August 24, 2009

Rhetoric and Interpretation (A Response to a Reader’s Question)

Posted by K. M. Camper under hermeneutics | Tags: , , , , , |
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As you may have noticed, there is now a form that you can fill out, to submit questions on issues of religion, rhetoric, and politics. Our very first question comes from Dave:

So I’ve been wondering (and have never hassled a poor proselytizer to answer) how any interpretation of “god’s word” can be certain to be the right interpretation among countless others.  Claiming this certainty seems like an instant-fail argument.  If every true believer comes to my door with a different gospel of Truth, what sound defense do they have against the charge that competing fictions (i.e. one handy interpretation over the others) can only result in relative popularity, not ontological accuracy.  (yup, I’m assuming that every interpretation is a fiction [lest I learn how to definitely read a text's singular meaning]).

Hi David,

Thanks for your question! As a rhetorician, addressing the certainty of the rightness of an interpretation is out of my league. I can however offer an explanation as to the process by which believers (and non-believers alike) arrive at varying interpretations of a religious text. In short, it comes down to the rhetoricity of an interpretation, and how convincing an individual finds a particular interpretation to be.
(more…)

 

August 1, 2009

Buttiglione and the Abortion ‘Battle’

Posted by Kari J. Lundgren under Catholic Church, abortion | Tags: , , , , , , |
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(Cross-posted at Vox Nova.)

In this piece, I’d like to reflect on recent developments in Italy, which offer both an important model for U.S. Catholics’ political involvement, as well as an opportunity for self-reflection within the American pro-life movement.

After a July 15 legislative victory in which pro-choice and pro-life members of the Italian parliament worked together to pass a UN resolution condemning forced abortion, prominent conservative Catholic politician Rocco Buttiglione gave an interview to Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera saying that he no longer thinks criminalization should be the primary goal of the pro-life movement. He argues that instead, pro-lifers should work to make sure women are empowered and do not feel forced into abortion. He is quoted as saying (all emphasis mine),

Let me explain it theologically. God gives the child to the mother in a very special way, such that to defend the child in opposition to the mother may be an act of justice, but it is impossible. We should instead support the mother, work to free her: the more free she is, the harder it will be for her to give up her child.

(Keep reading…)

 

June 16, 2009

Three Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate (Part II)

Posted by K. M. Camper under gay marriage | Tags: , , , , , |
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Welcome to Part II of Three Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate. Since the writing of the first post in this series, New Hampshire has become the sixth state to legalize gay marriage. The need for thoughtful, critical, and reasoned dialogue about this subject is needed more than ever as all sides marshal various rhetorical techniques to try to convince the American public of their respective views.

In Part I, I examined the argument that the existence of two genders proves that same sex relationships are unnatural. Using concepts found in Aristotle’s Rhetorica, we find that this is an argument from a non-necessary sign. In this post, I will examine two more arguments: 2) that same-sex marriage advocates want to force their definition of marriage on everyone, and 3) that male-female coupling is a fundamental aspect of the family unit, because male-female copulation is necessary for the survival of the species. I will show that these fall prey to the Aristotelian fallacies of 2) argument from exaggeration and 3) argument from the omission of when and how, respectively. (more…)

 

June 8, 2009

Nefarious Narratives in the Catholic Abortion Conflict

Posted by Kari J. Lundgren under Catholic Church, abortion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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Recent months have seen a rekindling of the abortion wars, particularly in Catholic political rhetoric. In the process, we have seen that master narratives about abortion from both the Left and the Right can be equally pernicious.

This spring’s controversy at Notre Dame offered a clear glimpse of the Right’s master narrative, which equates Catholic identity with Republican political strategies and frames the politics of abortion in terms of a heroic crusade.  Now, in the wake of controversial late-term abortion provider George Tiller’s murder, we are also seeing rhetorical manifestations of a powerful master narrative from the Left, courtesy of the newly re-energized pro-choice movement. This narrative asserts that the only way to be a progressive is to accept the status quo on the rhetoric of “choice.” Both narratives frame abortion politics in terms of conflict, pushing respectful dialogue and common ground solutions – like President Obama called for in his Notre Dame commencement address – further out of reach. (Keep reading…)

 

June 1, 2009

Three Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate (Part I)

Posted by K. M. Camper under gay marriage | Tags: , , , , , , |
[15] Comments 

The debate over gay marriage has heated up in the past few months as it has come to the foreground of domestic politics. Iowa, Vermont, and Maine have joined Connecticut and Massachusetts in legalizing same-sex marriage. Washington, D.C. legislators voted almost unanimously to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states within the district. Meanwhile, the California Supreme Court upheld the result of its state’s voters’ decision to ban gay marriage. As gay marriage spreads throughout the union, both proponents of marriage equality and defenders of traditional marriage are fighting hard for their respective positions.

In my next two posts, I will examine three common arguments made by the traditional marriage side. (Keep reading…)

 

May 29, 2009

Heartbreak, Hope, and Notre Dame: Legitimacy and Catholic Identity in the Public Square

Posted by Kari J. Lundgren under Catholic Church, Notre Dame, abortion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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This spring has been marked by both heartbreak and hope for many U.S. Catholics.

The heartbreak came as, in the name of Catholic faith, too many bishops joined their voices to the protest against the University of Notre Dame’s recent honoring of President Obama. I call this heartbreaking because the actions of these bishops helped make a partisan attack seem legitimate by linking it with Catholic identity. That partisan attack was characterized by an insistence that Notre Dame violated its Catholic identity in honoring President Obama, since Mr. Obama has dared to suggest that the tragedy of abortion may be more successfully ended by supporting pregnant women in hard circumstances, rather than continuing the shouting match over Roe v. Wade that marks the political status quo. By equating Catholic identity with supporting Republican strategies for ending abortion, the bishops have strengthened the message favored by the far Right when addressing non-Republican Catholics: namely, that we are not welcome in our own Church. (Keep reading…)

 

April 7, 2009

Notre Dame and Catholic Embarrassment

Posted by Kari J. Lundgren under Catholic Church, Notre Dame, abortion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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I am tired of the controversy at Notre Dame.

Like many American Catholics, I’m proud of our flagship university, without even being an alumna. I have a well-worn, green Notre Dame sweatshirt, and Rudy is one of my favorite films. I steadfastly cheer for Our Lady’s football team. I even use a “Play Like Champion Today” key chain. So when I heard that President Obama would be speaking at Notre Dame this May, my immediate feeling was one of great excitement. I felt honored and joyful that the President I so enthusiastically supported because of my Catholic values would be honored at the university that symbolizes the prestige of the Catholic intellectual tradition in this country. I was proud to be an American Catholic at that moment.

But there’s been controversy about this commencement invitation from the start, including an online petition calling the mere invitation of President Obama a “scandal at Our Lady’s University,” along with a blizzard of vitriolic emails and blog posts from the right-wing of the American Church. (Keep reading…)

 

April 6, 2009

Science versus Ideology: Discourses of Ethics and Medicine in the Abortion Debate

Posted by K. M. Camper under abortion, ethics | Tags: , , , , , , |
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In debates surrounding, abortion, embryonic-stem cell research, and euthanasia, science and religion can at times seem violently at odds. Many, however, are reaching across ideological divides in an attempt to find common ground. In an article entitled “Seriously Seeking Common Ground,” Christina Page, a pro-choice advocate, critiques the Pregnant Woman Support Act proposed by Senator Bob Casey. In the beginning of her article, she praises the bill for its intent to help “neutraliz[e] income as a determining factor for what a woman does in her reproductive life.” This, however, is where her praise ends. For the rest of the article, she criticizes the bill for underhandedly slipping tenants of the pro-life agenda into law and conflating ideology with science. She is particularly critical of proposed funding that would be given to crisis pregnancy centers, usually run by pro-life groups, that help and encourage pregnant women not to have abortions. She argues that if such centers were to receive money, they ought to “stick to medical facts rather than ideology.” She ends by suggesting ways to strip the Act of its hidden pro-life agenda and make it more amenable to pro-choice proponents like herself.

In this post, I’d like to use Ms. Page’s article as a springboard for discussing the place of ideology in medical environments. (Keep reading…)

 

March 26, 2009

The Rhetoric of Outrage: “Good vs. Evil” and the Notre Dame Commencement Controversy

Posted by Kari J. Lundgren under Catholic Church, Notre Dame, abortion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
[9] Comments 

Catholic news of late has been dominated by the controversy surrounding President Obama being scheduled as the University of Notre Dame’s 2009 commencement speaker. The Catholic Right has begun a massive protest campaign, using strong language to condemn the university’s invitation to President Obama. This rhetoric is worth looking at more closely because it goes to the heart of American public discourse on both Catholic identity and abortion. In short, the Catholic Right invokes master narratives of “good vs. evil” to legitimate a particular, narrow idea of Catholic identity that focuses on abortion criminalization as the only litmus test for authentic Catholic faith. This has detrimental effects on public discourse and, ultimately, public policy. It is also bad for the Catholic Church. (Keep reading…)