Despite Snow, Ice, Peace March Sends Message

Despite the snowstorm brewing over the East coast, over 3,000 people joined the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in Washington, D.C. this past Friday.

EMU canceled the bus that was taking students and community members to D.C. because of the weather. Many other communities canceled buses and some airlines canceled flights. One carload of people drove many hours only to total their car in Pennsylvania. They made it to the protest however, by hitchhiking the rest of the way.

The 3.4-mile march to the White House started at the National Cathedral. A worship service, packing the cathedral with over 2,800 people, lasted over 90 minutes with representatives from many Christian denominations and sponsoring organizations. The speakers included well-known Christian author, theologian, and activist Jim Wallis and Raphael Warnock, pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, as well as the mother of an Iraqi war casualty. Warnock warned of America losing its soul and encouraged those gathered, "Now more than ever, America needs our moral witness."

After a hearing the cathedral filled with 2,800 people singing God of Grace and God of Glory, attendees gathered outside as the rain turned to snow. The volunteer organizers handed out battery-powered candles for the march. During the walk to the White House, songs like "This Little Light of Mine" popped up in sections and spread throughout the crowd. Because of the below-freezing temperatures and biting wind, the short service planned for Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, was canceled. As the main body reached the park, they were met by several hundred people that were not able to be seated in the cathedral and had met in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Police set up a barrier along Pennsylvania Avenue. Approximately 220 people chose to cross this barrier and risk arrest. Almost 800 people signed up for this act of civil disobedience, because of the weather and other reasons, only 224 actually were arrested. The planning process for the civil disobedience ran into many different problems. When the Secret Service heard that 800 people wanted to pray on the sidewalk in front of the White House, risking arrest, they determined that it was a security risk to the president. Eventually the organizers and police came to an agreement that the protesters would cross the street in waves of 100. They would stand or kneel on the sidewalk in front of the White House. It is against the law to stand in front of the White House while protesting; anyone on the sidewalk must keep moving. The officers warned the first wave, which included Jim Wallis, three times before they started arresting them. Official Mennonite representative Susan Mark Landis, who was arrested, said of the officers, "They were very considerate. They asked for any elderly or sick people that wanted to be processed first." Once they were processed, they were seated on the bus and taken to the police station.

On Saturday, many of the denominations split up and had their own meetings. EMU religion and philosophy professor Peter Dula spoke at the Mennonite gathering. A march on the Pentagon, unrelated to Friday's event, was planned for Saturday. It is estimated that 10,000 people attended that march. President Bush spent the weekend at Camp David in Maryland.