Jon Jones

Religion and Social Issues

September 19, 2001

Mt. Rushmore

Glass’s article seems to be trying to show that Mt. Rushmore is a religious monument, a civil religious monument to be most precise. I’m not entirely sure I’m convinced, however. The person with the original idea, Robinson, saw it was religiously motivated as a Christian, not as simply an American within the American Civil religion. However, his idea was changed when Borglum was introduced, and to Borglum it was something national for all Americans to come and be inspired by.

My difficulty with his argument is that he seems to say that because something is nationally inspiring, that means that it must be part of this “civil religion” thing. I suppose if it can be shown that there really is a civil religion (and note that in my last journal response I was unconvinced of that) then this Mt. Rushmore might indeed be an example of a monument to it, but as of now I can only think that it is a commercial venture that is also inspiring. Inspiring does not mean religious, however. Not all art is religious, but all of art is, to some people, inspiring. Thus, not all things that are inspiring are religious.

The article did provide some excellent history of the monument, however, despite the somewhat skewed angle that was given many of the facts in order to promote the author’s view that it is religious.