WASHINGTON, Oct 6: Nearly one million men gathered on Saturday at the Washington Mall, scene of such epic rallies like the Civil Rights March, to pray and repent for their sins and pledge to become better husbands and fathers, in what was described as the single biggest public exhibition of religious revival in the United States (US).From the steps of the US Capitol, seat of the American Legislature, to the Washington Monument more than a mile away, a sea of humanity surged and murmured prayer for over six hours led by priests and pastors of different churches and denominations. The largely white male Christian gathering repeatedly invoked Jesus and God as they pledged to build a better and a more equitable society.The rally was organised by Promise Keepers (PK), a religious group founded only seven years ago by a rugby football coach who felt one day he was not paying enough attention to his family and was hounded by a feeling of guilt - a common enough American malady.The group has grown rapidly since, and yesterday's gathering - it's first national rally - was called, `Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men', a title drawn from an apocalyptic passage in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, in which God declares that he has searched in vain for a righteous man to stay his wrath against a sinful and corrupt people.At a news conference before the rally, coach Bill McCartney declared that a ``downward spiral'' in morality in the US had occurred ``because men of God have not stood together''. The breastbeating appeared a little unwarranted because Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) figures released yesterday indicated that there is a downward trend in every kind of crime, from homicides onwards. But other recent studies also show that Americans are the most chronic worriers in the world.A few hours later, McCartney's masses exemplified the new ethical spirit that appears to the sweeping middle America which many say is in the grip of a moral crisis. In spectacular and often uplifting scene, thousands upon thousands stood together and prayed. Often they were asked to link their arms together and repeat promises and pledges aimed at making them better and more responsible human beings.Although the PKs are predominantly white Christian males, one of the group's principle covenants is racial reconstruction and healing. There was plenty of evidence in the crowd of that - thousands of Black and Latino men, and a smattering of American Indians and Asian Americans were interlinked and embraced by their White brethren.Many white men wept and cried openly as they confessed to their racial past and practice of bigotry and hatred. Some wore white T-shirts with the message, `From Every Tribe, Language, People, Nation.'At one point, John Dawson, a White pastor, publicly confessed to his racial past and asked the mostly-White gathering to repent. ``Lord I confess that we are an arrogant people that we have deeply wounded African American and Jewish and native American and Hispanic friends in the story of this land.'' Dawson prayed for forgiveness for sins in the nation and churches that resulted in breaking treaties with native Americans, enslaving African Americans, rejecting Asians, exploiting Hispanics and hurting Jews.Observers said this rally was one of the biggest ever in Washington, on par with the Million Man March in 1995. Following a controversy over crowd estimates for that rally, the US Park Police, which usually does the count, now declines to provide numbers. Experts on the sociology of crowds put the number at around 7,00,000. PK organisers claimed two million. The largest accurately estimated numbers for an American event was for the US bicentennial fireworks on July 4, 1978, when Park Police said 1 million attended.Not everyone was gung-ho about the rally though. Typical of a society that prides itself on freedom of speech, the event had its critics and antagonists, railing openly in public. The National Organisation for Women and the American Atheists Inc. protested the event, saying PK's agenda was aimed at oppressing women and making the US a theocracy. Gay and lesbian groups and pro-choicers also protested the rally.
