Religious Rhetorics
K. M. Camper
Repeating it Makes it So: How Rick Perry Equates Gays and Christians in “Strong” Ad
By now you’ve most likely seen Republican candidate Rick Perry’s most recent presidential 2012 campaign ad “Strong.” If you haven’t seen it or grown tired of it yet, here it is: The ad has already inspired a number of parodies as well as criticism for what many perceive as a homophobic message. But little attention has … Continue reading
Power to the (Lay) People: Shop My Church Shifts Balance of Church Organization and Promotion
It’s become a historical cliché that without the printing press, the Protestant Reformation would likely not have gotten off the ground. It’s not that the printing press caused the Reformation. Rather, the printing press not only allowed for the spread of Protestant ideas, but also allowed for a shift in power, from entrenched Church leadership … Continue reading
Evangelical Accountability in the Social Media Age: The Case of Mark Driscoll, Provacateur
Earlier this month, well known and controversial, Seattle Mars Hill Church Pastor Mark Driscoll posted the following status on his public Facebook wall: Driscoll’s words, unsurprisingly, drew rapid and sharp criticism from the Christian blogosphere. Seemingly in response to the swift reaction he received to his post, within a few days Driscoll removed the status, which had … Continue reading
The Religious Ethos of Science
Religious Rhetorics is back, analyzing contemporary issues in religion with a post about…science? This wouldn’t be the first time RR has tackled science. That’s because both science and religion can act as “overarching paradigms” in modern society. And because they both can stake this claim, they often clash: stem-cell research, homosexuality, evolution, the list goes … Continue reading
Battling over Our Values with the Pledge
In the spirit of the recent 4th of July holiday, firecracker debris now finally cleared from the streets, I would like to turn the rhetorical lens on a common fixture of American patriotism: the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance is recited by millions of children everyday before they dive into math, science, and … Continue reading
Historical Revisionism in the Manhattan Declaration
The attention span of the American media is short and the time span between Religious Rhetorics posts is longer. By now, many may have forgotten about the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience.” A document produced at the end of last year (2009), it is a Christian ecumenical statement on the contemporary issues of … Continue reading
Rhetoric and Interpretation (A Response to a Reader’s Question)
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 David: 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 … Continue reading
Three Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate (Part II)
A look at three common arguments made by the traditional marriage side in the gay marriage debate. Second part in a two-part series. Continue reading
Three Fallacies in the Gay Marriage Debate (Part I)
A look at three common arguments made by the traditional marriage side in the gay marriage debate. First part in a two-part series. Continue reading
Science versus Ideology: Discourses of Ethics and Medicine in the Abortion Debate
Although it may sometimes be rhetorically convenient to posit that science and medicine should be ideologically-neutral, neither exists in an ideological vacuum. In fact, ideology may be ethically necessary in decisions involving abortion, embryonic-stem cell research, and euthanasia. Continue reading
Networks
