5.15 Civil Religion

"a purley civil profession of faith of which the Sovereign should fis the articles, not exactly as religious dogmas, but as scoial sentiments without which a man cannot be a good citizen or a faithful subject"
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762)

Extends ideas of patriotism and nationalism throughj the process of sanctification (a country blessed by God)

Element: Myths, Rituals, Ethics, Aethetics, Doctrines, Social Institutions


Example of American Myths:

1. Washington and His Cherry Tree - moral = better to tell the truth than to lie
   
2. Paul Revere
3. Stories of Thanksgiving
4. Betsey Ross
   

American Rituals:

1. Memorial Day
2. 4th of July
3. Thanksgiving
4. Columbus Day
   
5. Martin Luther King Day

Lecture on Ethics

Symbolic Architecture ex) church, hot dog stand, Independance Hall

• neoclassic represented democracy - Washington re-designed what democracy looked like in America
• Penn. is the birthplace of American constitution, Dec. of Indepen., etc...