{"id":29480,"date":"2025-10-21T12:17:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=29480"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:17:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:17:41","slug":"over-100000-protest-nationwide-with-clergy-leading-in-prayer-and-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/10\/over-100000-protest-nationwide-with-clergy-leading-in-prayer-and-unity","title":{"rendered":"Over 100,000 Protest Nationwide With Clergy Leading in Prayer and Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Times Square as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest. However, in New York City, 50 interfaith leaders gathered beforehand to hold a prayer vigil and join the march to denounce authoritarianism and affirm democracy.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the efforts of the religious freedom network Interfaith Alliance and the Interfaith Center of New York, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist ministers gathered where the group has been rallying together for the past six months.<\/p>\n

As organizer Adam Friedman stated<\/a>, “Interfaith Alliance understands this moment as one that directly speaks to the core of people’s identities as Americans of faith. We want to make sure that folks across our country, however they’re showing up in this moment, have the support and the tools to do that.”<\/p>\n

How do religious communities respond when political power seems to threaten moral and constitutional values?<\/p>\n

For the more than seven million demonstrators who showed up to wave American flags on street corners, march down rural, suburban, and urban roadways, and hold signs opposing the current administration’s methods, interfaith clergy and faith leaders were at the forefront of many protests.<\/p>\n

In Durham, North Carolina, an estimated five thousand marchers flooded Durham Central Park to hear the Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the National Poor People’s Campaign and Disciples of Christ minister, speak on<\/a> stage.<\/p>\n

“Two and a half centuries ago, America struggled to break free from a king,” Barber said, his voice rising with each sentence. “Bowing down is not an option. Standing up, speaking the truth and voting like never before is required now.”<\/p>\n

Similarly, two dozen clergy led the “No Kings” march in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to Michigan Live, West Michigan clergy members “held hands up to stop oncoming traffic and at one point knelt in the street to pray.”<\/p>\n

For Rev. Greta Jo Seidohl, a Unitarian Universalist who led the interfaith leadership effort, a belief in a God that loves her and every single one of her neighbors \u2013 including her trans, Black, and immigrant neighbors \u2013 is enough to drive religious communities to respond.<\/p>\n

For many clergy in the Christian tradition<\/a>, “the administration’s treatment of vulnerable Americans clashes with the values Jesus teaches in the gospels, committed to loving one another, treating others decently and with kindness.”<\/p>\n

As such, even though the turn to authoritarianism can overwhelm our sensibilities, John Harvey Taylor, Bishop of the six-county Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles<\/a>, points to peace and to the God of love: “The Christian disciple and our siblings in other traditions, devoted to love as best we can, may be the only ones left in the public square trying to resist without rancor, love the authoritarian while hating the authoritarianism, and mean the same thing God does when we say the dignity of every human being.”<\/p>\n

The message is not unique to the Christian tradition alone.<\/p>\n

“As a Hindu of conscience, as an American, and as an Indian, with my eyes open and my heart awake, I say a resounding ‘no’ to the growing tide of authoritarianism here, there, and everywhere, from Delhi to Washington,” Sunita Viswanath<\/a>, executive director of Hindus for Human Rights, stated in New York City. Viswanath further encouraged Americans to “be the light” during trying times, connecting the purpose of Saturday’s march to the upcoming message of Diwali<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Muslim scholar and Union Theological Seminary professor Hussein Rashid spoke similarly, further calling for peace<\/a>: “God is called the compassionate, the merciful, often in the Quran. That is how we are meant to be in the world, compassionate and merciful.” For Rashid, sometimes it is enough to remember that there are individuals who “do not want that compassion and mercy of the world, those who not only want to be our kind, but who wish to be our masters.”<\/p>\n

In New York and around the country, Jewish faith leaders also led protest efforts. Beyond Saturday’s efforts, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs offers talking points for clergy, particularly regarding authoritarianism around the high holidays.<\/p>\n

According to their website<\/a>, “The truth is clear: Antisemitism and democratic decline are deeply interconnected. Antisemitism doesn’t just threaten Jews\u2014it is a key weapon used to erode trust in democratic institutions and scapegoat entire communities.”<\/p>\n

Across clergy lines and interfaith differences, perhaps<\/a> “the path forward lies in coalition\u2014working across lines of difference to build understanding, pursue shared safety, and strengthen the foundations of our democracy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Times Square as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest. However, in New York City, 50 interfaith leaders gathered beforehand to hold a prayer vigil and join the march to denounce authoritarianism and affirm democracy. Thanks to the efforts of the religious freedom network Interfaith Alliance and the Interfaith…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOver 100,000 Protest Nationwide With Clergy Leading in Prayer and Unity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over 100,000 joined \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests as interfaith leaders prayed, preached love, and stood against authoritarianism in the U.S.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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