ROCK BEYOND BELIEF – Jesus Camp Bragg – US Army Provides and Funds Vacation Bible School
– May 28, 2011
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It is a dishonor for you to include “Military” in your organization’s title! Regarding this Ft Bragg event, naming it as a parody of the Christian event shows a confrontational spirit that does not deserve the right to use the base. Also, popularity of any event trumps pretty much any leadership decision so, if this event was really wanted by a large part of the base community, it would have happened…just like tons of secular events over my years of service. It is also a shame and hypocritical for your organization to sue the military, requiring funds that could be used for the troops and their families!
As a 24-year active duty E-8 non-theist in the USAF, I see no dishonor in any organization using the term “military” if their goal is to support ALL military personnel. It’s the sectarian organizational use of the term that bothers me, i.e. “Christian Military Fellowship”.
Naming the event Rock Beyond Belief is no less confrontational than the hundreds of sectarian events actively sponsored and supported by the military every year. I’ve seen several just in the past year on the Army post where I’m currently stationed. Secular events should be the norm, as you say you experienced during your service. Injecting sectarian beliefs in military events/ceremonies seems to establish a favored position. The military must remain neutral.
As for leadership decisions, we do not run the military by popular vote. We follow regulations. Sectarian events, while they may be popular with the majority of military personnel, are nonetheless discriminatory. “Rock Beyond Belief” however, is a secular event founded in rational skepticism, and is the very definition of non-sectarianism.
Your claim that someone suing the DoD causes money to be taken away from “the troops and their families” is a straw man, and frankly, deliberately obscurant or culpably ignorant. YOU, my fellow tax payer, pay the cost incurred by the government for the military leadership failing to abide by the established rules and regulations.