UPDATE (original report below) Todd Starnes has produced a followup report where, despite an inaccurate and intentionally misleading headline, he exhibits a temporary bit of sanity by reporting exactly what I stated in my original report. Starnes admits that the Army did not categorize the AFA as a hate group and that the slideshow presentation was locally produced without input from official policy or higher leadership. Read for yourself here: Pentagon admits Christian ministry is not … [Read more...]
The Chaplaincy Shortage and the Great Crock of BS
October 13, 2013 By 13 Comments
Chaplains In order to become a chaplain there are a few requirements one must fulfill. And with the recent "controversy" surrounding these Chaplains being placed on leave without pay and whatnot I thought there needed to be some clarification. Some of the more right-wing disengenuous folks are trying to push this narrative that Chaplains are being forced out of the military and leaving service members without any 'spiritual support'. What I find interesting is that the same people bitching … [Read more...]
Christian Dominionists in the US Congress today….or a Book Review of “Christian Nation” by Fredric C. Rich?
October 6, 2013 By 2 Comments
This is my review of the book 'Christian Nation' The premise behind the book is that in the year 2008 John McCain gets elected to high office as the President of the United States. This of course would have made, the Tea Party favorite and Dominionist Christian, Sarah Palin the Vice President. At the very beginning of the book McCain takes a flight over to Russia to do some international diplomacy. While he is there he dies of a heart attack and in steps Sarah Palin as the … [Read more...]
Another Victory for Foxhole Atheists at Colorado Springs!
October 3, 2013 By 6 Comments
Air Force Academy In my last post I alerted everyone to a problematic email sent out by an Air Force Master Sergeant. The Air Force has capitulated away from unconstitutional official policy and have agreed to, once again, allow graduating cadets to omit the "oath to god" from their Creed. I, (state your name), having been appointed a (rank) in the United States (branch of service), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States … [Read more...]
When Religion and Politics mix…When the media fails to report…When we don’t understand why…
October 3, 2013 By 28 Comments
![cronkite_200-30ddecaab918f90c6aa681ee130c04ae63c2643b-s6-c30[1]](http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/rockbeyondbelief/files/2013/10/cronkite_200-30ddecaab918f90c6aa681ee130c04ae63c2643b-s6-c301-150x150.jpg "cronkite_200-30ddecaab918f90c6aa681ee130c04ae63c2643b-s6-c30[1]")
Media Coverage I suppose the first thing to cover is the fact that no national American media source is willing to cover what is going on in today's political arena with the audacity that, say, Walter Cronkite would be able to do. If you click the link you'll find the story about how a single reporter changed the American perception (or at least the middle class' perception) of the Vietnam War. It probably wasn't a popular thing to do, but he had integrity and stuck with the truth. I'm sure … [Read more...]
A short history of RBB, A bit of the future, and a toast to selflessness
August 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It's been really annoying after returning from this final deployment because all the computers I had access to prior were no longer around. So that's been a real doozy. There are also a lot of things going on personally with me as well that have kept me from putting as much time and effort into RBB, which is unfortunate because this is a very important movement. I inherited RBB from Justin Griffith and have taken the lead on it. It was never my intent or end-goal, but it was something I just … [Read more...]
Miraculous Healing, Still an Atheist
August 23, 2013 By 19 Comments
Rebuttal I saw a post recently by a Christian blogger on Patheos claiming that about 18 years ago he was healed of some incurable disease and that it was evidence of God's existence. I have a very similar personal anecdote...and oddly enough I find little to no evidence that it was indeed divine intervention that saved me. Here goes. After high school I opted not to go directly into college because I knew that I was not disciplined enough to continue my education at that age. I began … [Read more...]
Father-to-be, Still an atheist
August 13, 2013 By 41 Comments
This weekend my wife and I announced that we are having a baby. It's always nice to share news like that. After being able to share that news with everyone you'd think life would be honky-dory but sometimes you can't go a day without douchebaggery. Family and people I know from my previous life as a believer kept popping in to throw in their two cents about me being an atheist. The best part is that when it's people that are older than me who try to denigrate me "with love" When I was … [Read more...]
On The Way to Thor’s Hammer….
August 6, 2013 By 2 Comments
An interesting thing happened at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in July (2013), to little fanfare and even less media coverage; the VA approved the addition of the "Hammer of Thor" to their list of symbols allowed to be placed on the tombstones at the grave sites of veterans who are buried in veteran cemeteries. The newly approved symbol is intended for the practitioners of a form of paganism that worships the Norse pantheon, including Thor, and looks like … [Read more...]
Only Christians need apply….
July 31, 2013 By 12 Comments
Recently, I learned that Naval Academy's beautiful chapel has one major flaw - if you aren't Christian and want to use the facility for your wedding, that's just too bad, because unless you are a Christian, this government owned and operated facility isn't for you. See here for details: Naval Academy Refuses Use of Chapel for Non-Christian Wedding There are plenty of atheists, humanists, and others of a secular bent who want to enjoy the formal trappings of a formal wedding without the … [Read more...]
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