Religious Freedom Rally in Washington D.C. on March 23, 2012

This past Friday there were 143 rallies across the nation with a unified goal -- To Stand Up for Religious Freedom.  The most recent head count was over 60,000 concerned Americans.  Catherine and I are proud to be included in that number.  (I give a quick gloss why it's this is such an important issue here.)

We gathered in front of the Health and Human Services building on Independence Avenue, just down the street from the United States Capitol, around lunchtime.  At the beginning there were only a few hundred people, but the grand tally lies somewhere around 2,000.  I think that it is important to note that this number does not reflect the support given by those just passing by in a typical D.C. rush.  A couple of people were holding signs by the road that said "Honk for Religious Freedom" and other such sayings--all had a very clear point.  I was (pleasantly) amazed at how much honking occurred.  Catherine was not thrilled with being at the rally (it was nap-time) so we spent a great portion of it walking the perimeter, so we had a better opportunity than most to survey the crowd and the public's reception.

There were lots of women (like myself!) in attendance. 

Ditto, Lady. Ditto.

The center of the rally is past the edge of the photo on the left-hand side.  People made a giant circle all around the
speakers.  Due to the amount of people I never actually saw any of the speakers.  The air was cool, but the sun was hot
so many people pushed together in the shade of the building.

The outskirts of the rally--with a view of the Capitol Dome.

Yet another perspective of the crowd.  This time the center point is to the right-hand side.

Here are a few more links:

Catholic News Agency

Stand Up for Religious Freedom