They wore clerical collars and vestments, their heads covered with Kippahs and Taqiyahs.
Religious leaders and congregants rallied Monday in Washington to say “the soul of the nation” is at stake. The leaders of multiple faiths near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial said it’s not about politics, but the moral corrosion of the country that they believe has become increasingly evident under the presidency of Donald Trump.
The “One Thousand Ministers March for Justice” rally, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, was one of two events led by members of the clergy on Monday in Washington — each with opposing viewpoints. They come on the 54th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King delivered his famed “I Have a Dream” speech.
That dream, according to rallygoers at Sharpton’s rally, is at stake as religious leaders said they must be public and vocal about fighting white supremacy. And while they said Monday’s rally was about more than politics, they offered blistering condemnations of the Trump presidency.
“We will not be indifferent when transgender individuals are not allowed to serve in the military,” Rabbi Jonah Pesner said. “We will not be indifferent when a sheriff is pardoned,” a reference to Trump pardoning former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday.
Vincent Herring, a 59-year-old Baptist from Maryland, said politics have turned into issues of morality, and people of faith and moral conscious need to take the lead.
“We haven’t been in the forefront of trying to get things done,” he said. “When you identify it as a moral issue, then that’s what needs to be done.”
Still, Jackson said he respected Sharpton and the other members of the clergy in the march for acting on faith to confront racism. Two pastors who were part of the conservative news conference, Rev. Frank Amedia and Rev. Mark Gonzales, joined the marchers afterward.
Amedia, who founded a group called POTUS Shield to pray for the president, said he wanted to attend because liberal and conservative members of the clergy share anti-racist goals.
“That’s our meeting point, changing the nation,” he said “We may not agree on how we get there.”
The conservative clergy members were divided on the subject of historic statues, which prompted intense debate after a rally of white supremacists turned deadly in Charlottesville earlier this month. Mike Berry, a radio and television producer on the panel, hailed the removal of former Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney’s statue in his hometown of Annapolis as one of the greatest moments in his 14 years of work in the city.
But Alveda King, an antiabortion activist and the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., disagreed: “Since they’re there, I believe — no. Don’t tear up the country.”
By Perry Stein and Julie Zauzmer
