Videos Legacy of Saturday Rallies

Print PDF

People gathered in Dayton’s Old Courthouse Square for the last of three national Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies. Click any photo to enlarge.

A home-made sign at Dayton’s rally.

Saturday’s Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies in Cincinnati and Dayton, the final in a series of three, have left a video legacy for the region and the country.

Dayton organizers had each presentation from their rally filmed in high definition, and are posting them online for anyone, anywhere to watch. Cincinnati used the rally to film a video people concerned about religious liberty issues to forward to friends, family, and most importantly, undecided voters.

“It was a beautiful fall day, and a nice turn out in support of the USCCB,” says Dayton rally organizer Ruth Deddens. “The bottom line is to VOTE, and to get all friends and neighbors and family to VOTE. A huge number of Americans don’t really believe that their vote will make a difference, but each person’s vote can grow by simple efforts to help others to get to the polls. Call and ask all your people if they have voted, and offer help and encouragement to get them to the polls.“

Available on YouTube and on the Stand Up for Religious Freedom — Dayton Facebook page, the videos already posted include presentations by Stand True Pro-Life Ministries founder and Priests for Life Youth Outreach Coordinator Bryan Kemper; “former unborn child” and Keep Life Legal Ministries founder Rev. Katherine Marple; doctor and retired USAF officer Gary George; and Ronn Jones of Compassionate Heart Ministries. Presentations by keynote speaker Chris Finney, lead lawyer for the Stand Up for Freedom – Dayton lawsuit against Sinclair College; Steve Koob of One More Soul, youth minister Nicole Muhlenkamp; and Mary Pyper of Radio Maria will be posted soon.

 (Story continues below photo.)

A still from the Cincinnati rally video.

At the Cincinnati rally, held at Royalmont Academy in Mason, organizer Carl Brown of Kings Liberty decided that after three previous rallies (one before the “Stand Up” rallies began) the last rally was time to help people take action. With all the attendees crowded behind him with their signs, he recorded a four-minute video outlining the religious freedom issues in the coming election.

“We’re not here to tell you what to believe or how to live your life,” he says in the video (see it here). “We’re here because we care about the loss of our freedoms, and we care about you losing your freedoms.”

The idea, Brown says, was for everyone at the rally — and everyone else who wants to — to forward the video to others who don’t know about the government’s attempts to restrict freedom of religion. “So far the results speak for themselves,” he says. “For every one who showed up to make the video, FOUR people have watched the video. And because the message is non-partisan and non-preachy, I think it will gain an even bigger audience.”

Stand Up for Religious Freedom is a national rally program created by the Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society with a coaltion of pro-life groups around the country. It scheduled and promoted three ecumenical, non-partisan raliies for religious freedom in March, June, and October.

Almost 22,000 people in 99 cities participated in the Oct. 20 noon rally.

Dayton rally photos by Tom Dalrymple, courtesy Stand Up for Religious Freedom — Dayton. For a gallery of photos of the Dayton rally, click here.

Previous coverage:

For the March rallies in Cincinnati and Dayton, click here.

For Paula Westwood’s remarks from the Cincinnati March rally, click here.

For the June Cincinnati rally at Fountain Square, click here.

For Ron Rack’s moving panorama shot of the June Cincinnati rally, click here.

For the June Dayton rally, at which the ralliers were told to put their signs away, click here.

For Dayton organizer’s essay about the suit involving the rally signs, click here.

Susie Gross, an attendee at Dayton’s rally, is ready for Saturday’s damp weather.