Wise Rhetorical Strategies

Upon Re-reading Obamas speech about Faith and Politics there are several wise and unwise rhetorical strategies used throughout.

The Rogerian Argument style is the first wise strategy used in Obama’s speech. He creatively crafted his opening words in a way that is very non-threatening. Then proceeds to congratulate the audience for their hard work in the political world before addressing the problem at hand. This strategy was used simply to start off on a win/win mind set with the audience; he wasn’t there to blame anyone.

            Pathos, Ethos and Logos rhetorical strategies were used in abundance throughout his speech. Obama appealed to the audience’s emotions (Pathos. For example, “Americans have fewer close friends and confidants than ever before. And so they need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them - that they are not just destined to travel down that long highway towards nothingness” (Obama 2). This statement used powerful words that had an emotional impact on the reader/listener.

Obama referred to the Ethos style of persuasion frequently during his speech and for a good reason. His blue suit was masking Obamas true character and credibility towards the red sea of audience members he was addressing. Several times he mentioned working with the church or someone affiliated with the church. “I was working with the churches, and the Christians who I worked with recognized themselves in me” (Obama 2). “Pastors, friends of mine like Rick Warren and T.D. Jake . . . ” (Obama 4).  This strategy gave the audience the O.K. to trust Obama.

Along with the Pathos and Ethos style of rhetoric, Obama used the Logos approach. He gave several facts and statistics backing up his claims. For example, “90 percent of us believe in God, 70 percent affiliate themselves with an organized religion, 38 percent call themselves committed Christians, and substantially more people in America believe in angels than they do in evolution” (Obama 2). He chose these statistics to be paired with the claim stating Americans are religious people, this provided support for the reader.

Faith and Politics Summary

Wednesday, June 28 2006. Senator Barack Obama stands in front of an audience of firm Jesus Christ believers who want religion to be tied with politics. His goal is to address the use of religion in politics and ways our Country can overcome the conflicts arisen from this common debate. Senator Obama leads his speech by giving an example of faith in politics in action. He relays a statement said by Alan Keyes, one of his opponents in the past election, directed at the then-Senator Obama. Alan Keyes stated,  “Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama, because Obama is a Christian but supports the destruction of innocent life.” Obama goes on to speak about how this statement, and many others alike for thirty years, intertwine religion and politics negatively. This negativity is caused by a “gap” between party relationships other then the simple divide of red and blue. This gap is whether you attend church weekly or not.

As stated by Obama, Conservatives misuse this gap by suggesting that Democrats do not respect their values and do not like the church. Usually the Democratic Party avoids this type of statement because of the ethics that come into play, or they completely dismiss religion in politics all together. Obama explains that these strategies of avoidance are essentially pointless and that it is time to settle faith with the modern mixed democracy. He lists three ways Democrats can do to reconcile this faith; Understand that Americans are religious people because religious tendencies are an extreme hunger that search to fill a void, Democrats need to speak up about religious topics because narrow-minded others prevent the liberals from addressing the issues correctly, and the Bible has helpful guidance that liberals can use to rid of the biases they have of religious people and hopefully notice the overlapping morals both secular and nonsecular people share.

Obama proceeds to mention this country needs both the blue and red sides to be present when solving the religion and politics divide. He lists three ways Conservatives can prevent this debate; understand the role of the separation of the church and state and how this is no longer just a Christian nation, Know that there needs to be common laws or basic reason behind every argument, and a balance between faith and democracy is crucial. This balance should guide those who are on the boundaries between church and state.

Wrapping up his speech, Obama states that people are sick of seeing faith used as an aid to attack and used as a dividing point. Obama hopes we all can live with one another in a way that solves our conflicts between religious and no-religious beliefs with good intentions.