When I took a closer examination, I realized that peace marches and religion in the main sense of the word share certain characteristics.
Liturgy
At peace marches, slogans are shouted and chants are, well, chanted. Some of them have come into common usage, such as, "The people united will never be defeated." In many religions, there are prayers and meditations that form the basic framework to a service, such as the Lord's Prayer in Christian circles and the Sh'ma in Jewish ones.
Order
Most demonstrations have some sort of organization to them. They begin with an introduction, then a march, then a rally at the other end. Religious services also have a structure, which varies depending on the religion. One of the central celebrations in Judaism is the seder at Passover -- the word seder, in fact, means "order."
Denominations
The activist community is made up of many different belief systems. There are socialists, communists, anarchists, and a world of variations within each major group. In religious communities there can be a lot of variance even within the same religion, such as the different denominations of Christianity (Evangelical, Catholic, Anglican, etc.), spectrum of Judaism (such as Reform and Orthodox), and even different kinds of Islam. And yes, unfortunately sometimes the activist community can be as fragmented as a nasty church split.
A Common Cause
In most religions there is usually one central tenet that holds the whole belief system together, such as accepting that Jesus Christ is the way of salvation in Christianity or that God is One in Judaism. Peace rallies and demonstrations come together over a common cause such as ending the occupation of Iraq.
Leadership
In the peace movement, everyone counts and has a voice if they choose to use it. However, leaders do emerge. These are the people who are the most active in organizing events, and to whom people look for guidance when planning. In that way they are similar to the elders and deacons of a congregation.
Literature
Some religions are proactive about evangelizing, and create tracts to hand out to try to educate (I really don't like the word 'convert') others. At many peace demonstrations, there are handouts available explaining the issues and why action needs to be taken. These are very handy in communicating such a viewpoint to those who are uninformed.
Evangelization
One of the main points of a peace march and rally is to create a public profile for the issues at hand and communicate them to others, especially the people who happen to be in the area at the time of the event. Many will stop, watch, and listen. Handouts (see 'Literature' above) are distributed. The goal is to try to convince them of our viewpoint. The comparison here is rather obvious.
Of course, I realize I am probably stretching things slightly, but there are similarities. Most of all, we are a group of people coming together in solidarity for the cause of peace. I think that is something that people from any religion can agree with
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