalism as our unofficial economic system
Thomas Paine
Ben Franklin

oh and Washington, according to his preachers, never took communion


Learn up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism#Deism_in_the_United_States

[fascisthunter]

18. What you believe NEVER existed

your whole post is right wing garbage that religious fanatics made up. Sad how misinformed and deluded republicans are.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Show me where the Constitution mentions God.

Go ahead. Show me.

[Gore1FL]

21. The United States is the result of hydrogen atoms and 13.7 billion years. n/t

[Mariana]

22. Obviously, you've never read the Constitution.

If you had, you'd know that there is no way to credibly claim the country was founded on God. God is not mentioned one single time in it, except in the date, which was the standard form then. No Commandments are enshrined in law within it; in fact, it directly contradicts five or six of them. Nowhere in the Bible will you find a description of a nation with a form of government remotely similar to ours. And so on and so on.

Gopperstopper, whoever told you our nation was founded on God lied to you.

[Ikonoklast]

26. Delusional claptrap.

Reality shows you to be spectacularly incorrect.

Peddle your lies to those who already believe them, the Constitution of this nation says that you are wrong.

[Arugula Latte]

29. Hey GopperStopper2680 -- Take a look at these quotes from the founding fathers:

“The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” (Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11: Written during the Administration of George Washington and signed into law by John Adams.)

George Washington: "The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy."

Thomas Jefferson: "There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites."

Thomas Jefferson: "History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose."

Thomas Jefferson: "Religions are all alike—founded upon fables and mythologies."

Ben Franklin: "Lighthouses are more useful than churches."

Ben Franklin: "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

James Madison: "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."

John Adams: "This could be the best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it."

[lib_wit_it]

44. Thank you for these quotes. They will come in handy. I'm so sick of all the Christians bullying the

rest of earth.

[tonybgood]

32. and not all are Christians, either.

Besides, if this country were founded on God, he'd probably want us to get off!!!

[_ed_]

33. If our nation was "founded on God"

please cite the appropriate section of the Constitution where it says that. I'll save you some time: it's not there, and you're just making this up.

Whose god, by the way? Amon Ra? Zeus? Horus? Baal? Allah? Jesus? Mary?

[ieoeja]

41. You do *not* want to go into the Capitol Rotunda in D.C.

The entire rotunda is copy of the Temple to Vesta (think: Vestal Virgins). For 150 years it held an enternal flame in the center.

There are 13 pagan gods protrayed in the artwork.

The ceiling is called the Apeothesis of Washington which means "Washington's elevation to Godhood" and protrays that very act.

Washington laid the cornerstone while dressed in full Masonic regalia.

Yes, you will find Moses the lawgiver. But he is just one of many such lawgivers protrayed from other religious and secular backgrounds.

Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli: "As the United States is in no way founded upon the Christian religion...". Approved unanimously by the Senate as one of this fledgling nation's first treaties. Many of those Senators were Revolution War veterans, authors of the Constitution, etc.

The list goes on.

I have absolutely no idea where you got the idea that "our nation was founded on God." But you really need to re-think to whom you are listening on that subject. You have been led wildly astray from the truth. For one thing, had we been founded on God, we would have remained in the British Empire. Their King, after all, ruled by Divine Right.

God appoints Kings. People elect Presidents. Democracy by definition is a break from religion.

[Dawson Leery]

5. K/R

America has never been a theocracy.

[trof]

16. But we're gettin' real close.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. We will never be a free and inclusive nation until

people stop trying to silence each other.

[bongbong]

11. False Equivalence

No atheist ever tried to stop a "xtian rock" concert.

FAIL.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. Jeez, that phrase is about beat to death.

1. Atheists have tried to stop certain private events -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/rick-perry-prayer_n_899315.html

And before the yowling starts about Perry being in a government office please note the President has attended prayer events and there's nothing wrong with politicians practicing their faith.

2. So what? Atheism vs religion is not the only dynamic at play. Trying to silence people because they're disagreeable harms society as a whole no matter how much those who would do the silencing pretend to work for the betterment of society.

It doesn't matter who is trying to silence whom -- it's bad.

[Jamaal510]

25. +1

[bongbong]

30. More FAIL from you

> Atheists have tried to stop certain private events

That's a lie. All they tried to do was stop Perry from being there, not stop the event itself. The reason he shouldn't have been there is a little thing called the Constitution.

> please note the President has attended prayer events and there's nothing wrong with politicians practicing their faith.

It's called endorsing a religion. Practice vs. endorsement. You probably should try to read the Constititution so you can understand Democracy better.


> Trying to silence people because they're disagreeable

Oh, OK. Just let religious nuts tell me what to do because otherwise I'm being "disagreeable".

Wow, you are a FAIL-FILLED one.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

34. Why should anyone be stopped from participating in legitimate event?

Attending church or a prayer event is not endorsing religion. However, since you're so keen in pretending to have read the Constitution please not the establishment clause says "congress shall pass no law respeccting the establishment of religion." The president is not congress. A state governor is not congress. The law says there shall be no establishment of a religion. To say endorsement is a gross distortion of the text and its context. There was no law of religious establishment -- or the limititation of the free exercise thereof -- being proposed, let alone passed.

"Oh, OK. Just let religious nuts tell me what to do because otherwise I'm being 'disagreeable'."

You consider Obama to be a religious nut?

[bongbong]

37. Twisting

I always find it funny how religous types will lie to "prove" a point, like you did. I thought lying was a sin. As for your "new" points, I usually drop a discussion with somebody I catch in a lie, but let's look at them:

> However, since you're so keen in pretending to have

> You consider Obama to be a religious nut?

Pretty transparent attempt at shifting the goal post, and at trying a Strawman argument. When whoever is telling you what to say settles on one story, let me know. Then I can show him or her the error of his/her ways, via your typing.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

38. Um, I'm an atheist.

And my point stands. People ought to be left in peace to practice their faith. I say this because of my friends from college who were Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. My in-laws -- and my president -- are self-professed Christians. Bigotry is ugly, regardless if its racial, homophobic, sexist, religious or anti-religious.

BTW -- what "lie" am I supposed to have told?

[bongbong]

39. asdf

You lied in your post #12, and I pointed out the lie in my post #30.

I could care less if somebody prays to any imaginary sky genii, but if they try to force their ideas on me I get offended.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

40. "if they try to force their ideas on me I get offended."

Me too. That's why I wrote, "We will never be a free and inclusive nation until people stop trying to silence each other."

Trying to stop someone from attending a private event is wrong. The fighter pilot was wrong. We won't have a free and inclusive nation until people learn to stop trying to silence each other. The prayer breakfast was also a private event. The same principle applies for those trying to use a court injunction. People have a right to their faith or non-faith. Being elected to office doesn't demand they check their faith at the door; see, Obama, Barack H.

That's my whole point in this entire sub-thread.



"You lied in your post #12, and I pointed out the lie in my post #30."

So did you "lie" when you turned "establishment" into "endorsement" or was it just a simple error that should not be made to detract from a larger point? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and all that. *giggle*

[bongbong]

42. asdf as always

> So did you "lie" when you turned "establishment" into "endorsement"

I never mentioned the word "establishment".

You seem to love Strawmen. *giggle*

[trof]

19. 'Christian Fighter Pilot'...damn. What happened to the 'mystique'?

Back in the day, when I was a fighter pilot, and lived, ate, drank, helled around, (Oh yeah, and flew) with them every day we were the most hard driving, devil-may-care irreverent bunch of egotistical bastards you could possibly imagine.

"Live fast, die hard, and leave a beautiful corpse."
Or
"A real fighter pilot won't have an open casket funeral. He'll be pre-cremated."


I've read about the Air Force Academy being taken over by a 'Christianism Culture'.
Unbelievable.
This ain't the Air Force I knew.

[gejohnston]

27. same here

[jeff47]

36. The evangelicals have been very, very busy at the AF Academy

So it's not all that surprising that this is the result.

[trof]

43. I'm still puzzled

Yeah, I know it's happened.
And I cannot understand it.

As near as I could tell, most of us were fatalists.
If your number's up, it's up.
If it's your time to die in a flaming heap of metal, so be it.

But if your time ISN'T up, you can get away with a lot of hairy shit.
You can push the edge of the envelope and maybe even just a l-i-t-t-l-e beyond.
We worked on that daily.

You did THAT?
Well I did THIS!
We had egos the size of mastodons.

Them was the days.

[bjobotts]

24. Thanks for posting. It's the Constitution they take an oath to, not

not the Bible or their religion. The pressure of these evangelicals distorts the purpose of the military.

[southernyankeebelle]

28. This is what happens when the Air Force Academy has allowed the evangelica ministers on to

the campus and force these young students to attend their churchs. It bleeds into the military ranks of the active duty.

[gejohnston]

31. Can SGT Griffith

file an article 138 complaint to the major's commander and wing commander? Or, can it be only filed against his commander?
What base and unit is this fighter pilot at?
Is there a chance Major Dowty violating article 134 of the UCMJ?

While it is possible Major Dowty could file disrespect to an officer charges if Griffith replies. Griffith should consult with a JAG or Area Defense Council (whatever the Army calls them) for guidance on how to deal with it.