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Local faithful to join D.C. anti-war rally

After four years of watching the carnage in Iraq, Danielle Gadomski decided to put her Christianity into action and speak out against the war.

The Denison University senior from Grove City will be among at least two busloads of people traveling from central Ohio to Washington today for an anti-war vigil at the National Cathedral and a protest march to the White House.

"The idea of being lied to by my government in making people my own age go off and die … insults my faith," said Gadomski, a United Methodist.

Organizers of the event, Christian Peace Witness for Iraq, said they expect at least 3,400 participants. The worship service and vigil at the National Cathedral will start at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the 2-mile, candlelit procession to the president’s home.

Gadomski, who attended Westland High School, said three of its other recent graduates have been killed while serving in Iraq.

She said she honors the war’s casualties and supports her government — but she wants it to do the right thing. "This vigil for peace is really about telling the government that we as Christians and citizens need them to work for peace," she said.

Also on a bus will be Denison student Reese Neader, an Army Reserve veteran from Lancaster. Neader said it’s time for his fellow Christians to "start stepping up and letting their voice be heard."

Neader described himself as a conscientious objector who joined the Army as a way to afford college. He honors and respects his former comrades, he said, but he thinks they’d be better deployed in hurricanerecovery work in New Orleans.

The United States should make an orderly withdrawal from Iraq and address its security in cooperation with its neighbors, he said.

Melonie Buller, a member of Columbus Mennonite Church, sees the demonstration as "an exciting kind of a way to witness" about her convictions to the people who run the country. "I’ve never been to a big event like this," she said.

Click here to see this article at its original site: The Columbus Dispatch

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