Hermeneutical Stability and Political Change: The Politics of Religion

Session Submission Type: Panel Discussion

Abstract

This panel uses rhetorical theories to investigate the reciprocal influence of religious belief and civic engagement in the life of the polis. We examine four different controversies and debates in which politics and religion are problematically intermingled (abortion, gay marriage, the U.S. response to the China/Tibet conflict, and the Rev. Wright controversy). These cases illuminate how hermeneutical inflexibility can reify political identity, and conversely, how political change can sediment hermeneutical approaches.

Sub Unit

• Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division

Presenters

• Kari Lundgren, Carnegie Mellon Univ

• Claudia Carlos, Carnegie Mellon Univ

Session Organizer

• Katherine Karsnak, National Communication Association