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More than half a million people, including hundreds from Lancaster County, took part Saturday in the Womens March on Washington. Millions more participated in so-called sister marches across the United States including here in Lancaster city and in some 80 countries around the world. The marches were spurred by concerns over how President Donald Trumps agenda might impact women.

We will leave to others the arguments over whether the Womens March on Washington and the sister marches were necessary, inclusive or productive.

Will this be a one-time thing or, with the march organizers promise of action over 100 days, the beginning of a movement a kind of tea party for progressives in the age of Trump?

Whether you marched here or in the nations capital, whether you were appalled or thrilled by the marches, we invite your thoughts on these questions via letters to the editor.

For now, a couple of things seem to us to be clear.

The marches were a vivid reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a country in which the very first amendment to the Constitution enshrined freedom of speech and the freedom to peaceably assemble.

You may have disagreed with the content of that speech and the reasons for those assemblies, but thats another great thing about America: Were allowed to hold different opinions and to express them.

Its not always easy to live with one another when were noisily expressing different points of view. But the Founding Fathers deemed freedom of expression to be essential. Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech, Benjamin Franklin wrote.

Another thing seems clear today: Aside from Madonna and her expletive-laced remarks (did anyone expect anything else from the desperately seeking headlines singer?), the marches were well-organized and incredibly well-attended.

Just as Trumps election held a message for Democratic leaders, Saturdays marches held a message for Republican leaders, Trump included. Democrats, Republicans, theyd all do well to listen.

The larger-than-anticipated marches might have led to mayhem, but there were no arrests made in connection with the D.C. march. Or in Los Angeles, where more than half a million people marched. Or in New York City, where some 400,000 marched. Or in Lancaster city, where hundreds of people packed the northeast quadrant of Penn Square.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich penned the line, Well-behaved women seldom make history, but Saturdays marches were nothing if not well-behaved.

Maybe it was because women were in charge (that also worked out pretty well for the Trump presidential campaign). Maybe it was because the police kept the riot gear stowed. Maybe it was because there were a great many mothers and grandmothers in attendance, and who steps out of line when theyre around? Were just glad the marches were peaceful.

At both the inauguration Friday and the Womens March on Washington on Saturday, people stacked trash as near as possible to the full trash cans, making the job of the cleanup crew easier, National Park Service spokespeople told news organizations.

So, even in this divided country of ours, it appears that both Trump supporters and feminist marchers have neatness in common.

Its not much, but its something.

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Agree or disagree with the women marchers' cause, but the First Amendment is a great thing - LancasterOnline