Promise Keepers on the Mall

Many readers of Dissent may associate mass demonstrations in Washington with liberal or radical gatherings such as the 1963 civil rights march or later protests against U.S. intervention in Indochina and Central America. But political and cultural conservatives have an equally established tradition of rallying in the capital. In 1979, for instance, Jerry Falwell’s “I Love America” rally at the Capitol served as a prelude to the founding of the Moral Majority. And because Washington represents the “geographic soul of America,” Bill McCartney, founder and CEO of Promise Keepers (PK), chose the Mall as the site for “Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men” on October 4, 1997.

Not since scandal brought down Jim...