Over the last decade I have dreamed of being able to help students pursue education that helps them further important work needing to be tackled in separation of church and state issues and many fields in science. This can be accomplished if students decide to pursue political careers, community leadership positions, higher education teaching jobs, and so much more. With the onslaught of propaganda surrounding issues like keeping a god in school, governmental suppression on earth science, encouragement of people to remain ignorant about important social justice issues in the name of ideological purity, I decided I would come after your kids. I'm looking at you evangelical parents out there. I am coming for your children. To educate them, remove this naive idea that leveling the playing field for all communities to have authority is showing preference, and enable them to think logically about an issue and understand that sometimes, you just have to say,"I don't know" instead of filling in the gap with whatever unsupported reason one can find.

 

And finally, I am coming for these kids to help sponsor their future careers in the areas I mentioned above. Well, at least one this year anyway. 

 

I'm excited to announce the creation of the Hillbilly Edumacashun Fund. This is a scholarship program that I am excited to launch this year on behalf of my podcast Unbuckling the Bible Belt. This year, starting 10/1/17 - 11/1/17, students ages 17 - 22 that are enrolled to start, or are currently attending college, can toss in their hat for the $500 award amount for an essay to be submitted that is judged the best for the topic of "Bad Ad Hoc Argumentation for Intelligent Design". Scholarship money will be awarded to one individual based on the best scoring in the grading scale listed below in the details section of this post. 

 

How could this get any better? Well, more money for entries next year! Part of my plan to start putting money towards next year's scholarship fund-in which we hope to raise $1500 to award to three students- will be a publication of all the entrants' submissions from this year in an eBook! All proceeds (minus processing fee by Amazon), will go directly to the Hillbilly Edumacashun Fund for 2018! We would really love to make this scholarship program larger and larger every year, so I hope this catches on. Our podcast celebrates youth and the future they are creating for the coming generations, and every little bit, even if just $500, will help them accomplish that endeavor. 

 

So, here is the official rules of the Hillbilly Edumacashun Fund Scholarship Event:

 

Entrant Requirements:

 

1. Must be 17 - 22 years old,  and identify as atheist, agnostic, humanist and/or secular. 

2. Must be currently accepted/enrolled in college pursuing a career course that helps you further a higher level of secular activism. 

3. If you are still in high school, you will have to provide an admissions letter and set to start at a college in January of 2018 (Winter quarter).

4. A resident of the United States of America, including its territories.

5. Provide documentation of all of the above using a state identification card, Admission letter, and college program statement.

6. Short paragraph outlining your current secular activism and biographical information.

7. Be sure to give three options for communication:

    -Home address

    -Two phone numbers

    -Email address

8. Applicants of all races, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply.

 

Entry Requirements:

 

1. The topic is "Bad Ad Hoc Argumentation for Intelligent Design".  Have fun with this topic. If you are unsure what ad hoc argumentation is, please go here: https://www.thoughtco.com/ad-hoc-explanations-causes-and-rationalization-3968430, or if you learn better by seeing examples, this YouTube video about Jibbers Crabst really shows ad hoc fallacy at its best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_BtZ-5O60

2. Entries will be accepted from 10/1/17 at 12:00 pm EST - 11/1/17 at 12:00 pm EST. If sending via postal service, entries must be postmarked 11/1/17. A winner will be chosen and announced Live via our YouTube channel on Black Friday, 11/24/2017 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

    Be sure to give three options for communication:

    -Home address

    -Two phone numbers

    -Email address 

3. Entries must be an original work and not previously used for previous essay contests. We do check for plagiarism, so Don't Do It.

4. An essay between 800 - 1500 words, double spaced, typed, edited, and in pdf format.

 

Where To Send Entries

 

Via email  unbucklingpodcast@gmail.com. Via postal service: Hillbilly Edumacashun Fund, c/o Amanda Ashcraft, PO Box 72394, Newport, KY, 41072. Fax is not available.

 

How A Winner Is Selected

 

1. If any of the entry requirements above are not met, it will not be considered for the scholarship.

2. We will be expecting a properly formatted and proofread submission.

3. We will be only considering entries that stay on topic. If it is off topic, we will not consider it for the scholarship.

4. Podcast members will judge each entry and decide on a single winner.

 

Scholarship Disbursement

 

Scholarship money will be sent to the college listed on your Admission letter by January 2nd, 2018. Award will be earmarked for your account with the college that can be used towards the cost of any of the following:

 

1. Tuition (Current only, not for default amounts)

2. Textbooks, Computer Software, general class supplies purchased on campus only

3. Dorm costs

4. Campus Parking costs

5. THESE MONIES CANNOT BE REFUNDED FOR CASH NOR REPLACED IF YOU TRANSFER SCHOOLS AND ARE UNABLE TO TAKE THE REMAINING AMOUNT OF THE SCHOLARSHIP WITH YOU.

 

Miscellaneous

 

When submitting your essay to the Hillbilly Edumacashun Fund Scholarship program, you must agree to the following:

 

1. All works submitted to this event will be considered the property of Unbuckling the Bible Belt Podcast who will use the material submitted as they see fit without any compensation owed to the submitting party.

2. Unbuckling the Bible Belt Podcast will always credit the original author for composing the submitted work when used in advertisements, compilations, fund raisers, and other marketing options.

3. Winner will be required to do an interview with Unbuckling the Bible Belt by 2/1/2017. Because we're proud of ya!

 

 

Oh, and if we think of something we might have forgotten...Yeah, we will update these rules at any time.