In a letter to Secretary John McHugh, the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State call on military officials to improve constitutional safeguards in the wake of a controversial Christian evangelism concert at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The groups argue that the Army's financial and logistical support of that event, and its subsequent denial of similar support for an atheist event, violate Department of Defense regulations.
Accordingly, we ask you to ensure that Fort Bragg strictly adheres to DoD Directive 5410.18 and the DoD Joint Ethics Regulation by refraining from supporting or appearing to support any event that provides a selective benefit to any religious organization or to an explicitly sectarian religious belief system. Second, we ask that you take steps to ensure compliance with DoD regulations that require the provision of similar support to comparable events sponsored by similar non-Federal entities — including Rock Beyond Belief — insofar as this can be accomplished consistently with constitutional limitations. Finally, we ask you to provide proper training to personnel within the Fort Bragg command structure to ensure strict adherence to military regulations in making decisions about whether to partner with non-Federal entities in presenting events.
