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.
