Tag Archives: MRFF

Atheists Denigrate US Army that Supports Them. Again.

The primary organizer of Rock Beyond Belief, the atheist festival occurring this weekend at Fort Bragg, has — again — drug Fort Bragg and the US Army through the mud in an apparent bid for publicity.

In a sensationally titled “Fort Bragg wont let us feed homeless vets at the atheist festival,” Justin Griffith says Fort Bragg denied their plan to do a canned food collection.  Griffith summarized [emphasis original]:

The ‘pro-starvation’ camp has prevailed…

At issue is Joint Ethics Regulation 3-211, which says the DoD can let non-Federal entities (ie, Rock Beyond Belief) use DoD facilities (ie, Fort Bragg’s resources) except for fundraising events.  Apparently, Fort Bragg determined canned food collection was fundraising.

Whether collecting canned food for a charitable cause constitutes non-Federal fundraising is a legitimate question.  Rather than take direct issue with that, however, Griffith took a different tack:  He said the Christians Read more

Retired Admiral: US Military Forced to Submit to Islam

Admiral James A. Lyons (Retired) served as the commander of the US Navy’s Pacific fleet when he retired in 1987.  Since then, he has frequently spoken on the military and foreign policy issues, mincing few words when he has done so.  He is an associate in the production of Sharia: The Threat to America, which includes James Woolsey and LtGen (Ret) Jerry Boykin among its contributors.

Most recently, Adm Lyons took President Obama to task for forcing the US military to submit to Islam:

The recent contrived uproar over the inadvertent burning of the Koran…should be seen for what it is: a power-play tactic to make our military forces more submissive to the dictates of Islam, Read more

Chapel, Basic Training, Doughnuts and Lemonade

“I never attended services in the civilian world. But all that changed when I joined the Army.”

Jake Kohlman thought religious services during basic training would be a good excuse to get away from the military training instructors.  He was right.  But he was also renewed in his faith.  As it turns out, many trainees may have gone just for the doughnuts:

After the service we filed into the parking lot, where some kind, older veterans had set up picnic tables with lemonade and doughnuts. Now I understood why the service was so popular…The doughnut I had that day was the best I’d ever had.

Turns out some other trainees caught on:

Eventually, word leaked out to the rest of the company about the doughnuts and lemonade, and by the end of Basic, 65 soldiers from my company alone were marching to services on Sunday…’

Chris Rodda of Michael Weinstein’s MRFF has previously said Christian Read more

Air Force Lawyers on Religion and Blogging

As noted previously, the US Air Force’s “The Military Commander and the Law” broke some unique ground in 2010.  For example, it appeared to specifically address the coercion tactics of Michael Weinstein when it advised commanders on responding to activists cold-calling them and demanding they accede to their interpretation of religion in the military.

In another newly addressed area, the JAGs broached the “emerging area” of blogs.  Like the response to activists, this was only addressed in the “religious issues” section of the manual.  This was probably because, like the response to activists, “recent events” had only brought up the issue of blogs and the Air Force as they related to religion, and Michael Weinstein was probably responsible for that, as well.  The most relevant portion of the text:

– Military people have a right to use these sites for religious Read more

Military Atheist Festival Claims Right to Denigrate Religion

In keeping with the theme that atheists cannot fellowship together without the ability to denigrate religion, organizers of the atheist “Rock Beyond Belief” to be held at Fort Bragg have secured the explicit “guarantee” of the US Army that they can criticize religion — and people who are religious.

According to their announcement, Garrison Commander Col Stephen Sicinski has said he respects

that the speakers may criticize organized religion or its practitioners…

Because this event is now “cleared” to criticize religion, while the Billy Graham Evangelical Association’s Rock the Fort was not, the MRFF’s Chris Rodda claims this is a coup.

She doesn’t realize the joke is on her.  Read more

Chaplains, Soldiers, Politicians Gather for Sabbath Retreat

The Aleph Institute sponsored its 5th Annual Military Sabbath Retreat and Training Course in Miami, Florida in February.

Billed as an opportunity “to decompress and be strengthened,” in the words of Rabbi Sanford Dresin, the retreat has become a central event for the Aleph Institute, a Chabad-Lubavitch organization that provides for the physical and spiritual needs of Jewish soldiers and prisoners at home and abroad.

Guests included House Speaker John Boehner, recently retired US Army Chief of Chaplains (MajGen) Douglas Carver, and MajGen Jeffrey Jacobs, the PsyOps center Read more

Army Atheist Concert Emphasizes Controversial Song in Lineup

Rock Beyond Belief, the atheist event billed as a counter to the previous Christian Rock the Fort, has clearly announced a previously controversial song will be featured in its lineup.

In January, FoxNews carried the story of Aiden’s Hysteria, whose music video showed burning churches while the lyrics said religion “distorts the truth” and called for its “death.”

At the time, the lead organizer of the event, Justin Griffith, was quoted in the FoxNews article saying this was a faux controversy — though the public reaction, and Fort Bragg’s, seemed to differ.  While the FoxNews piece focused on ‘images of burning churches,’ the issue has always been Aiden’s lyrics that criticized religion.  Now, Griffith makes a point of stating Aiden will perform Hysteria [emphasis original]:  Read more

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