FReepers Report on National March for Life - January 22, 2002

1/23/2002 | ArGee

[ArGee]

On Tuesday, January 22, 2002, Argee, Teacup, proud2bRC, firebrand, ELS, stand waite, mudpuppy, and teacup met one another before the March for Life in Washington D.C. There was also a youngster whose screen name was, I believe, Catherine the Great, but she didn't write it down and I could be mis-remembering.

I offered to start a thread where we could post comments, pictures, whatever. This is that thread.

For my own comments, I have four thoughts.

• FReepers are all nice people, at least the seven I met yesterday were. When you are given a chance to gather as FReepers, you should take advantage of it.
• I didn't see the pro-aborts. I'm sure they were somewhere, but they didn't gather near our rally. At one point when we were all quiet for prayer I heard some cheering from another part of town. That could have been the pro-aborts. But they didn't hang around us. I don't know whether that is good news or bad news. It could be good news - they don't mess with us anymore. Or it could be bad news - we don't really matter anymore.
• Along those lines, I noticed a real party atmosphere at the rally. There were lots of old friends greeting one another with smiles and back slaps, etc. Pro-life people really know how to have fun. But what I missed was a sense of mourning - mourning for the 40,000,000+ murdered children, mourning for the women who have been abused by our abortion culture, and mourning for ourselves whose minds have to be twisted by standing by helplessly while the slaughter continues. I'm not pointing fingers, mind you. I was enjoying myself until this thought intruded. Maybe it's hard to keep your emotional edge for 29 years when nothing seems to happen. But I think it would be good if the pro-life community could remember that we're not talking about a mere political battle. People are dying every day, physically and emotionally. We need to keep our edge.
• One of the speakers told us that it's time to say, "Enough is enough." Normally G-d doesn't speak to me unless I am studying His Word. However, I heard Him yesterday. Not prophetically, mind you, but His heart. It was almost an audible warning to America that we need to get our spiritual house in order. It was kind of like that "G-d speaks" billboard that says, "Don't make me come down there. - G-d" Like I said, I was not given a prophetic word for anyone, just a senst that G-d is really not happy with our culture of death.

Those are my thoughts. I'll ping the others so they can add theirs.

[Steve0113]

This Catholic totally agrees with you.

[MudPuppy]

My opinion as a Catholic - praying the rosary and other prayers (St Michael, etc)
are an inherent part of our faith. I believe it gives us unity and strength and is pleasing to the Lord.

The only "Mary" signs I saw were of Our Lady of Guadalupe or Church or School signs displaying their
name or their religious order. (My Church is St. Mary)
There was a gentleman that spoke on the stage and then blew some type of ceremonial horn. I was not
uncomfortable with that display of faith.
Those hallmarks of our faith are not meant to make anyone uncomfortable but serve to rally the faithful.
I saw many signs from other faiths and secular groups and didn't wonder about it one way or the other.

The more educated I become about being Catholic, the more excited I get about living, sharing and
outwardly displaying my faith.

That probably didn't help much and wasn't very articulate but please know that those things that you're questioning
are not done to make you feel bad or uncomfortable. Mostly it's an integral part of our faith and not done to annoy anyone.

[jwalsh07]

My wife and I were there and what we came away with was hope. The numbers of young people last year and this year gives us bigtime hope for the future.

[ArGee]

Those hallmarks of our faith are not meant to make anyone uncomfortable but serve to rally the faithful.

I understand that, and I also understand the underlying love of G-d that drives these behaviors.

But I'm sure you understand that praying in a prayer language is an integral part of the faith of many Charismatics. But such can be distracting and so, if I do that in a public place, I do it very quietly.

As for the shofar, Jesus Himself worshipped G-d to the sound of the shofar. The sound of the shofar goes all the way back to Moses. I didn't have the same problem with that as those marching down Constitution Ave. praying the Rosary in loud voices.

But had that Rabbi prayed the Amidah, part of which is a curse that was introduced to curse Christians, I would have had a big problem with that at this rally.

For context, this is only a minor peeve. I was not at all troubled by all the overt demonstrations of Catholocism. But there's a thread here that is discussing whether a pro-life homosexual group should have been allowed to publicly display that they were homosexual. The consensus seems to be that, at such a march, they should have been pro-life first and homosexual second. Would that not also apply to Catholice, or Charismatics, or Jews, or whetever?

Shalom.

[ArGee]

I spent a little bit of time marching right in front of you guys!

Shalom.

[jwalsh07]

Hey yoyo, you forgot to change the date when you put in new batteries. Shmuck!

[jwalsh07]

Why didn't you say hello? :-}

[ArGee]

Why didn't you say hello? :-}

By that time I was trying to figure out how to keep walking without stepping on the heels of the nice lady in front of me. If you remember, by the time we got to the top of the hill it was pretty thick. I wanted to say, "Stand aside. I take large steps!" but I wasn't sure everyone would have seen the movie and known what I was talking about.

Shalom.

[jwalsh07]

Did you also see President Washington. LOL

[ArGee]

No! I missed him! Good thing he wasn't too noticeable or we might have been accused of being racist. ;)

Shalom.

[MudPuppy]

I need to give your question more thought. I still don't understand why it would bother anyone.

The people that were praying the rosary around me were using a normal speaking voice that was almost
drowned out by the crowd -
when we walked past a group of nuns they were praying the Mercy Chaplet but it was barely audible

The Notre Dame Pro-Life kids were LOUD! :)
They were signing and chanting some great stuff (great shirts that read Irish For Life)

There was a protestant group near us loudly signing Amazing Grace and asking people to join in

I'll admit that since those are signs of my faith that I didn't notice it as out of the ordinary -
I saw everyone as being just pro-life...and we were busy trying not to get separated from our group :)

I'm not going to even touch the Gay pro-life issue. It's an oxymoron to me. I have a hard enough
time loving the sinner and hating the sin without getting drawn into that one.
Although, knowing the leanings of the organizers - why does their sexuality have to come into it.
I saw many people just waving flags that said "Wisconsin For Life"..."Pennsylvania For LIFE"...
couldn't they find a state that would take them?

[ArGee]

You should know that I had no problem with the people praying the Rosary. But I know protestants who would have had a big problem with it.

I was walking and singing with a group of Franciscans (I think they were Franciscans) for a while. They had a banner in front of them proclaiming something about the Holy Robe. I know many protestants who would not have been able to march with that group because of that banner.

Understand, I'm not saying that either group is right or wrong. I'm just talking about sensitivities toward other faiths.

And, obviously, you and I both know that Jews would not have been able to walk behind a banner proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord. Fortunately, I don't think they had to.

Shalom.

[ArGee]

There must have been a million.

You lemonhead! You must not have received your home study packet from the Million Man Math Foundation. There were at least 20 million people there.

Shalom.

[patent]

March bump!

[jwalsh07]

[ArGee]

LOL, There must have been 50 million people there.

Actually, there were 50 million people there in the first block!

Talk about a crowd control problem! Shalom.

[ArGee]

Where's the Tourist Guy?

Shalom.

[firebrand]

Here's the March thread, but all the photos are not up, and the ones that were there seem to have expired.