Scripture, song and prayer mark religious start to anti-war protests

Published: 2007-03-19

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Scripture readings were interspersed with testimonies from a U.S. soldier, Iraqis and the mother of a slain National Guard sergeant at a crowded prayer vigil March 16 that kicked off weekend anti-war protests in Washington and around the country. With nearly 3,000 people packed into the Episcopal Church's National Cathedral and hundreds more in overflow space at other churches, Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Baptist, Mennonite, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Quaker and Seventh-day Adventist leaders set the stage for a late-night march to the White House in bitter cold wind and snow. After walking just under four miles to the White House from the cathedral, participants carrying battery-operated candles prayed for peace. Dozens who refused police orders to keep moving were arrested in planned acts of nonviolent resistance. The next day, thousands of protesters gathered near the Lincoln Memorial and marched to the Pentagon for an anti-war rally. At the National Cathedral, the focus of several "witness" reflections, as the program described them, was on the moral grounds for opposing the war.

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