During his presentation this past week, Jinghao passed out a Chinese publication that, drawing upon the BBC, had listed the ten most influential people of the millennium

HERO-WORSHIP IN AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION

Dr. Nikolas K. Gvosdev

During his presentation this past week, Jinghao passed out a Chinese publication that, drawing upon the BBC, had listed the ten most influential people of the millennium. Human beings have a need to create groups of individuals that are deemed worthy of respect and emulation by the rest of the community.

All religions put forward figures whose lives or deeds are set forth as an example to all believers. Some may have been founders or rulers; others are teachers or artists; some are witnesses and martyrs. Their work and sacrifice is felt to have given them, aside from any personal immortality, a type of communal immortality, through the creation of monuments, the setting aside of special days, the naming of children so that the names themselves will not go out of use.

Can the United States said to have a civil religious equivalent of the pagan pantheon or the Christian calendar of saints? Consider the following description given of the famous painting, the Apotheosis of Washington, located in the Rotunda of the Capitol:

"The Apotheosis of Washington"

Rotunda Canopy Painting in the U.S. Capitol

The Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol was painted in the true fresco technique by Constantino Brumidi in 1865. Brumidi (1805-1880) was born and trained in Rome and had painted in the Vatican and Roman palaces before emigrating to the United States in 1852. A master of creating the illusion of three-dimensional forms and figures on flat walls, Brumidi painted frescoes and murals throughout the Capitol from 1855 until his death. The canopy fresco, his most ambitious work at the Capitol, was painted in eleven months at the end of the Civil War, soon after the new dome was completed, for $40,000. Suspended 180 feet above the Rotunda floor, it covers an area of 4,664 square feet. The figures, up to 15 feet tall, were painted to be intelligible from close up as well as from 180 feet below. Some of the groups and figures were inspired by classical and Renaissance images, especially by those of the Italian master Raphael.

In the central group of the fresco, Brumidi depicted George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame. A rainbow arches at his feet, and thirteen maidens symbolizing the original states flank the three central figures. (The word "apotheosis" in the title means literally the raising of a person to the rank of a god, or the glorification of a person as an ideal; George Washington was honored as a national icon in the nineteenth century.)

Six groups of figures line the perimeter of the canopy:

War, with Armed Freedom and the eagle defeating Tyranny and Kingly Power

Science, with Minerva teaching Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, and Samuel F.B. Morse

Marine, with Neptune holding his trident and Venus holding the transatlantic cable, which was being laid at the time the fresco was painted

Commerce, with Mercury handing a bag of money to Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution

Mechanics, with Vulcan at the anvil and forge, producing a cannon and a steam engine

Agriculture, with Ceres seated on the McCormick Reaper, accompanied by America in a red liberty cap and Flora picking flowers.

What something like the painting of the "Apotheosis of Washington" does is to suggest a secular canonization by making reference to the pagan gods of antiquity rather than suggesting that the God of the Bible is directly involved; thus we have the blessings bestowed by images of divinity that are no longer relevant to the faith lives of most Americans, but who are still recognizable as figures representing the higher aspirations of the human race.

What is interesting is also some of the demigods who accompany Washington--inventors, politicians, "self-made" men. American heroes are said to share a set type of characteristics: determination, courage, the desire for freedom, the potential for great learning but without becoming bookish or intellectual. American heroes tend to be doers and achievers. We place a great stress upon the hero who brings diverse groups together (ethnic groups, geographic groups, religious groups, etc.) We expect our heroes to be men (or women) of faith but not decidedly denominational and not overly pious.

The American pantheon of heroes is held out as examples of the best the nation has to offer. This is why, in recent years, attempts have been made to "diversify" the pantheon. Alongside the traditional figures of Washington, Lincoln, and the other Founding Fathers, Americans have sought to include others (with varying degrees of success): Martin Luther King, Jr.; Susan B. Anthony; Harriet Tubman; Cesar Chavez; Sequoyah; John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.

American heroes are not worshipped, although some might argue that the erection of statues and monuments is akin to ancient pagan practice. Nor is it believed that they have any power from the hereafter to intercede or otherwise protect the nation (although, one can find, for example, in 19^th century paintings and political cartoons, the "spirits" of Washington or Jefferson or Andrew Jackson "encouraging" the Republic onward.) However, there is a sense that American heroes are to form the basis around which American youth are inculcated in the spirit of American values, and to provide a common narrative and set of heroes for the populace as a whole. Again, Noah Webster blazed the way with his creation of Readers for school use that sought to encourage pride in America by using as examples the prominent speeches and orations of the Founding Fathers (in the pattern of having Roman youths memorize authors like Cicero or Livy or Greeks emulating Pericles or Demosthenes). More recently, the public adoration of American heroes has been designed to 1) give legitimacy to the American system of government and way of life, particularly if that person fell in battle or was killed defending the American system and 2) to stress the interconnectedness of the diverse American people. This is why problems have arisen with earlier members of the pantheon, who might have owned slaves or fought Native Americans, because their actions might call into question the inclusiveness of the American system.

American civil religion does the following for its principal heroes:

It uses the forms of religion to propagate their memory, by assigning "feast days", creating sacred space, and developing iconography to honor them.
Just as the God of civil religion is vague, so is the afterlife to which American heroes are consigned. It may cross over and share features of the Christian heaven, but the American afterlife is one open to all Americans who have sacrificed themselves for their country, and thus shares characteristics of the afterlives envisioned by pagan religions (such as Valhalla).
It links their memory to the survival of the nation and the corporate community
It assumes that the living can follow in their footsteps by emulating their example and subscribing to their ideals