Situational Criticism of William P. Barrs Judeo-Christian - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Situational Criticism of William P. Barrs Judeo-Christian Tradition vs. Secularism There is no aspect of life that is not colored by what we value and which moral philosophy we employ. The overall matter addressed in Barrs speech
Situational Criticism
Judeo-Christian Tradition vs. Secularism
There is no aspect of life that is not colored by what we value and which moral philosophy we employ. The overall matter addressed in Barr’s speech has become all the more pressing as the speech has aged.
Speaker
William P. Barr
▪ Roman Catholic ▪ CIA ▪ Bush White House ▪ Reagan White House ▪ US Attorney General
Rhetorical history
▪ Delivered a speech to Jews in May 1992
Audience
The Secular Age?
The Secular Age?
24% Catholic 26% Catholic
Barr very slyly chose what bits of information he would relay to his audience and which he would keep
Judeo-Christian religion as a weapon to push his agenda without alluding
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“We have staked our future
govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments.”
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“Every new and successful example, therefore, of a perfect separation between the ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance; and I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together . . .”
Secularists using law as a weapon: A law in Washington, D.C. “required Georgetown University (Barr’s Alma Mater) to treat homosexual activist groups just as it did other student groups.” “Dissenters from secularist dogma are viciously attacked and held up to ridicule.”
Barr Solves the Moral Crisis
“[put] our principles into practice in our
daily lives” “[pass] to the next generation
values in full vigor” “promote and support religious education at all levels”
Was William Barr’s speech Judeo-Christian Tradition vs. Secularism a necessary and fitting response to the changing moral and cultural situation in the United States in 1992?
Lloyd Bitzer’s Rhetorical Situation
Audience
▪ Catholic League for Civil Rights ▪ Fellowship of Catholic Scholars ▪ An 84% Christian America
Constraints
▪ Artistic proof ▫ Barr’s Catholic views ▪ Inartistic proof ▫ The audience’s Catholic views
Exigence
▪ “...immense suffering, wreckage, and misery”
The Rhetorical Situation
A rhetorical situation calls for a specific, rhetorical response. The situation:
▪ Increased rates of ▫ Poverty ▫ Divorce ▫ Abortion ▫ Violent crime ▫ Drug addiction ▫ Venereal disease ▫ Psychiatric disorders ▪ Teen ▫ Pregnancy ▫ Suicide ▫ Rape ▪ Homosexual rights ▪ Cohabitation
Because of the inconceivable diversity of Barr’s list, one could reasonably conclude that each of these trends requires a very individually tailored solution. Certainly not all, and probably none,
be solved by Barr’s proposed solution
the unchurched and the young.
Was William Barr’s speech Judeo-Christian Tradition vs. Secularism a necessary and fitting response to the changing moral and cultural situation in the United States in 1992? . . . a resounding no.
Alternative Secular Solutions
stable and safe family environments education
to rise out of poverty
References