Secular-themed concert at Fort Bragg canceled, MRFF to sue
Christian Dem in NC printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sun Mar 06, 2011 at 05:02:43 PM EST

cross-posted at dKos

Last year, Billy Graham's organization held a Christian-themed concert at Fort Bragg, "Rock the Fort."  The base's brass promised that similar support would be provided to non-Christian events in the future.  However, it looks like that promise wasn't kept.  A secular-themed concert is now off because, according to its organizer, Fort Bragg officials didn't give it nearly the support that Rock the Fort received.

Sgt. Justin Griffith said Thursday that the Rock Beyond Belief concert, scheduled for April 2, will not get the same funding and support as the Rock the Fort concert - sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association - did in September.

Military leaders have said they were not favoring Christians and would provide similar support to other groups.

"It's obviously not an offer of a similar level of support at all," Griffith said. "It's kind of heartbreaking because we were so close."

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has already announced it will sue, citing a raft of administrative roadblocks.  The biggest one was that base officials wanted to move Rock Beyond Belief to one of two tiny theaters, rather than the base's parade field.