Keywords

civil religion, rhetoric, nativism, National Cathedral

Abstract

Set atop the highest point in the nation's capital, The Washington National Cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world. It has become a central site for the high holy rituals of American civil religion, hosting presidential funerals, National Day of Prayer services, and the tombs of national luminaries. Drawing on archival research, this essay situates the cathedral within a history of religious competition and national tension. The essay concludes that the cathedral's roots lie largely in the fecund rhetorical soil of nineteenth-century nativism, the cultural prejudice that emerged in reaction to Roman Catholicism's remarkable growth during that period. The essay further argues that nativism is an oft-overlooked yet defining type of civil-religious rhetoric.

Original Publication Citation

Crosby Richard Benjamin. “Civil Religion, Nativist Rhetoric, and the Origins of Washington National Cathedral.” The Journal of Communication and Religion 39.4 (2016): 55 - 71.