Rock Beyond Belief is Just Over a Month Away

February 28, 2012 By Hemant Mehta 8 Comments

About a month from now, on March 31st (a week after the Reason Rally), there is going to be a huge event for military atheists at Fort Bragg, North Carolina called Rock Beyond Belief:

I was fortunate enough to be invited as a speaker there and I’m wondering what messages you’d like me to deliver to the Foxhole Atheists who will be in attendance.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Filed Under: General, Military Atheists 8 Comments
About Hemant Mehta

Hemant Mehta is the chair of Foundation Beyond Belief and a high school math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago.

  • http://www.facebook.com/AnonymousBoy Larry Meredith

    Troll opportunity detected.

  • Gedeyenite

    Encourage “coming out” to educate the mitty that we are in the military and just as patriotic as our religious counterparts.

  • Annie

    After thanking them for their service, I would make sure they know that, as unfair as it may be, it may be up to them to show the world that the US is not fighting holy wars in the middle east.  I worry that recent actions (like NATO “accidentally” burning Korans)  is fueling the perception in Afghanistan and Iraq that the US presence there is motivated by religion.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jinxmchue Jinx McHue

    What kind of rock concert invites people to speak? People go to a rock concert to hear rock music, not some nobody yammering away about how much he hates religion.

    • m6wg4bxw

      I agree. It reminds of the time I went to see a Christian band called Disciple. A friend invited me to go to the show with him. I had heard one song of theirs, and liked it enough. So a few songs into the set, they stopped so they could speak about Jesus, and to pray, and have people give their lives to him at stage front. Then, finally, back to the music.

      After previewing the musical guests at Rock Beyond Belief, I think I’d prefer anti-religious yammering.

    • Justin Griffith

      It’s not a rock concert. It’s a festival.

      Music.
      Speakers.
      Army paratrooper demo jump
      Kid’s stuff too, like hundreds of kids walking on water (non-newtonian fluid) and bounce houses etc.

      Also we had no budget. Every single guest including “some nobody” Richard Dawkins has waived their honorarium.

      Think of it like TAM, or American Atheists convention… except instead of paying $300 for a ticket, it’s totally free. And that whole ‘support the troops’ thing (if you’re into it).

  • Anonymous

    I would love to hear from atheist military families. We hear a lot about the effects this has on the soldiers, and that of course is very important, but I can imagine that for the families back home, particularly those living on bases, the overt and pervasive religiosity must be stifling. At least the military has rules that restrict how much shit they can give atheist servicemembers. In the civilian communities that back them up, there are no such rules. A part of strengthening the atheist community in the military has to be providing comfort and support to the civilian families associated to it.

    Oh, and tell them that they rock. All of them, but Justin especially.

  • Reginald Selkirk

    Soylent Green is people.