Religious Rhetorics
abortion
The Clash of Frames in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate
We’ve fallen rather behind here at Religious Rhetorics – our one-post-a-month goal long since replaced by grad school pragmatism and prioritization. I think it may be more realistic to simply boldly announce that we will post “occasionally” – ever holding to an ideal of frequency and regularity, but conscious of (and, alas, often distracted by) … Continue reading
RSA: Catholic Identity and Abortion as a Political Legitimation Strategy in the 2009 Notre Dame Commencement Controversy
Again, as I did in November, I’m posting a relevant academic conference paper, with the accompanying increase in length and change in style (see my November 10, 2009 post for more on this). It always seems like a shame for a paper’s audience to be limited to whoever is sitting in the room during its … Continue reading
NCA: Abortion Criminalization as a Master Narrative in U.S. Catholic Political Rhetoric
Here’s one more – as prepared for presentation on November 14, 2009, at the 95th Annual National Communication Association Convention in Chicago, IL (“Discourses of Stability and Change”). In a November 8, 2009 article in Time magazine, Amy Sullivan writes, The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church traditionally couch even the harshest disagreements in decorous, … Continue reading
NCA: Catholic Social Teaching and the Abortion Reduction Counterstory in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
This is a different kind of post than our usual Religious Rhetorics material. It is, rather, a relevant academic conference paper. This has the advantage of both adding more material to RR (otherwise, as evidenced by the rate of posts of late, somewhat difficult during the semester) and increasing the audience for our academic work. … Continue reading
Buttiglione and the Abortion ‘Battle’
(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 … Continue reading
Nefarious Narratives in the Catholic Abortion Conflict
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 … Continue reading
Heartbreak, Hope, and Notre Dame: Legitimacy and Catholic Identity in the Public Square
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 … Continue reading
Notre Dame and Catholic Embarrassment
But the true embarrassment for Catholics is that the leaders of our Church are buying into this misleading and harmful rhetoric, and thereby lending it false legitimacy….Politicizing Catholic identity harms not only our Church, but also our nation and, in this increasingly globalized society, our world. 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
The Rhetoric of Outrage: “Good vs. Evil” and the Notre Dame Commencement Controversy
The value in understanding the rhetoric at work in the Notre Dame controversy is not limited to one commencement address; this situation points to a larger cultural issue, both in the Catholic Church and in American society. Continue reading
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