Rhetoric convinces a person to believe in a religion, and then religion uses rhetoric to make the follower choose to act a certain way and follow the commandments and guidelines set down by that religion. Thus, religion and rhetoric are linked in one cyclical loop that is never ending.
For example, my choice to come to Brigham Young University was influenced almost solely by the rhetoric of religion. I wanted to come here because of the atmosphere of this university. The atmosphere of BYU is due to the people that come to the university, both faculty and students. The people that come to BYU are the way they are because of the rhetoric and influence of their LDS faith. I am adding to that atmosphere because of the influence of my LDS religion on my behavior and standards.
The rhetoric of religion, and especially the LDS faith, has an enormous sphere of influence. What could make me leave my family, friends, and the only place I've really ever known to go to a college 1,439 miles away in a desert to live with people I've never met before? What could make pioneers leave their homes, their possessions, and their families to travel to a strange place where they did not know how they would survive? What would make Joseph Smith die for a religion mocked by countless others? Obviously, the answer to all these questions is the influence of the rhetoric of the LDS religion. It influences our beliefs, our values, our principles, our mental attitudes, our thoughts, our actions, our self-images, our lifestyles, and even our physical bodies. We believe in our religion so much that it has completely changed our lives; once we see the positive change it has made in our lives, we want to convince others of the truth and goodness of our religion, so we use rhetoric to influence them. If they are moved by our rhetoric and the rhetoric of the gospel, they become a member and then try to convince others. We as a church are always adding to the number of people changed by the rhetoric and influence of the gospel; that continuously growing group of people is always trying to use rhetoric to convince others of the gospel's truth. The cycle never ends.
I like that you compare religious rhetoric to a cycle. It is true that we use rhetoric to teach others about the gospel. However, I think there is more to the church than just rhetoric. It isn't always words that attract people to the gospel. They are drawn by action and by the spirit as well.
ReplyDeleteDottie, your post made me very sad. I'm hoping that you just forgot about mentioning the spirit or it is included under an umbrella definition of rhetoric. I would define rhetoric as how words are used to argue and persuade people. If the LDS church is based completely on rhetoric, then it is not inspired and is meaningless other than as a basis for societal rules.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, you need to firmly state that it is rhetoric that has inspired the Saints to do everything. The phrase "what could..." leaves it open for the reader to answer it themselves by yelling "The Holy Ghost!" instead of rhetoric. Structure wise, I would specifically detail how rhetoric does this, breaking it down into detailed examples rather than a one sentence list such as "It influences our beliefs, our values, our principles, our mental attitudes, our thoughts, our actions, our self-images, our lifestyles, and even our physical bodies."(ie take physical bodies and talk about the word of wisdom and its rhetoric).
Ms. Hunt, in almost every post people emphasized the necessity of the Holy Ghost in determining the effect of rhetoric, this seems redundant. Regardless of this, the church has no form if it is not inseparable connected to expression of doctrinal truths. The Holy Ghost and rhetoric must be inseparable, check my analysis in Rhetoric as A Tool for Missionary Work post, for warrants.
ReplyDeleteDottie I really liked your thoughts! In the paper explaining this assignment, it said that you can write on the role of rhetoric in any religion, not just ours. You did a good job at explaining this in a way that's not particular to just one religion, because a lot of religions don't particularly feel "the Spirit," so it's alright that you didn't mention it in your beginning paragraph. I agree that a lot of our religious practices are based on rhetoric. Maybe not doctrinal beliefs, but a lot of what we do and think could be linked to this. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGood Job providing examples! I would just work on tying the examples into the thesis more. Some of them such as why you attended BYU don't quite make sense to me (but I am very glad you did choose to come here!)
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of circles, because most things we do here do have eternal consequences, especially when one has an eternal perspective. This is well thought out and the examples fit the points. A+
ReplyDeleteAlthough I didn't write about it, there is definitely a strong wordless rhetoric present in the LDS faith - the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost can influence us by reinforcing our good choices by giving us a "warm" feeling in our hearts, or try to dissuade us from a bad choice with a warning or foreboding feeling. Either way, it's still trying to motivate a person to act a certain way, which is, in essence, rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI love the very specific examples you gave! They made your post very powerful--for example, the pioneer and Joseph Smith examples. I agree--the rhetoric of religion, and all that comes with it, must be extremely powerful in order for people to make such sacrifices for their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the comments--I don't think that it's a fault that you didn't talk about the Spirit. You focused on a particular aspect of religious rhetoric and did it well. I enjoyed the read!