Dallas Gathering Launches New Ten Commandments Rally Series
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
April 1, 2004
(AgapePress) - Final preparations are being made for the first in a new series of Ten Commandments rallies that will take place around the U.S., giving thousands of concerned Christians the chance to show support for the public display and acknowledgement of God's laws.The first rally is scheduled to take place Saturday (April 3) in Dallas, Texas, at the Dallas Convention Center. Thousands of Christian conservatives will meet there from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for an event designed to unite, encourage, and spur to action all those who believe the nation's Christian heritage is being undermined by hostile forces.
Go to the Rally Website
Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association -- a member of the sponsoring coalition -- says the rally, and all those to follow, will present opportunities for Christians to make their voices heard. "If you have a rally of thousands of people around a particular issue, certainly, the politicians are going to sit up and pay attention," he says, "because that represents numbers -- voters -- the people who are their constituencies. So most of the congressmen and the senators who want to be reelected will pay attention to what the voters are saying."
Wildmon hopes the rally will energize what he calls the "silent majority" to become involved in an ongoing movement. "After the rally we need to continue to push forward and, perhaps, be involved in more rallies across the country and in getting people to write and e-mail and call their senators and their congressmen about ending this judicial tyranny that's going on in the federal courts," he says, adding "We need to see one or two of these guys impeached."
Among those slated to speak at the Dallas rally are author and educator Alan Keyes of RenewAmerica, and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. The Texas rally is seen as a stepping stone to a national Ten Commandments Rally planned for this fall in Washington, DC.
How the Rallies Began
Over the course of recent months, several national groups have been organizing local Ten Commandments rallies. Led by Alan Keyes and RenewAmerica, along with Dr. Rich Scarborough of Vision America, these organizations started what has become a vast and growing movement. Since then, a coalition has formed around the movement's mission: to unite believers who uphold religious freedom and who recognize the Ten Commandments as the source of America's law and governance traditions.
In mid-January the American Family Association (AFA) joined with the founding groups and others like Concerned Americans in Action, in a partnership that has since grown to include Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, Free Market Foundation, and the Texas Home School Coalition as well.
As the movement grew, the idea was raised within the coalition to plan and organize larger urban rallies with the potential to attract thousands of concerned citizens to the cause. At the invitation of Vision America and Renew America, Diana Molix of the Dallas-based Concerned Americans in Action accepted the task of planning and organizing a major rally in Texas.
In February, American Family Association convened the first meeting of a Ten Commandments Task Force, which met to discuss ways to capitalize on the momentum of past local rallies. In calling together the task force, AFA's Tim Wildmon reminded coalition members of the reasons for the rallies -- to raise public awareness about judicial activism and "to prompt Congress and the President to pass legislation aimed at reigning in tyranny being dispensed by federal and state judges."
Rallying for Judicial Restraint
Wildmon notes several recent examples of liberal courts restricting religious liberty, including the highly publicized case of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from the bench for refusing to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Supreme Court Building rotunda, and for upholding the state constitution's mandate to acknowledge God.
Wildmon also points to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and its ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, and the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals decision that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.
"In June, the United States Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision on the Pledge case, and some believe the high court will side with the Ninth Court," Wildmon says.
AFA's president wants to emphasize to Christians that Congress and the president need to hear from Christians, urging them to act soon and put an end to such court-ordered injustice.
"Our purpose in joining the Ten Commandments Rally is not to entertain an event, but more importantly, to use this venue as a vehicle to help us and the other coalition partners stop judicial activism and tyranny in its tracks. The rallies are an excellent way for politicians to feel the people's pulse on this issue," Wildmon says.
