Study of preserving religious
architectural heritage
in a multi-cultural
society
- Case study of
Erisa Mishima
erisa@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Study of
preserving religious architectural heritage
in a multi-cultural
society
- Case study of Mt.
Davidson Easter Cross -
Content:
I.
Introduction
II.
What is
happening around current efforts for preserving
A. Is there any bias for preserving religious
architectural heritage by government?
B. What is happening around current efforts for preserving
the Cross as religious architectural heritage by government?
III.
What kinds of
activities are being performed for preservation of the Cross by
non-governmental organization?
IV.
Analysis
-Should religion and government be separate for preserving religious
architectural heritage?
V.
Conclusion –What
is needed for preserving religious architectural heritage in multi-ethnic
society?
VI.
Works Cited
VII.
Appendix
A. Questionnaire
B. Figures
I.
Introduction
How should we preserve religious architectural heritage in
multi-ethnic society? There are a
lot of cultural heritage including religious architectural heritage in danger
in the world today (“World”). They
are sometimes destroyed by cultural and religious conflicts or by less of
understanding in multi-ethnic society (“News” ¶4). If they could escape from destruction
and be preserved by some organization or by government, the situation around a
great deal of cultural heritage is severe because lack of understanding or
sometimes cultural and religious issues including discriminations would easily
break them down. For the instance
for this, we were able to see the case from the destruction of Buddha in
Bamiyan by Taliban regime recently (“The Destruction”).
Then, how can the
Using the case of Mt. Davidson Easter Cross in
This research will help to bring to light one aspect of the
present situation around religious architectural heritage in the
II.
What is
happening around current efforts for preserving
A. Is there any bias for preserving religious
architectural heritage by government?
Is there any bias for
preserving religious architectural heritage by government? The recent strong controversies and
movements around preservation of Mt. Davidson Easter Cross in
The comment around the Easter
Cross by
Being established in
1934 by San Francisco city government, religious organizations and people who
do not believe Christianity have protested against this special and privileged
management by government, and campaigns including court battles have taken
place between the approvers and the complainers (“Tuesday”). That is because, in the base of cornerstone of the cross, there is a time capsule made
by bronze with newspapers, telephone directories and two bibles (“Tuesday” ¶ 4). In addition, that is because “a jug of
water reportedly from
Some of these
factors related to the Easter Cross were surely under Christianity and
preservation of the Cross by government could not help being realized as
privileged and biased care only for Christianity in fact. In the interview with Ardy Kassakian who
is acting to preserve the Easter Cross now as a Director of Armenian National Committee,
he mentioned this as the following words, “it is hard to interpret
whether there is a bias for preserving religious architectural heritage by
government or not nowadays. Though,
it might be said that it would be easily happened involuntary”.
B. What is happening around current efforts for preserving
the Cross as religious architectural heritage by government?
Then, what is
happening around current efforts for preserving the Easter Cross? According to the first statement of
For this consensus
by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,
III.
What kinds of
activities are being performed for preservation of the Cross by
non-governmental organization?
The Council of
Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California and Armenian-American
community of San Francisco as the non-governmental organizations bought
Mt. Davidson Easter Cross to pray and respect for the souls of the dead as
genocidal victims by Turkish government from 1915 to 1923 (Interview with
Armenian National Committee). The
reason why they chose to preserve this place as their sacred space is that
Armenia is the first country which admitted Christianity in the world history,
and preserving the Christian Easter Cross and paying respects of the dead have
strong relation for them (Interview with Armenian National Committee). Moreover, it could be a symbol of
Armenian American people in the
For preservation of
the Cross, annual
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 is held as commemorative
activities by these two non-governmental organizations. In addition, as the most important part,
they are acting for preservation with educational lectures, press releases and
educational tours (Interview with Armenian National Committee).
According to the words
from the interview with Ardy Kassakian in Armenian National Committee, “these
actions support to make people keep away from less of understanding,
and cultural and religious controversies around the Cross have been better than
before.”
IV.
Analysis
-Should religion and government be separate for preserving religious architectural
heritage?
From these
things, it is sure that preservations of religious architectural heritage by
government might have many controversies and there might be some bias by
government because these preservations includes in the issue of separation
between religion and government.
Therefore, should religion and government be separate for preserving
religious architectural heritage?
“Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof” (Atwan 196).
We can see these sixteen words in the Establishment Clause (Atwan 196). After the United States Court of Appeals
ruled phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance in violation of the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Atwan 196), there are still a lot of controversies
around “the wall of separation between church and government” (Atwan 197).
Judge Alfred
T. Goodwin, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit by President Nixon in 1971 (Goodwin 197), stands on the affirmative side
this judgement. He states that
“under God” is a belief in monotheism, and in the same time that “the
Government must pursue a course of complete neutrality toward religion” (Goodwin
¶1, 200) because whatever god you believe, “under God” cannot be “neutral with
respect to religion.” (Goodwin ¶1, 200)
He also suggests that there are some risks to communicate with people
who do not profess a religion “that they are outsiders, not full members of the
political community” (Goodwin ¶ 2, 201).
The San
Francisco Chronicle disagrees with Goodwin’s opinion. “This county’s founders were wise to
build a wall between church and state. No set of religious beliefs should have
sway over others in a democracy built on the values of pluralism.” (“Allegiance”
¶ 5, 202)
Reverting to
the subject of preserving religious architectural heritage in multi-ethnic
society, government should separate from church which is based on religious
belief because the word “under God” or “In God We Trust” easily recalls majority
religion, Christianity. It is
certain that the founders of the
From these
things, government and religion need to be separate for preserving religious
architectural heritage in multi-ethnic society.
V.
Conclusion
-What is needed for preserving religious architectural heritage in multi-ethnic
society?
What is the
best way to preserve religious and historical memory including this Easter
Cross of Mt. Davidson, getting over the wall of religious diversity?
First of all,
government and religion need to be separate for preserving religious
architectural heritage in multi-ethnic society because every religious
architectural heritage should be equally preserved without any bias. On the other hand, one certain thing is
that the Easter Cross as religious and historical memory was preserved thanks
to the government by using public money.
Though every religion should be equal before the law, the most important
thing is preserving historical memorable significance and not tearing down the
memory. Thinking of preservation as historical
evidence is the most significant thing.
In addition,
as Ardy Kassakian said in the interview, educational
lectures, press releases and educational tours could be helpful to solve
wall of cultural understanding around preserving heritage. Though, these things are still not enough
because many of the other countries as multi-ethnic society could not avoid the
destruction of cultural heritage even they were obeying and having the
environmental preservative precepts like this by UNESCO (“World”).
As the conclusion,
much more accurate environmental, cultural and historical education must be required
for decrease destruction by people and this would be the key to overcome the
cultural wall and to preserve cultural heritage in the same time.
V.
Works Cited
“Allegiance
to Absolutism..” San Francisco Chronicle.
Atwan,
Robert. “God and Constitution.”
“The
Destruction of the Statues in Bamiyan” Photogrammetry.: ETH
http://www.photogrammetry.ethz.ch/research/bamiyan/destruction.html.
(
Goodwin,
Judge Alfred T. “From The Opinion, Newdow vs.
“History
of
“Mt.
Davidson Cross in
“News in brief from the
SFGate.com.: AP Breaking
News.
“Tuesday
demo slated as trial begins in
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/sfcross9.htm.
(
“World
Heritage List In Danger.” World Heritage Committee UNESCO.
VI.
Appendix
A. Questionnaire
The questions of interview with Andy Kassakian, Director of Armenian
National Committee Western Region Access were listed below.
Methodology: By interview on phone call
Date:
The
interviewee: Andy Kassakian
Title:
Director of Armenian National Committee Western Region Access
Questionnaire:
①
Why Armenian National Committee is preserving
the Easter Cross in
②
Would you tell me the history of Easter Cross in
③
Would you tell me the process of preserving the
Easter Cross in
④
What kinds of activities are being performed for
preservation by Armenian National Committee as non-governmental organization?
⑤
Is there any other case that was preserved
religious architectural heritage by government and was privatized now?
⑥
Would you tell me your opinion whether there is
any bias for preserving religious architectural heritage by government or not?
⑦
Would you tell me your opinion whether religion
and government should be separate or not?
B.
Figures
The catalogue listed below is completely adopted by the website of Mt.
Davidson Cross in San Francisco , California
|
Subject: |
The
victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. |
|
Type of Memorial: |
Commemorative
Plaque, Inscription, Park, Path |
|
Sponsor(s): |
Council
of Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California &
Armenian-American community of |
|
Architect/Designer/Artist: |
Designed
and built by George Kelham. |
|
Placement: |
Freestanding
sculpture in a public park with a plaque at the foot of a large concrete
cross. |
|
Physical Setting: |
The
sculpture is on top of a mountain/hill, overlooking the city. |
|
Tourist Amenities: |
Yes |
|
Map Designation: |
|
|
Physical Condition: |
Well
preserved. |
|
Inscription: |
"If
evil of this magnitude can be ignored, if our own children forget then we
deserve oblivion and earn the world's scorn." Avedis Aharonian (writer
and educator, 1866-1948) Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day April 24, 1998”
Inscription: the Armenian language version of the poem by Avedis Aharonian,
which appears on the plaque alongside the English translation by Diana
Der-Hovanessian |
|
Location: |
|
|
Construction Began: |
Early
1930s |
|
Construction Completed: |
1934 |
|
Dedication Date: |
1934 |
|
Renovation Date: |
1997
– 1998 |
|
Prior Use of Site: |
|
|
Development/Construction Process: |
The
monument is a 100 ft.cross. A commemorative plaque rests at its base. In
1997, the citizens of |
|
History of Ownership: |
From
1934 - 1937: owned by the city of |
|
Commemorative Activities: |
Inauguration
of Monument by President Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1934. |
|
Additional Information: |
Editorial
Broad of Armenian Encyclopedia. The Armenian Question. |
The
picture below is
